Depressing Dialogue

Depressing Dialogue

I’ve just finished writing an essential part of the story where the dialogue is deliberately depressing. (It is a murder mystery, after all.) The only problem with writing these chapters is that I find it gets me down by the time I’ve finished it. Is that normal for authors? To find that you are so into the story you’re writing, that you feel what they feel? Or maybe it’s just the context of the text, so to speak? The chapter I just finished included the sleuth speaking to the grieving mother of 2 dead children. This was not going to be a happy conversation. But was it the dialogue that depressed me, or the situation? Or maybe I’m just being a bit too sensitive about my own writing?

When it comes to reading, I enjoy stories that are entertaining, and I personally don’t find depressing novels entertaining. I know everyone is different, and that some may find this kind of literature enjoyable, but I don’t. These downer parts of your story are essential for the tale and must be included, even if you don’t enjoy writing them, because you are writing for the readers’ enjoyment, and it is they who must be entertained. But is there a way to write these necessary evils into a book without it bringing you down with it? If not, and all good authors feel what their characters feel, then how do you pick yourself up again from this slump?

As I’m writing this blog, I’m reminded of a novel I read some years ago called ‘Disco Bloodbath’ by James St James. When only the bare bones of this story are examined, you can see it is an incredibly depressing tale; it’s all about drug taking teens taking overdoses and killing each other. But the way the author has broached the subject and carefully used language, makes reading this twisted tale of depravity an enjoyable experience.

So no easy task, but it is possible to read a depressing tale and still enjoy it, so can we write it and still enjoy it? What do you think?

Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x