S37E3 - Don't Write Dark Things, It Just Glorifies Them

One piece of common bad advice we see among authors is the suggestion that by writing detailed dark topics, the author is glorifying it. They suggest that writing racist characters must mean the author is racist, or that being able to write such evil, the author must spend a lot of time fantasizing about it. That simply isn't true.

The reason this piece of advice is bad is because it leads to lackluster stories. Dark aspects of humanity exist, and it does not serve fiction authors to ignore that simply because it is uncomfortable. Stories are better if you allow yourself to explore and shine light into the darkness. And just because you write it doesn't mean you agree with it.

We discuss how to approach writing the darkness without glorifying it in this episode.

First aired November 10, 2022.