How Dark Is Your Story?

[Story_Marc]

The newest creation by me! Or newest I'm sharing as I make a lot of these.

Anyway, hope this one helps out. Tomorrow is a world building episode. And if you wish to vote on next week's episode, the community tab has options up.

 

[TaciturnHuman]

 

[SailusGebel]

Thank you!

 

[TheEldritchGod]

2 lumina.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I had one story that I think was lost in a hard drive crash that got so dark I kept having to take breaks from it. Was done initially as a self-challenge: "Write a horror story in the first person that does not give away the fact that the main character survives (or does not survive)" - that morphed into "Write each chapter from a different character's POV, in first person" - problem was, only one of the characters wound up having any redeeming traits whatsoever and they just kept getting nastier and nastier (and a few of them actually died in their sections)...

 

[expentio]

My darkest story would probably be Arachne. While it's supposed to be lighthearted slice of life, the fact that I'm massacring a really young girl's family in front of her eyes and then proceed with having her beg for death under heavy torture by monsters may set for a problematic first impression.

 

[Story_Marc]

My darkest story would probably be Arachne. While it's supposed to be lighthearted slice of life, the fact that I'm massacring a really young girl's family in front of her eyes and then proceed with having her beg for death under heavy torture by monsters may set for a problematic first impression.

...That's not a "may," that 100% does. It is the wrong type of opening entirely for that type of story since it sets the wrong tone. In fact, here, this is what I recommend you read to consider how to better open stuff...

 

[Bartun]

Kinda dark actually

 

[BarkTwain]

My story has dark parts but it's mostly dark comedy. I think you can take almost anything dark and bring some levity to it.
Check out the completed version here:
Want to do a review swap?
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1172450/project-star-pickle/
Thanks!

 

[Vnator]

My favorite thing is when a story's setting is dark but the characters and maybe scenario are goofy yet sincere. It makes a surprisingly good mix!

 

[Jemini]

I'd say the story I'm currently working on (unreleased) is in the same category as Re:Zero, however you'd call that one. I partially say this because it was actually partially inspired by Re:Zero.

 

[HeguenDmerak]

I dont really know.
You know when they write fantasy they make this characters that are so unrealistic, not becouse of the powers or the world building. Is the morality, how can a person who has been step over his whole life turn to be a foolish gooddoer? where is the hate? where is the rage? where is the dead, black, cold heart. So I tried to write a more realistic fantasy, you can steal and kill and not be basically a "bad person", everyone has a dose of perversion on them. Many families are disfunctional, they are not the exception, actually all familys are disfunctional to some degree.
How dark it is? quite dark, however i think compared to reality, my story is wholesome.

 

[expentio]

...That's not a "may," that 100% does. It is the wrong type of opening entirely for that type of story since it sets the wrong tone. In fact, here, this is what I recommend you read to consider how to better open stuff...

I wouldn't call it "wrong".
It's a story about healing under difficult circumstances. While slice of life "lighthearted" might be wrong. People are still more often than not getting massacred.
I mean, Arachne is about an Arachnophobic getting turned into an Arachne (that's the torture part). While they're trying to be nice afterwards it sets the start of the relation. Can't simply forego the major plot points.
In the first place, I feel like a story shouldn't be all engineered. If it feels right to the plot it might be the right way to proceed.

 

[Owl_112]

Pretty dark, the lights don't work most of the time.

But to be frank, even if the content is still relatively sparse, the setup and what the story will deal with is very grim. But I got a soft spot for overcoming causality, so who knows?

 

[MesaMesa17]

Not that dark yet, its still mainly slice of life. But as it progresses it should start alternating between light and dark moments

I love the contrast in anime like Steins;Gate and A Certain Scienitifc Railgun when everything seems fine and dandy, then they suddenly dial it up to 11. It's like they switch genres out of the blue