How to Write a Tragic Love Story

The following article is in response to Nicholas' question on how to write a tragic love story.

Hi Nicholas!

I am so glad to get your question. Sorry for having taken so long to answer it. It is a wonderful question, and I will venture to answer it as well as I can.

I am glad to learn that you are a writer. Way to go! I am terribly happy to learn about your passion for writing.

Now, let us get to work.

Let me get your question clear. You asked:

Hi LJ! I came across your website from http://ezinearticles.com/?Secrets-to-Writing-a-Sad-Story&id=2016391.

How do I write a tragedic love story? I want it to be very dark and with lots of descriptions about the surroundings.

Thanks, nick

To begin with, a big thumbs up to ezinearticles.com for giving us room to deliver our articles to the voracious readers out there!

Firstly, let us dissect the phrase tragic love story. Notice that it is actually spelt tragic. Something tragic is something that is sad or distressing. To some extent, you are asking how to write a sad love story. However, something tragic goes beyond sad. It conveys images of sheer misfortune and sheer distress. Unlike a mere sad story, it is also quite a visual story with deliberate effort to portray by the use of vivid imagery the events that make the story so tragic. It is no wonder then that you want to employ a lot of visual descriptions.

In addition to being tragic, this story is going to be a love story. It is quite obvious what a love story is, isn't it?

A love story is a story about the romantic attraction and attachment between two people, especially of the opposite sex. Such a story can also be called a romantic story, but romance often borders on fantasy. A love story on the other hand tends to depicts the reality of love. It not only casts love in a wonderful, beautiful light, but at times, it also shows that the path of love is often full of tragedy and pain.

It seems then that you are already on the right track.

You have probably read tragic love stories before. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a good example. The blue print for these stories is quite the same: two people fall madly in love with each other; but of course they meet a lot of obstacles that work against their love. Usually, these obstacles emanate from opposition from other human beings. At other times, however, these obstacles may be sudden, freak events. In most cases, as the story develops, the characters manage to overcome these obstacles.

For that tragic effect, which leaves the reader aghast, after seemingly overcoming all these obstacles to their love, one character, or both, undergoes a sudden, freak event which often results in death.

Now, Nick, you say you want it to be a very dark tragic love story. By that I understand that you want it to induce not only gloominess, but also frightful excitement. So it seems your story will also involve the portrayal of sinister events. It can't get darker than that. I am already getting the shivers just thinking about it. So your love story borders a bit on horror as well.

To make your story very dark, you need to use very dark descriptions. How do you go about that? This is where imagery and symbolism come in.

Imagery refers to the use of metaphors and similes to paint vivid mental images. Symbolisms refers the use of the same in a manner more suggestive of meaning. How do I mean?

A metaphor is a comparison in which the thing being compared is described as being another. For example:

Her arms were a fatal coil around his waist.

A simile is a comparison in which something is likened to another. The comparison words 'as' or 'like' are employed. Here is an example:

She coiled her arms around him like a snake.

As you can see from the above examples, a metaphor is more forceful than a simile.

Good writers use imagery and symbolism well to create the atmosphere and mood they want. There are certain things that we associate with other things. For example, we often associate light with righteousness, and darkness with evil. Someone happy can be described as being bright. Something sad can also be described as being grey.

Therefore, creating a dark setting is just a matter of choosing the correct imagery. However, you must not just make blunt statements like: The man had a dark look about him. You must learn to paint with words, carefully selecting your wording so that you make the reader visualise what you are talking about. See how I create a dark setting in the following piece:

Sarah found herself standing alone in large, dingy room. There was a large table in the centre, with nothing on it but a nearly burnt out candle. The darkness in the room seemed heavy enough to put out its flickering light. There was a cloak hanging on the one of the chairs, casting a shadow on the wall that seemed like the head of an old man with a crooked nose. This shadow, in the flickering candle light, was quivering, and it almost seemed that the old man was nodding to her. As she concentrated on this shadow, she felt a presence behind her...

After creating such a dark ambience, the mindset of the reader is already prepared to expect something dark. For example, what do you expect the presence behind Sarah to be? Something nice or something awful?

Do you see how vivid imagery can make your surroundings come to life?

Now to make your story even darker, you may paint sinister character sketches. For example:

'Who are you?' she aked fearfully, her voice quivering along with the rest of her body.

The man just chuckled. With an evil leer on his face, he continued moving towards her. Spontaneously, she moved backwards. A thought came to her mind to run, but she knew that was unwise, because she could definitely not outrun him. He was a well built man with large broad shoulders. She drew to a dead halt when she hit into the wall behind her. With wild eyes and a heavily pounding heart, she stared back at the man helplessly. She could not tell, even slightly, who he was, because his face was shrouded in darkness, the cap he wore making it all the more darker. He advanced towards her in deliberately slow strides. A little while later he was standing before her, his face only a few inches away from hers. Now she could see who he was, but he was not someone she knew. He had a large face with square jaws, and dark eyes that bored desirously into her. He thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a knife. He pinned her against the wall with his large arm and placed the cold blade against her throat.

'Don't scream, honey,' he said in a husky tone. 'Else you are gone.'

Sarah nodded her head obediently. She shuddered from head to toe as she felt the blade start sinking into her skin...

For your story to effectively be a tragic love story, you have to make your main characters travel the well known path of love. Their love has to be especially strong, because you are placing it against a very dark setting or backdrop.

However, since it is a tragic story, we know too well that it will have a sad ending. The love of the characters will be cruelly curtailed just at that time when they have seemingly overcome all obstacles, just at its peak. Tragic indeed.

'Charles,' she breathed, her head falling onto his chest, 'I love you.'

'You don't need to say it, sweetheart; I can see it in your eyes.' He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her sweaty forehead.

'Oh, Charles.'

The cold wind swirled around them and bit at their raw flesh. The crows flew in circles above, filling the air with eerie cries. The trees nearby howled as their branches danced in the wind. Feeling that the worst was finally over, Charles held her tighter and shuddered as he felt the warmth of her body against his chilled self. She snuggled even closer, purring with her eyes closer. For her, this is all she ever wanted—to be with the man she loved forever.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of snapping wood, and before he could make out what was happening, he felt Sarah slip downwards and out of his hands. He groped about desperately for her but she fell too quickly and too fast. He instantly fell onto his chest, sticking out his hand through the large, gaping hole and watching in severe shock as the love of his life plummeted to the depths below, screaming. Without thinking twice about it, he dived after her. There was the sound of two smashing bodies on the rock, one after the other, but for a few seconds after that, the screaming could still be heard echoing off the mountain sides...

That was just a little example of how dark and tragic you could make your story, Nick. But in reality, you could do much better.

So, in summary, to make a story very dark, and to use vivid descriptions of the surroundings, you have to make good use of imagery. Yes, use words that paint pictures, and not just any pictures, but the right pictures. An artist carefully chooses his colour to suit the painting he is painting. If he is painting a sad painting, he uses a lot of dull colours. You should do the same.

You have the power to write anything. All you need is to use your imagination. So...

Imagine. And you will be on your way to writing a tragic love story!

And when you are done, because you will, I would very much love to read it. I am very certain that it will be great.

Hope I have fully answered your question. And if I haven't, feel free to tell me, Nick.

 

Return from Tragic Love Story to Ask it!