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Q&A Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy

I would like to offer a frame challenge: you're asking "will X make my story not fit the 'dark fantasy' sub-sub-genre". I say, write your story, make it a good one, then think what genre or sub-gen...

posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:39Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46778
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T12:30:18Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46778
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T12:30:18Z (over 4 years ago)
I would like to offer a frame challenge: you're asking "will X make my story not fit the 'dark fantasy' sub-sub-genre". I say, **write your story, make it a good one, _then_ think what genre or sub-genre it fits.**

Does the twist you're planning make your story a good story? Neil Gaiman says "Fiction is the lie that tells a truth" ([source](https://jenny-arch.com/2013/10/16/neil-gaiman-fiction-is-the-lie-that-tells-the-truth/)). Are you telling a Truth? Then go for it. If in the end your story comes out not "grimdark fantasy" but just "fantasy", where's the harm in that?

For what it's worth, I find that a world that goes all wrong because of somebody's trivial wants, and somebody making stupid mistakes, and somebody burying their head in the sand, and somebody clucking their tongue but being unable to be bothered to do something - that's both more realistic and more tragic than some evil mastermind deliberately working to destroy things. But that's not the main point.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-07-21T11:39:14Z (almost 5 years ago)
Original score: 27