A few weeks ago, I was talking with some writer friends over Discord, and I asked for their feedback on a brand new character and story idea. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know that all of my characters start out fairly vague and extreme. The initial concept I gave them was quite dark. I believe it was the extreme harshness of the concept that prompted one of my friends to ask why so many stories feature harsh situations. Where are all the fun and uplifting stories? he asked.

The title question of this post (now mini-series) came to my mind as I reflected on his questions. To be clear, I’m not trying to argue against him. Yet as I pondered the title question more, I came to some intriguing conclusions that I’d like to share here on the blog.

Before diving into the murky depths, let’s cover a couple of surface-level counters to my friend’s questions — two easy-to-grab reasons why dark stories are so prevalent.

The Current Zeitgeist

Or to put it in layman’s terms “Have you seen the news, my dude?” The upcoming 2020 election in America, the aftermath of Brexit, the pandemic that’s given the internet its new viral waifu Corona-chan — need I say more? Regardless of what you think about these issues, I think all creatives can agree that it’s hard to keep our emotions about them out of our work. I would not be surprised if 20, 30 years from now, there will be a slew of academic papers analyzing the dark and edgy reboots and original works of the early 21st century in an effort to understand what compelled us to create these things.

Define Fun

Let’s face it. Different people have different preferences — always have, always will. That’s why so many genres, categories, and styles exist. Do you love roller coasters or water rides? For the gamers in the audience, do you mostly play multi-player or single-player games? Personally, I’ll never understand why people like being scared, but apparently, it’s a real thing for a lot of them — real enough to make horror one of the most popular genres of all time.

Long time readers of my flash and Friday fiction have likely noticed that I have dark artistic sensibilities. Not straight-up Goth and horror, but close? I know many of the prompts and Ideas to Steal sprung from the dark corners of my imagination. There’s little use in me hiding the fact that I like exploring humanity’s dark potential, the warts most refuse to acknowledge, and the harsh circumstances that awaken this potential and are left in its wake. It’s a kind of fun that’s hard to describe, though hopefully as I continue this series, I can give clues about what it’s like.

Unfortunately, that will have to wait till next time. For now, I’d like to hear your answer to the title question. What are your favorite genres? How do you define fun when it comes to writing and reading?