S.O.S - My story is garbage.

[kokiboki]

Hello! It's the Lil waste here sorry about the earlier thread. I need a little help just a tiny bit. I'm not the brightest man/woman on earth but I can't figure out how to make the story depressing and sad.
I was once told by an Ai on the app gemstones. When I asked for some writing tips: "Well, if you want to make someone cry, you should also make them laugh. " I asked why and this was the response to my question: "Because it's the only way to make people cry. universal truth."

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Hello! It's the Lil waste here sorry about the earlier thread. I need a little help just a tiny bit. I'm not the brightest man/woman on earth but I can't figure out how to make the story depressing and sad.
I was once told by an Ai on the app gemstones. When I asked for some writing tips: "Well, if you want to make someone cry, you should also make them laugh. " I asked why and this was the response to my question: "Because it's the only way to make people cry. universal truth."

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

We are in such a messed up world that pedophilia is becoming mainstream and encouraged so its understandable. Just try and get a girl to read over it. They are naturally emotional.

 

[SailusGebel]

What?

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

To be edgy, you must unleash the hatred within yourself. Find something that makes you tick and bring it full force that can make you mad. Then, channel that negativity into something dark and then realize that once your in that state, you can never recover the positive within yourself.

Life is all unfair and at some point, you can write the darkness within yourself. Making you regret ever trying to write a sad and depressing story.

Once your in the darkness state, you can never come back. Just a quick reminder.

 

[Erylm]

Hello! It's the Lil waste here sorry about the earlier thread. I need a little help just a tiny bit. I'm not the brightest man/woman on earth but I can't figure out how to make the story depressing and sad.
I was once told by an Ai on the app gemstones. When I asked for some writing tips: "Well, if you want to make someone cry, you should also make them laugh. " I asked why and this was the response to my question: "Because it's the only way to make people cry. universal truth."

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

Feeling sad for someone doesn't require tears, feeling happy for someone doesn't equate to a smile or giggle. To actually get anyone to genuinely cry or smile for someone(not at, an important distinction) requires a level of sympathy—that while differing from to person to person—is hardly ever met even in RL. The sympathy required goes beyond just relatability and believability and sad events, even extremes are not enough.

Because not only do you need to convince the unconscious of your readers that your MC is an actual living, breathing human. You need to get the MC's emotion on paper in not just a believable way, but strong enough to actually be felt. But as an author you are limited, speech is only a fraction of human communication. It's that subtle crack in the voice, the quivering eyes, downturned lips and shoulders that say the most. An author can't show that, can't make you hear that, only the reader can. They need to feel as the character, know as the character, they need to sympathize.

This requires the readers to feel the MC on a personal level, something that can't be achieved in just a couple of pages. No matter how sad the story or characters. Why do you think those SaveTheChildren ads just feature a couple of children while thousands are dying? They humanise those few as much as they can, giving them more and more depth so the viewer can sink deeper and deeper into their shoes. There isn't really a step by step thing you can do, nor an actual concrete architecture of sympathetic characters to follow. No big points to strive towards, or at least nothing that guarantees.

Suffering, pain, sympathy, happiness. or any emotion for that matter, aren't felt because of the big things. Its about the small things that build them and the context that shapes them. You aren't just sad when your favourite character dies, it had a level of anticipation, then confusion, realisation, frustration; the knowledge of what the character meant to the story, what they added to it, and what it will never have again. Any laughter the character brought you, you know will never ever happen again. It's that hollow feeling that hurts, it's that emptiness that makes you cry, that bitter-sweet feeling every time you remember the character that makes you smile.

Emotions or no singular feelings, they are complicated nigh incomprehensible to the logical mind, which's more often than not the one forced to write them.

Give your character/s depth, and your readers a reason(plot) to jump into that hole. (And of course believable/likeable/relatable character so the reader doesn't outright avoid the hole.)

Brandon Sanderson has good lectures, maybe check those out.

 

[MisterSyafiq]

Start with happiness, end with sadness,

 

[LilRora]

"To make someone cry, you should also make them laugh", I think what this means is that you won't make someone cry if the only thing you show them is misery and pain. But if the first thing you give is happiness and you convey it properly, then merely taking it away will make the readers cry.

Alternatively, if we're talking about tears of happiness, you need to make them feel real and relatable. Focus on emotions and what the characters are feeling, not their actions.

Also, the one thing I noticed when reading and writing is that the only thing you need, apart from desciptive language, is feeling the emotions yourself. I had one particular chapter when I cried while writing it, and it wasn't anything particularly more emotional than other things I've written, but each time I reread it I cry a bit. I hope I don't sound too philosophical now, but I think the most important thing when you're writing is feeling what your characters are going through.

As for if your story is bad... that's only subjective. Dunno about your situation, but I believe that your feelings, one way or another, will be shown in your writing. So, my advice is, make a character you understand and empathize with, and don't write because you want to convey some feelings. Instead you should (in my opinion) write for fun and because you want your characters experience something.

