The Truth About Dark Fiction Writers ✍️
✍️ Dark fiction writers. ✍️
Are we as deranged and disastrous as our creations would make us out to be? Is there something "disturbed" about our minds that sets us apart from other authors, or are we all the same creature in the end?
Writing dark fiction can be a challenge. You invest varying degrees of dark content into your story, from brutal physical pain and murder to heavy, brooding topics that not everyone is keen on reading. Your story isn't going to amaze everybody (Stephen King fans, raise 'em up high!), but you'll know prejudice when you see it. Often, this prejudice translates to either the perception or reality of the person condemning your content not approving of you.
What, then, is the purpose of the dark writer?
We are your researchers.
We collect disturbing information, identify dark trends in society and history, and translate our intuition and observations into entertainment. This entertainment, however, is not intended merely to excite you.
The dark writer, when guided by the light, is a beacon of understanding and change.
It is easy to scoff at this truth, but the reality is that many are not as aware as they ought to be of the evils in our world. While all human beings innately sense right and wrong, there are plenty who would rather look past darkness and ignore unsettling patterns than tackle them head-on.
Dark writers will gladly do the tackling for you.
We are not superior or of greater value than the average individual. Like all men and women, though, we have our unique position on this planet, and ours is to expose the shadows for what they truly are and plant subliminal thoughts through our literature.
While all authors are an interesting breed, the dark fantasy and fiction author takes their craft a step further by boldly venturing into the twists and turns of human wickedness, duality, supernatural phenomena, and deceit to make something thrilling and relatable out of the mess.
We are not hesitant about dirtying our hands with our characters' blood. We can stomach the filth of the world and translate that into beauty. We do not fear describing real events and circumstances in indulgent detail.
Why? Because we have a message to share.
Dark fiction writers have a proclivity for intensity, sensitivity, raw, biting honesty, and occasional flashes of satirical wit. We do not intend to harm you, but we hope, after dragging you through the shadows of our mind and eventually into the light, that we hurt your feelings a little. Even a lot.
With that said, I want to address some facts about myself that contradict my image as a dark fiction writer. If an artist is defined plainly by their content, it is easy to miss other information about them in favor of adhering to a label. While I don't mind the perception that I'm "dark-minded" and "twisted" in the head - it is amusing and probably contains a degree of truth - eviscerating my characters isn't all there is to me.
There is much more to writing, and living itself, than dark content.
Here are the nuances…
Writers are known for being sensitive creatures. A major joy in our process is creating characters who we take through the highs and lows of life. In my debut novel, my protagonist experiences some of the worst horrors imaginable, and it is my joyful duty to guide her through her human emotions of remorse, self-loathing, and shame into redemption.
I exist to give Twilight, and all my characters, a taste of the human experience.
Writing is far beyond darkness, evil, and struggles. It is fundamentally about connecting human beings to the higher purpose of life and everything this entails. Writing is about finding the joy, love, faith, friendship, and other beauties of existence and sharing them with the world through the lenses of our individual minds.
Being a dark writer is no different. We love the people we bring to life, and we love even more when our work infuses readers with ideas and feels real and special to them.
Contrary to what may be believed, we are not vicious or deranged. Okay... maybe a tad bit deranged... but as a dark fiction author, I love:
Sentimental stories
Winnie the Pooh
Christmas movies
Snowmen (they're precious)
Emotional music
Reading children's books and bedtime stories to kids
Baby animals
Bugs and spiders (we're all friends!)
The innocence of nature
Birdsong
Simple blessings (like a lovely sunset)
In addition to these things, I also enjoy dark, disturbing, psychologically gripping content, but this is a given.
Ultimately, dark fiction writers, while we view the world through shadow-colored glasses, are empathetic and sentimental entities. Even those of us with humor more dry than sun-baked bones are fundamentally optimistic, idealistic, and hopeful. We display the darkness of the world in the hopes of inspiring change...
Because we know people can change, and we know that the light always prevails.
So, don't write off dark writers just yet. Much like our content, we are nuanced creations. 😇
