User blog comment:Corbierr/Examining Dark Stories/@comment-25576856-20141122030023/@comment-25576856-20141122032136

I agree that the tone doesn't have to be all dark in a dark story. If it's, for example, a story about abuse, the ending could be a bit lighter and leave the reader with some hope. I'm not talking about anything like a sunset ending, I'm saying that the ending could show the character starting on the path to recovery. I find myself comparing/relating myself to characters in what I read, and I agree that a reader will feel that if the character can't recover, neither can they. But it can't be super easy for the character to recover either; that would be like minimizing the problem. I think that a good ending would be showing the character beginning recovery.

We need both dark and light stories. I don't believe that one is better than the other, but I will generally gravitate to darker stories. But if a person only reads dark stories, they will feel depressed and down. On the other hand, if they only read light stories, then the reader might feel a lack of substance, emotion, and deep meaning. If a long story--a novel, or a long fanfic--can incorporate both dark elements like dealing with abuse and lighter moments, then I think that's the best formula. If we're talking about something short, like a one-shot, then light stories could have brief moments of depth and dark stories could have brief moments of light.