No idea how helpful for you that will be, but it worked for me personally.

 

[Erys]

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

Carefully.

 

[Marunikyu]

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

Which story is supposed to be a tear-jerker? The "Among Us Your Sus." one or the gender bender cringe one?
Protip? : you can't cry while you cringe
Super protip: you need to be invested in the characters before being able to feel for them. It's the reason why the 12 episode Kamisama ni Natta Hi, which wanted to be the saddest anime ever made, was less sad than even the 24 episode Akame (Tatsumi) Ga Kill!

 

[Gryphon]

What that basically means is that when people laugh, the eventual sadness only hits harder. It's the contrast between happiness and sadness that makes events tragic in the first place. That's why its a cliche in movies for a character to talk about their family or how their two weeks from retirement after they die. Its because its an exciting moment in their lives that's abruptly cut short by tragedy. Granted, that's such a trope now that people would see it coming from a mile away, so you'd have to get creative.

For an example of this done well, look at Attack on Titan's first episode. One moment Eren and the others were living their normal lives, the next their lives are turned upside down by the insuing titan threat. Bojack Horseman is an amazing example of this as well. It makes jokes about it's characters, making the audience laugh, attaching them to the characters. Then suddenly, a moment happens that turns the characters on their heads as tragedy strikes, and because the audience had just laughed alongside the characters, they feel the emotional weight of the moment more.

Also, don't confuse edginess with sadness or despair. Trust me, that happens a lot.

 

[kokiboki]

To be edgy, you must unleash the hatred within yourself. Find something that makes you tick and bring it full force that can make you mad. Then, channel that negativity into something dark and then realize that once your in that state, you can never recover the positive within yourself.

Life is all unfair and at some point, you can write the darkness within yourself. Making you regret ever trying to write a sad and depressing story.

Once your in the darkness state, you can never come back. Just a quick reminder.

I'll try that!

What that basically means is that when people laugh, the eventual sadness only hits harder. It's the contrast between happiness and sadness that makes events tragic in the first place. That's why its a cliche in movies for a character to talk about their family or how their two weeks from retirement after they die. Its because its an exciting moment in their lives that's abruptly cut short by tragedy. Granted, that's such a trope now that people would see it coming from a mile away, so you'd have to get creative.

For an example of this done well, look at Attack on Titan's first episode. One moment Eren and the others were living their normal lives, the next their lives are turned upside down by the insuing titan threat. Bojack Horseman is an amazing example of this as well. It makes jokes about it's characters, making the audience laugh, attaching them to the characters. Then suddenly, a moment happens that turns the characters on their heads as tragedy strikes, and because the audience had just laughed alongside the characters, they feel the emotional weight of the moment more.

Also, don't confuse edginess with sadness or despair. Trust me, that happens a lot.

 

[Nirokuro]

Hello! It's the Lil waste here sorry about the earlier thread. I need a little help just a tiny bit. I'm not the brightest man/woman on earth but I can't figure out how to make the story depressing and sad.
I was once told by an Ai on the app gemstones. When I asked for some writing tips: "Well, if you want to make someone cry, you should also make them laugh. " I asked why and this was the response to my question: "Because it's the only way to make people cry. universal truth."

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

well, I cannot be very useful, as I my writing make people feel the character, not cry with it, but I think you can use some sentences to describe the atmosphere, or imagine a picture of it like instead of "descending a stone stairs" you can write " reaching the bottom of the cold stone stairway" which subconsciously will change the picture that the reader imagine. making a chain of small unnoticeable events can be a good choice, as no character suddenly cry from one event, some even might not shed a tear depending on the personality of them, then you can just make the character remember all of them at the moment of the breakdown. also making some happy moments can be useful, as living a sad life for a long time will eventually make the character reach a state that they cannot cry in, because a a part of sadness happen because of losing happy feeling, so not having happy memories won't make anyone cry, for example some one who is bullied physically everyday might cry or try to resist at first, but at some moment it will just be the usual, and at the moment he know that his resistance is to no avail, he will stop crying, as if look it up crying is a calling for help, but if he know subconsciously well it won't be useful then nothing will come out. hope I was useful and sorry for the long advice.

 

[kokiboki]

well, I cannot be very useful, as I my writing make people feel the character, not cry with it, but I think you can use some sentences to describe the atmosphere, or imagine a picture of it like instead of "descending a stone stairs" you can write " reaching the bottom of the cold stone stairway" which subconsciously will change the picture that the reader imagine. making a chain of small unnoticeable events can be a good choice, as no character suddenly cry from one event, some even might not shed a tear depending on the personality of them, then you can just make the character remember all of them at the moment of the breakdown. also making some happy moments can be useful, as living a sad life for a long time will eventually make the character reach a state that they cannot cry in, because a a part of sadness happen because of losing happy feeling, so not having happy memories won't make anyone cry, for example some one who is bullied physically everyday might cry or try to resist at first, but at some moment it will just be the usual, and at the moment he know that his resistance is to no avail, he will stop crying, as if look it up crying is a calling for help, but if he know subconsciously well it won't be useful then nothing will come out. hope I was useful and sorry for the long advice.

