The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Balancing The Light & Dark

THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: BALANCING THE LIGHT & DARK

I've always been someone who is more attracted to some dark aspects of fiction. While there are whole romance genres that deal with that side of things, for me it's more about the crime element. As in I prefer to read dark, girtty crime and mystery. I also love to read the cozy kind too, but I digress. As a writer, I've never shied away from the dark aspects of some of the stories I tell. From murder scenes to death visions, to battles and war, and all of that wrapped up in some parts of the world that are just not light hearted.

But I've always also been someone who likes to have some elements of the light in there too. Like I said, I like both dark crime, but also the light kind too. I want to be able to give my readers the best of both worlds, with some things that are dark and disturbing, and others that are sweet and light. It can be hard to strike the right kind of balance between the two because they can be seen to cancel each other out. On top of which, if you hit the notes right with one, the other might be to jarring to the reader, and that's why it's so important that you find that balance, and make sure it's reflected in your stories.

So here are some of my tips about how to keep that balance just right, with the caveat that for some readers will want more of one than the other, and you cannot ever please everyone, so keep that in mind!

#1 NAVIGATING THE PEAKS AND LOWS
I'm sure you've all seen that one plot outline that looks like a graph, it has highs, it has lows, and when you're trying to work out where your story should be, it can be really useful. The same applies to dark and light. If you call the dark the lows, and the light the peaks, then you need to make sure that they complement each other. For example, if you've had a very dark section, right down in the lows of the graph, then it might be a way to give your characters, and the reader, a break with a small peak. 

By this I don't mean shoot it right up to the top of the graph because that is going to be super jarring, but just enough that there's that tension release, and gives everyone a chance to breathe before going back into the rest of the story. I've done this in a lot of my dark books, one that springs to mind is the Lights Out trilogy where you're dealing with a dystopian hellscape and Lock, the main character, is dealing with a lot of darkness. I've sprinkled in some lightness to help break that tension, and allow Lock to see that things will get better. You can do this however you please, but just remember to keep them complementing each other.

#2 DON'T EVER GO TOO DARK/LIGHT
If your story is one that deals with the dark side of humanity, then make sure you have some idea of how dark you want this to get. The same applies to the lightness in a book with both. You don't want to, going back to that graph I mentioned, have a really really raw and deep low that seems out of place, and you don't want a peak of light that kinda makes the reader think: what the heck is this?

Obviously you know your story and characters best, but it's something to keep in mind, because if you cross this line, you might end up losing some of your readers for it. If they signed up for a dark gritty crime and you're also giving them such big peaks that it's kinda jarring, it's not gonna be the experience they were looking for.

Overall, just remember that when using both, and you will, to some degree, need both, you have to keep them on the same level, and make sure they mesh and blend together well, otherwise your graph is going to look like someone running a marathon.

However you go about it, good luck!

Any questions? Lemme know in the comments! 

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