How to Write a Sad Story: 33 Best Tips + Examples

Writing a sad story requires the mastery of various literary techniques, the ability to express emotion convincingly, and the skill to create characters and situations that resonate with readers.

Here is how to write a sad story:

Write a sad story by developing empathetic characters, crafting a tragic backstory, using detailed descriptive language, creating high stakes, and incorporating a fitting setting. Effective use of literary devices like symbolism, metaphors, and flashbacks can enhance the emotional depth.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore 33 techniques that can help you write a compelling sad story.

Tip 1: Develop Empathetic Characters

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To create a story that genuinely moves readers, it’s essential to develop characters that they can empathize with.

Spend time developing your characters—understand their backgrounds, their motivations, their strengths, and weaknesses.

The more real your characters feel, the more readers will care about what happens to them.

For example, in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the characters George and Lennie are portrayed with such depth that their struggles and ultimate downfall are deeply affecting to the reader.

Tip 2: Use Show Don’t Tell

“Show, don’t tell” is a classic writing advice that applies excellently when writing a sad story.

Instead of telling readers how a character feels, show it through their actions, dialogues, or reactions. This method involves readers more deeply as it lets them infer the emotional state of the characters.

Take as an example J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix.

Instead of saying “Harry was angry,” she shows it: “Harry was silent. His fists were clenched in his pockets. He seemed to be chewing the interior of his mouth.

Tip 3: Craft a Tragic Backstory

Creating a tragic backstory for your character can evoke sympathy from the reader.

This backstory can be slowly revealed through the narrative, increasing reader’s investment in the character’s fate.

For instance, in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir’s guilt over his past actions towards his friend Hassan lends a heartbreaking undertone to the entire story.

Tip 4: Use Symbolism and Foreshadowing

Symbolism and foreshadowing can be used effectively to deepen the sadness in a story.

Symbols can represent a character’s emotions or foreshadow their fate, and foreshadowing can create a sense of impending doom that enhances the tragic atmosphere.

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the green light stands for dreams that Gatsby can’t reach. It hints of his eventual tragedy are sprinkled throughout the book.

Tip 5: Create High Stakes

High stakes can make a story more gripping and its sad moments more impactful.

Make sure something significant is at risk – whether it’s the character’s life, their loved ones, or their cherished dreams.

Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games is a prime example.

Katniss Everdeen volunteers for the deadly Hunger Games to save her sister, making the stakes extremely high.

Tip 6: Use Detailed Descriptive Language

Using detailed descriptive language can help convey the emotional tone of a scene and make readers feel the sadness more acutely.

Describe not just what’s happening, but also the sensory details and the character’s internal thoughts.

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout’s detailed narration of events brings a potent sense of innocence lost, making the unfairness and sadness of the story even more poignant.

Tip 7: Evoke Pathos

Pathos is a rhetorical device that appeals to the reader’s emotions.

Use it to create a strong emotional connection between the reader and your characters. This can be achieved through the portrayal of universal human experiences and raw emotions that the reader can relate to.

Consider Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, where the protagonist’s despair and loss in war evoke deep pathos.

Tip 8: Write Realistic Dialogue

Well-written dialogue can reveal a character’s emotions, making the sadness in your story more real and relatable.

Ensure the dialogue feels natural and true to the character, and avoid melodramatic speeches that may come off as insincere.

In The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, the dialogue between Hazel and Gus is filled with raw emotion, making their tragic story even more heartbreaking.

Tip 9: Use Contrast

Contrasting happy moments with sad ones can make the tragic elements of your story stand out more.

This can be done by contrasting scenes, characters, or moods. The sudden shift from joy to sorrow can intensify the emotional impact.

An example is in Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, where the joyous moments only serve to highlight the tragic circumstances of the characters’ lives.

Tip 10: Choose a Fitting Setting

Create an atmosphere of sadness.

The setting of your story can contribute to the overall mood. A gloomy, desolate, or oppressive setting can reinforce the sad tone of your story.

Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights uses the bleak moorland setting to mirror the tragic and passionate story of Heathcliff and Cathy.

