: Re: Tips on writing grit I'm writing up a new story (which I've asked for help on in a few other places) which is a little outside my forte. The majority of my current work is saturday-morning

@Carla500

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This is something I've struggled with, too. Sometimes I end up re-reading my own output and thinking, "I wouldn't persevere with this stuff, it's too depressing."

Three tips:

1) Often a gritty, realistic feel is conveyed not by squalor per se but by concentrating on practicalities. Your hard boiled detective doesn't have to be an alcoholic, but he does have to pay the rent on his office. That means compromises.

2) Study books you like that have the level of grittiness you're aiming for. How exactly does your favorite author convey that the main character has had some tough breaks without going on about it at tedious length? How does s/he convey that nonetheless a core of idealism remains?

3) Forget about looking cool as an author. What has this to do with grit, you ask? Well, our society has a tendency to regard literary pessimism as sophisticated. When I find myself writing the aforementioned overly depressing stuff it's often because I pulled back from including something more optimistic - even when it was actually more realistic to include it - for fear of looking naive.

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