Do you honestly like your work?

that's fine advice, if you're only writing for yourself... but if you want others to want to read and to buy what you write, you DO have to write for them... even to the point of knowing what kind/age range of readers you're writing for...

 

The thing is, sometimes you aim for a market and miss it completely...if you write for yourself, you know that at least one person likes it, and that probably means others will, too. Then figure what target market you're a part of, and viola! I do agree with mamamia that if you plan to sell your story you should take care that it's well written, has a likeable protagonist and plot, etc; but that doesn't mean you should try and decoct a formula for selling to your target audiance. That will pigeonhole you too much, and you run the risk of making something that isn't any good for anybody.

 

And I don't mean the state of your work. haha
I find that no matter what it is a write, it becomes very dark, sometimes a depressing story. I find I can come up with very twisted ideas for horror novels, and have no idea how I came up with it. I'm such a very nice and happy person... really!
Does anyone else find that everything they write seems to become dark or depressing?

 

My writing is usually very light and has a humorous undertone, but it can become very dark very quickly. I use many emotions in my writing, but the main idea I have is that I want to make my readers laugh through their tears.

Maybe there is something you want to do with your dark words, something you haven't yet realised. Especially since you're a nice and happy person. Think about it.

 

Do you control your writing, or does your writing control you?

I don't mean for this to sound critical...it's meant as a constructive question.

It seems to me that, as a writer, I am solely responsible for the content I put into my stories. As such, I make choices, and if my story becomes "very dark", then it should be by conscious decision, not an accident.

IMHO, writing should bend to the will of the writer.

.....NaCl

 

My work often becomes depressing as I'm a pessimist and have mostly written Cosmic Horror inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and Darkness and Maddness is the key theme.
But I like dark, desperate tales of humans struggling to hold onto sanity.

 

Well, when your story focuses around death, you can only be so happy. I've been told that my story sounds like a soap opera. But they said it was a good thing cuz everyone was kept interested/wondering.

 

I think this is common enough, even from a bright cheery person like you. I am also the happy-go-lucky type and my writing tends to be a few shades darker than I am. I think it is only natural to use your writing to explore the side of yourself that does not often get expressed in your everyday life.

 

It really depends on what I'm writing. I've written a couple of short stories that were intended from the start to be very dark. I think that all told, my stories are more often upbeat.

 

I have been told, just like you, that my stories are sad. But I find them 'realistic' rather than sad. I also add humor to my stories, so it balances itself.

That's something like me.

 

Hmmm, I will admit, I do enjoy writing dark stories... I didn't start this thread because I was worried, just interested. Thanks for all your responses though!

 

This fortunately doesn't happen to me. I can write depressing, dark, happy, funny, sad, thoughtful, silly, angry, whatever.

I do find, however, that Jungian psychological themes keep popping up in my writing when I don't intend them to; they always just seem to fit in. My only fear is they'll seem too obvious or pretentious, but so far I think I'm the only one who's noticed them. *shrug*

In contrast with a previous post, I don't by any means think all writing is by "conscious choice"--many things go unconsciously into our writing at times--so I believe that a work can turn darker than intended, without the writer's conscious will. Obviously this won't happen for all writers, but it does to some. We do control all we write, but not always consciously.

 

I usually write things that have both dark humour and things that are 'depressing'. I rarely write something that's all fluff.

((Also, the German part of your sig. 'Wie gehts es Ihnen' means 'how are you' ... it should probably read, "Hallo, Sehr efreut (Sie kennen zu lernen)"))

 

Thank you. Your the third person to fix one of the languages. I used a bad free online translator. I'd change it but the damn forum won't let me for some reason.

 

My novel changes tone of its own accord (usually turning darker) depending not so much on my mood but on my MC's. Even if I'm happy, if I'm writing a section where he is upset or hiding his feelings, the story turns dark pretty quickly. I don't consider that a problem, since it serves to bring the reader closer to my MC. On the other hand, when I'm irritated I only write the depressing sections, since I know I'd have problems pulling off the happy parts.

 

My writng does tend to become dark, mainly when I'm writng a story of the like.

For example, if I'm writing a story that is not generally of the sad or dark type, as I go on with the writing I begin to think up other ways to go in the plot, like making my characters lose someone and become depressed, even if it really has nothing to do with anyhting nor do I really need it. It's avoidable, but I'm not sure why I do it.

When I'm writing humorous stories none of that really tends to happen, because there's really no call for it. But there can always be instances, in which case I usually use them to advance the plot.

 

I tend to write on the darker side, I suppose (the Dark Side has biscuits ), though darker themes can be explored without becoming depressing.

That being said, it most definitely has to be a conscious effort on my part to arrive at a 'happy ending' - and most of the time if I do that, it doesn't seem quite right.

 

I'm a fairly happy person myself, and I find that I tend to write depressing things too. Sometimes I think that it's just a side of me that never comes out, and when I write, it finally does.

 

Haha, so the general consensus is I need to make myself depressed in order to write happy things.

 

True. To the drug store!!!

 

This is not a criticism of dark or unhappy pieces... but I think darkness is easier to write than happiness.

To write well, at least. Uplifting stories can turn to cliché so easily. It's almost as if... well, like the human condition is sloping down. It's hard to go up into happiness, but altogether too easy to go down into depression. What's the old saying? It's always easier to destroy than to create.

In terms of your own writing, what themes do you want to explore?

 

As Tori Amos once said "We love our pain and we're selling it - don't you dare take it away from us... "

I believe some kind of threat followed that, can't remember what it was :redface:. The quote is a response to a question she was asked in the early nineties about why music, and art in general, that dealt with pain and suffering was so popular. Nothing's really changed... Think back to all the Greek tragedies.

Edit: And Shakespeare, for that matter.

 

I write horror poetry, but like my poem 'My Sweet Valentine', not everything is as dark as it may seem, and not everything is depressing. Sometimes the most beautiful things in the world can be told through horror.

 

There's some truth in that. Stephen King (only a choice few of course ) comes to mind.

 

I guess it just depends on the readers perspective at the end of the day really. But I find that there is a lot of horror out there that is not quite as dark as some of the writing I read from other genres. Everyone sees horror, and they see evil and darkness. It isn't so. Horror can be found in the most beautiful of places.

Same as dark poetry isnt always depressing. You can write a really happy, chirpy, dark poem. It isn't hard.