Tip 11: Use Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes can be used to depict emotions in a creative and impactful way.

They can offer fresh perspectives and deeper insights into a character’s feelings.

For example, in 1984 by George Orwell, the metaphor “His heart seemed to be frozen” vividly conveys the character’s despair.

Tip 12: Use Internal Monologue

There are few techniques more visceral than when you dive into the character’s mind.

Internal monologue can give readers a direct insight into a character’s thoughts, feelings, and struggles. This can make the emotional journey more personal and touching.

An example is in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, where the characters’ stream of consciousness provides a poignant look into their inner lives.

Tip 13: Create Relatable Characters

In other words, make your characters human.

Ensure your characters are relatable and have human flaws.

Readers are more likely to feel for characters who are believable and imperfect, rather than idealized or one-dimensional.

In A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, the characters’ struggles with their personal demons are so human and raw that it’s impossible not to be moved by their story.

Tip 14: Use Irony

Irony, especially tragic irony, can enhance the sadness in a story.

It occurs when a character’s actions have the opposite effect of what was intended, or when the reader is aware of information that the character isn’t.

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is a classic example, in a situation where Oedipus, without his knowledge, makes a prophecy come true by ending up killing his father and marrying his mother, leading to his ultimate downfall.

Tip 15: Ramp Up Conflict and Tension

Conflict and tension are the driving forces of any story.

They keep readers engaged and invested in the characters’ journeys. The more the characters struggle, the more tragic their failures or losses will feel.

In Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Scarlett O’Hara’s constant struggles and conflicts, both external and internal, lend a tragic undertone to the entire story, making her eventual losses deeply affecting.

Tip 16: Write from the Heart

Let your own raw emotions flow into and through the story.

Writing a sad story requires a certain amount of emotional investment. Don’t shy away from channeling your own feelings into the narrative.

Genuine emotion can make a story resonate more deeply with readers.

In Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, the author’s real-life experiences and emotions about his mentor’s illness give the story a heartfelt and moving quality.

Tip 17: Use Pacing Effectively

You want to control the emotional intensity.

Pacing plays a crucial role in managing the emotional intensity of your story. Too much sadness can be overwhelming, while too little can feel underwhelming.

Strike a balance by interspersing sad moments with lighter ones, and build up to the most emotional scenes gradually.

The pacing in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is masterfully done.

The story unfolds slowly, building tension and emotional intensity until it culminates in a deeply affecting climax.

Tip 18: Use Imagery

As the author of a sad story, create a vivid emotional landscape.

Imagery is a powerful tool for evoking emotion. Use it to create a vivid emotional landscape that reflects the characters’ feelings.

This can be done through descriptions of the physical environment, the characters’ actions, or symbolic images.

Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse is renowned for its emotive imagery.

The recurring image of the distant lighthouse, for instance, mirrors the characters’ yearning for connection and their sense of isolation.

Tip 19: Deepen Emotional Impact With Flashbacks

Flashbacks can be used to reveal a character’s past, deepen their characterization, and increase the emotional impact of the story.

They can offer insights into why a character feels a certain way, making their emotions more understandable and poignant.

In Beloved by Toni Morrison, flashbacks to the characters’ traumatic experiences during slavery add a profound layer of sadness to the story.

Tip 20: Don’t Overdo the Drama

While it’s important to evoke strong emotions, be careful not to overdo the drama.

Excessive melodrama can come off as manipulative or insincere.

The key is to keep the emotions and reactions of your characters believable and relatable.

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the post-apocalyptic world is bleak and the father and son’s struggle to survive is heart-wrenching, yet their emotions and reactions are so realistically portrayed that the sadness feels genuine and profound.

Tip 21: Heighten Your Prose With a Poetic Writing Style

A poetic writing style can lend a certain emotional intensity to your story.

This can be achieved through the use of rhythmic sentences, beautiful metaphors, and evocative language.

The writing style in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is notably poetic.

Her beautiful and evocative descriptions of the protagonist’s depression make the story all the more heartbreaking.

Tip 22: Create a Sense of Loss

Loss is a universal human experience that can evoke strong emotions.

