My stories all tend to be pretty dark. I was thinking about this the other day, and it made me wonder why. I mean, I'm not a particularly dark person. In fact, I'm generally fairly light hearted and silly. I have a good, if slightly eccentric, sense of humor, and I think I'm mostly pretty fun to be around.
So why is my writing so bleak? Why do I like to explore the dark side of people and their experiences?
I don't know.
I think everyone has darkness in them. Most people manage to keep it under control and don't go out and shoot up schools or post offices, or slit their wrists in abandoned warehouses. Most people keep their light side on the outside, hiding the dark side in some gloomy pocket of their soul.
Perhaps exploring that dark side through writing is my way of keeping it where it belongs. Maybe if I didn't write about these things, I'd act differently.
What do you think? Do you explore darkness in your work?
I don't think darkness has to do with shooting up post offices. I think it's more seeing the world realistically, but with a dash of cynicism (or more than a dash). I may fill my novels with dark, horrible things, but that's only so I can have the good-guys win in the end. If only it were so simple in the real world...
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