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@wordsmith

I got home late last night read your reply and made for the window. XD It is the closest thing to heaven I’ve ever found… Especially this time of year because there are fireflies and it is just plain gorgeous. And yes, it is plenty cool, I always have to grab one of my dad’s or brother’s fleeces before getting up there (why do guys always get the nice warm fleeces??? Guy fleeces are awesome in every way except for the pockets).

The roof is the best place to think about writing/have quiet time/pray. I’m going to miss it a lot when we move…

We are not under any pressure to create anything new, merely see it under a different looking glass. That is something I find helpful to remember.

Yes, I do agree with that. Because really, truth is always truth, is it even possible to create new truth? That is once again why I love fantasy: It’s a looking glass that I can use to explore truth in a unique way.

Secondly, I believe in writing a story that serves the purpose of ending on a sad and depressing note, to show the depravity of man, and or the sadness of man’s fall. That is an example of an extreme.

With this… I agree yes, I want to have sad and stunning endings (I was contemplating killing at least one more of my main characters last night, and if I do, it will be emotionally traumatic) XD to show that stories usually don’t turn out the way we would hope or expect. We live in a fallen world where bad things happen. Yet I don’t want to leave it at that. I think even the darkest story should have some sort of redemptive quality that doesn’t leave the reader feeling depressed and darkened.

Take the movie Gladiator for example (yes, I am mentioning this a lot because it was almost as good as the LOTR films). The story is deeply sad. Most the characters die and it is a heart wrenching film to watch. My dad was sitting there bawling by the end and I was sitting there feeling guilty that my tear ducts don’t work properly when watching a movie. The story would be downright depressing if it weren’t for the fact that it ends with hope. We watched the extended cut, and I think that it shows a little more that the main character is a Christian (we think, it wasn’t ever explicitly said that he was, but we gathered it from small things here and there). The ending is heart breaking, but it is also beautiful because it shows that even though the story is a tragedy, it doesn’t end with that. I’m trying not to give spoilers… If you haven’t seen it, you need to see it. If it weren’t for LOTR this would be my favorite film of all time.

All I’m saying is that I do believe in dark and even depressing stories, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving my reader to wallow in that. Even if it’s just a spark, I think there needs to be some sort of hope to remind them that the dark doesn’t win. It may seem that way, but it doesn’t. Maybe the main characters die, but does the dark triumph? Because if that is all there is, then our characters had no reason to fight for anything in the first place. I would eventually love to write a tragedy, but one that doesn’t leave my readers hopeless.

Those are my thoughts on writing sad stories/hope. When I say I want to write hopeful stories I often actually mean my stories will end up being darker, but that is so that the pinprick of light will be all the more beautiful in the dark. Sometimes sad endings help to show hope for what it really is. Gladiator did a fantastic job of doing that. Do you have any thoughts on that? 🙂