Stories Have a Purpose

   


      I was recently told that most of my stories are sad.  The following is what I wrote in response.

     Stories have a goal in mind. Some strive for mere laughter others for laughter and a serious consideration of social issues such as environmental and political concerns. Some are sad on purpose for didactic purposes and not for the purpose of saddening or depressing a reader simply for the sake of saddening. For example, the Bible has hundreds of stories that can either be viewed as simply saddening, yet they contain very valuable lessons for the reader. Remove those sad stories and the Bible is impoverished. The story of Jesus is a sad story par excellence since getting crucified is a horrible way to die. Peters denial of Jesus is sad as well as Judas Iscariot betrayal and suicide. The Devil'd torturing of Lot is sad. David's taking Uriah's wife and having him murdered is sad. Samson's life is a tragic one. The story of Adam and Eve is tragic as is the Global Flood is very sad as is the Tower of Babel incident. In fact, it is fair to say that approx 75 percent of the Bible is composed of sad stories. Yet they contain valuable lessons for a perceptive reader..



     Non-biblical stories have the purpose to both entertain and provoke a consideration of issues such as what real friendship involves. What is really involved in the resurrection. The value of bravery in the face of what appears to be insurmountable odds. The triumph of good over evil and value of persistence. The foolishness of pursing a course of war to resolve issues which can lead to the ruination of the earth.



     Of course not all stories are fit to be read by all readers. That is why publishers ask what age group we are targeting in our stories and whether we are using a vocabulary aimed at what educational level. We aren't going to write explicitly violent things if our targeted audience children or excessively complex issues if our targeted audience are adolescents. Isaac Asimov aimed his stories at those whose intellectual abilities enjoyed the complexities of the technological and scientific ad the deep conversations hat his characters engaged in page after page. So not everyone enjoyed his writing.



     Please note that I also have a certain message or theme around which my stories revolve, and it isn't merely to inflict sadness on the reader nor to express my own sadness or to use the stories as a catharsis for expunging myself of pent-up emotions. I am very carefully seeking to convey a deeper message and hoping that my targeted audience will see that this is the meaning of the story.



     For example, I have one based on the Twilight Zone Episode to Serve Man but with a twist to it. A reader might just see sadness and miss the whole point. In that case I fail to convey what I intended to. But my failure to convey is not indicative of my failure as a writer. Instead, it is the reader who fails to dig deeper and to perceive the lesson or moral of the story that is at fault.

At m, YW forum, I had a person take umbrage over a story I wrote called Insanity which has aliens discussing why they will not land on Earth. A reader accused me of using it to further my social issues agenda as if that were prohibited. Of course, I was focusing on social issues. So did Jesus when he provided his parables. So the objection was strange.



     In any case, if indeed a reader cannot stomach a certain writer's style, or it causes deep sadness or depression for whatever the reason, then it would be best that the reader not read that author. I, for one, would not read the author of Mouth But Can't Scream if I noticed that all his stories were like that one since he was definitely excessive in his depiction pf violence to a very unnecessary degree. None of my stories can be accused of graphically doing that, and I always strive to stay within the parameters of what is generally considered good taste. However, if indeed they are disturbing you to the degree that you seem to be claiming then I can understand why you would decide not to read them.