By creating a sense of loss in your story, whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a dream, or innocence, you can tap into the readers’ emotions.

You make them feel the sadness more acutely (and, if you do your job right, even desperately).

In Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, the sudden loss of a dear friend leads to a profound sense of grief, making the story deeply sad and moving.

Tip 23: Use Emotional Honesty

Emotional honesty is crucial when writing a sad story.

Don’t shy away from portraying the raw, messy, and sometimes ugly side of emotions. The more honest you are in depicting emotions, the more readers will resonate with your story.

The emotionally honest portrayal of grief in The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is deeply affecting.

Her unflinching look at the reality of losing a loved one makes the book a poignant exploration of grief.

Tip 24: Let Characters Grow and Change

Characters who grow and change in response to tragic events can make a story more meaningful and impactful.

Show how the characters are affected by the sad events, how they cope, and how they change as a result.

This can make the tragedy feel more real and significant.

In Atonement by Ian McEwan, the characters’ lives are profoundly affected by a tragic event, and their subsequent growth and change add depth and poignancy to the story.

Tip 25: Create a Bittersweet Ending

A bittersweet ending, where there’s some joy but also sadness, can leave a lasting emotional impact. It can make readers reflect on the story long after they’ve finished reading.

In “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks, the ending is bittersweet. The couple is finally together, but the circumstances are far from ideal, leaving readers with a mix of joy and sorrow.

Tip 26: Use a Limited Point of View

Enhance the Emotional Intensity

A limited point of view can make the emotions in your story more immediate and intense.

By limiting the perspective to one character, you can dive deeper into their thoughts and feelings.

Also, you can make readers feel more connected to them.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, we only see things from the protagonist’s perspective. Holden Caulfield allows readers to experience his alienation and sadness firsthand.

Tip 27: Use Repetition for Emphasis

Another important tip is to highlight important emotional themes.

Repetition can be used to emphasize important emotional themes or symbols in your story.

By repeating certain words, phrases, or images, you can create a pattern that reinforces the sad tone of your story.

In Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the repetition of the term “donors” and “completing” serves as a constant reminder of the characters’ tragic fate, adding a sense of dread and sadness to the narrative.

Tip 28: Use Silence and Pauses

Silence and pauses can be used effectively to create emotional impact.

A pause in dialogue, a moment of silence, or an absence can speak volumes about a character’s emotional state and enhance the sad atmosphere.

In The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, the protagonist’s silences and pauses reveal his repressed emotions and regrets, making the story subtly tragic.

Tip 29: Use Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is a situation where the audience has more information about what’s happening than the characters in the story.

And it can be used to increase the emotional tension and sadness in your story.

This can make readers more engaged as they anticipate the tragic outcomes the characters are unaware of.

A classic example is in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, where the audience knows about the tragic miscommunications and misunderstandings before the characters do.

By doing so, you make the ending all the more heartbreaking.

Tip 30: Give the Reader a Tragic Hero

A tragic hero, a protagonist with a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall, can make your story more emotionally compelling.

The hero’s struggle against their fate and their eventual downfall can evoke a sense of pity and sadness.

Jay Gatsby is depicted as a doomed hero in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

His obsession with the past and an unattainable dream leads to his tragic end, making the story deeply sad.

Tip 31: Apply a Ticking Clock

A ticking clock, a deadline that the characters are racing against, can increase the tension and urgency in your story.

The fear of not making it in time can make the stakes higher and the tragic outcomes more poignant.

In On the Beach by Nevil Shute, the imminent arrival of deadly radiation increases the tension and urgency, making the characters’ attempts to live normally in their final days deeply tragic.

Tip 32: Keep Readers Guessing an Unreliable Narrator

An unreliable narrator, who is not entirely trustworthy or truthful, can make your story more intriguing and emotionally complex.

The uncertainty and the eventual revelation of the truth can add an element of sadness.

In the context of a sad story, an unreliable narrator can indirectly reveal their emotional turmoil, mental instability, or personal biases, which might be the sources of their sadness.

Their skewed perceptions of reality can gradually unfold to the reader.