Thanks.

 

[Ai-chan]

Hello! It's the Lil waste here sorry about the earlier thread. I need a little help just a tiny bit. I'm not the brightest man/woman on earth but I can't figure out how to make the story depressing and sad.
I was once told by an Ai on the app gemstones. When I asked for some writing tips: "Well, if you want to make someone cry, you should also make them laugh. " I asked why and this was the response to my question: "Because it's the only way to make people cry. universal truth."

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

Ai-chan did not say that.

Ai-chan said, "If you want to make people cry, you should cry first."

 

[BlackKnightX]

Same thing with joke: set up and payoff.

First, you set things up. Make the readers care about the characters or whatever it is that you introduce at the beginning of the story. Then, you escalate the tension. Make it more and more intense as the story unfolds. And at the end, if you want to make it depressing, then throw in a bad ending (I personally don’t like it; bittersweet ending is still somewhat acceptable, though).

Write about losses, about people dying, about unsuccessful attempts, about great setbacks, about whatever negative things you can think of. Well, if you want to make it depressing, then you’ve got to go the negative route.

Though, personally, if I want a cry, I want a good cry over something depressing and sad. Like, when the characters care about each other so much they’d do anything for each other and always appreciate each other, you can make people cry a tear of happiness with that.

So, these are what you can do, generally, to make people cry.

As for the writing itself, I suggest you tap into the emotion yourself, feel it, immerse yourself in it. Once you get in the right mood, just express how you feel. Think like an artist. Use everything you have at your disposal to express that emotion. Use spaces and punctuations to indicate pause. Vary different sentences to creat rhythm and momentum.

But, seriously, though. Don’t think too much about it. Writing is a form of communication. Just feel the emotion and then express yourself fully without any filter.

Have fun~

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Create badguy.
Have badguy figure out they are bad.
Redeem badguy.
Someone the badguy wronged shows up and kills badguy.
Cry.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

Hello! It's the Lil waste here sorry about the earlier thread. I need a little help just a tiny bit. I'm not the brightest man/woman on earth but I can't figure out how to make the story depressing and sad.
I was once told by an Ai on the app gemstones. When I asked for some writing tips: "Well, if you want to make someone cry, you should also make them laugh. " I asked why and this was the response to my question: "Because it's the only way to make people cry. universal truth."

I still can't understand how to do that. I read my own story myself, And I couldn't cry a single tear. I shed one or two when I was writing and listening to sad ad music. I'm starting to believe that what I wrote is complete garbage.

No idea what you wrote, but you don't have to write a story that can make people laugh and cry at the same time. If you want balance and pull people in for a story, then maybe make them laugh for awhile before the sad part comes? That's how comedy drama often start out as.

But some stories are fully comedic while others are depressing. Its not always both, sometimes its one or the other. That doesn't mean its garbage.

We are in such a messed up world that pedophilia is becoming mainstream and encouraged so its understandable. Just try and get a girl to read over it. They are naturally emotional.

Am confused how this relates to OP's thread.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Needs a magical setting:
Have the story about the MC.
MC has a mentor who is bitter and scarred by how much life sucks.
Establish mentor to be totally unemotional and sarcastic.
Have a climatic battle where the MC needs to Defeat Big Bad Guy who's powers are running on pure evil.
BBG corners MC and MC cannot get to Machine powered by evil.
Mentor steps up to the machine and grabs the thingamabob that is sucking up all the pain and misery to power it and actually opens his heart by remembering all the good times and all the people's he's lost. He completely opens up his heart to all the pain of loss so that he can remember the good times enough to disrupt the flow of misery and hamstring the BBG so the MC can win.

This is a variation on the Mentor dies for the MC trope, where he doesn't actually die, but he has to basically wish he was dead by coming to terms with what he's given up.

The most effective manner would be to have him have flashbacks to the good times with the MC, but then also include his dead wife, his children, time spent just having a picnic, and an assortment of mundane happy times where he remembers the love he'd lost, even if it will absolutely tear his heart into shreds later. Perhaps he used some sort of spell to block out all those memories because he couldn't deal with it, and in releasing the spell, all the good memories come flooding back long enough, but you then have to include the aftermath where he basically is an emotional cripple once he realizes he'll never see those he lost every again.

Then you can follow up with the MC pulling him back from the brink of just blowing his own brains out by showing him that there are other good things in this world.

If that doesn't get some tears, I don't know what will.