Q&A for How to Write a Dark or Sad Story

You could write about a sudden accident or a illness that one of your characters suddenly has to deal with. A character who has to face a situation where a friend or family member is hurt or sick could cause your readers to feel very sad for them. The character doesn't need to die, the struggle will be enough to make the story sad.

You could possibly write your story in the library or somewhere other than your house, or you could try putting in earbuds and listening to some classical music.

Let a parent/teacher read it and ask for their advice and honest opinion. You may even get advice from them to make your story better!

Find something that inspired you. Examples include: Friends, family, animals, love interest, dreams, desires, wishes, movies, etc. Keep writing until you come up with an idea you love. It'll come to you, you just have to be patient.

There are many possibilities such as having one of the characters die or move away. You could also have the characters miss a connection that ruins the possibility of them being together.

You should try reading and writing sad poems, and try to mimic that in your own writing. The more you practice, the easier it will get for you to express sadness and painful emotions.

Start with a character’s death and show how the other characters react to it, or maybe have a character get diagnosed with a terminal illness, like cancer.

It depends on how sad you want your story to be. If you want a touchy but not horribly sad story, lighten it up a bit. If you don't mind or want it to be sad, then keep it. It's your choice. If you want advice, though, ask a family member or friend to give their opinion on it.

It depends. If it's a psychological thriller vibe, then you could simply just write: he woke up. If you're not really going for it, then you could add a huge cliffhanger to get the audience excited so if, there is a guy who was framed for a murder he didn't commit and he's getting backed up by the police, huge drop behind him, he just jumps. What happens next? Is he dead? One thought went through his head... you choose what it is.

One method is to write through the 'dark' section. Let the dark character or backstory have its say, even if you don't want the darkness. You can always go back, reread it, and copy it out (put it in another file for another story). Or, perhaps you'll find your main story needs that dark section so it feels balanced.

You could write what you have and create the beginning later. Or, you could follow other writers who started where they 'are', or where a character could be. For example, Jenny could not decide where to begin her tale. She wanted to tell a fantastic story as a gift for her mother's birthday. She absentmindedly bit the end of her pen, before remembering her braces. She sat back, closed her eyes, and thought about what she was about to tell.

You could focus mainly on a character's virtues, but in reality, all people (characters) have a "dark" side. Even in a light-hearted series, a bit of darkness belongs. For example, let's say your story includes 15-year-old goody shoes Marcie. She gets As and Bs, and never does wrong. However, one day, members of the Good Girls club overhear Marcie tell a lie. It was just a little lie, but still, a lie. How will the GG members react? Will they overlook the lie? Is Marcie still a good person who told a lie? Can she still fit into a light-hearted series?