For example, if the narrator minimizes their pain or grief, readers might only come to realize the extent of the narrator’s suffering as the story progresses.

Or, the narrator might misinterpret events due to their depressive or anxious state, leading to tragic misunderstandings or decisions.

Tip 33: Master the Art of Subtext

Subtext, what’s implied but not directly stated, can be a powerful tool for conveying emotions indirectly.

It can make the dialogue more realistic and the emotions more nuanced.

In Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, the subtext in the dialogue between the couple reveals the tension and sadness beneath the surface, making the story emotionally resonant despite its brevity.

Here is a good video about how to write a sad story:

YouTube Video by Writing With Jenna Moreci – How To Write a Sad Story

Summary Chart of Tips for Writing a Sad Story

Tips for Writing Sad StoriesBrief Description
Develop Empathetic CharactersUnderstand your characters’ backgrounds, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses to create a strong emotional connection with readers.
Use Show Don’t TellShow characters’ emotions through their actions, dialogues, or reactions rather than explicitly stating them.
Craft a Tragic BackstoryCreate a tragic backstory for your characters to evoke sympathy and increase readers’ investment in their fate.
Use Symbolism and ForeshadowingUse symbols to represent emotions and foreshadow tragic events to heighten the emotional impact.
Create High StakesMake the outcomes of the story matter to the characters and to the readers.
Use Detailed Descriptive LanguageUse detailed descriptions to convey the emotional tone of a scene and the characters’ internal thoughts.
Evoke PathosUse pathos to create a strong emotional connection between the reader and your characters.
Write Realistic DialogueUse dialogue to reveal character emotions and keep it natural and true to the character.
Use ContrastUse contrast to highlight the tragic elements of your story.
Choose a Fitting SettingSelect a setting that reinforces the sad tone of your story.
Use Metaphors and SimilesUse these literary devices to depict emotions in a creative and impactful way.
Use Internal MonologueProvide direct insight into a character’s thoughts, feelings, and struggles.
Create Relatable CharactersMake characters believable and imperfect to enhance reader engagement.
Use IronyUse irony, especially tragic irony, to enhance the sadness in a story.
Use Conflict and TensionThese elements can keep readers engaged and invested in the characters’ journeys.
Write from the HeartChannel your own feelings into the narrative to make a story resonate more deeply with readers.
Use Pacing EffectivelyUse pacing to manage the emotional intensity of your story.
Use ImageryUse vivid imagery to create a poignant emotional landscape.
Use FlashbacksFlashbacks can reveal a character’s past and increase the emotional impact of the story.
Don’t Overdo the DramaKeep emotions and reactions of your characters believable and relatable.
Use a Poetic Writing StyleUse rhythmic sentences, beautiful metaphors, and evocative language to add emotional intensity to your story.
Create a Sense of LossDepicting loss can evoke strong emotions and make readers feel the sadness more acutely.
Use Emotional HonestyBe truthful in portraying emotions to make readers resonate with your story.
Let Characters Grow and ChangeShow how characters are affected by sad events, how they cope, and how they change.
Create a Bittersweet EndingA bittersweet ending can leave a lasting emotional impact.
Use a Limited Point of ViewEnhance emotional intensity by limiting the perspective to one character.
Use Repetition for EmphasisUse repetition to highlight important emotional themes or symbols.
Use Silence and PausesUse absence to create emotional impact and to reflect a character’s emotional state.
Use Dramatic IronyDramatic irony can increase the emotional tension and sadness in your story.
Use a Tragic HeroCreate a protagonist with a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall.
Use a Ticking ClockIncrease the tension and urgency in your story.
Use an Unreliable NarratorAn unreliable narrator can make your story more intriguing and emotionally complex.
Master the Art of SubtextUse subtext to convey emotions indirectly and make the dialogue more realistic and nuanced.
How to Write a Sad Story (Summary of 33 Tips)

Final Thoughts: How to Write a Sad Story

Writing a sad story is an art that requires sensitivity, skill, and a deep understanding of human emotions.

By using these tips, you can create a story that touches readers’ hearts and leaves a lasting emotional impact.

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