The Darkest Hour by Allison Symes

Image Credits:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images.

At this time of year, it is easy to focus on the darkness and to forget the light (of spring) will return. In stories, every character will have their “darkest hour”. I see it as when all seems doomed to failure. Then something happens, the light begins to come through, help comes in some way, and the story pivots towards a positive ending. At least there will be the hope of a positive ending.

Ideally, something in your character will help them strive towards that positive ending or make it more likely they will get this. If  a character is prepared to, say, work hard, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect their positive ending will be where they get the reward for this or are about to do so. 

There should be no coincidences. Readers don’t believe in them. We, as Christian writers, don’t believe in them either, but we need to show something about our character which means it is likely  they are going to overcome their darkest hour. Often this is with the aid of other characters, of course. (This is especially true for fantasy, I think).

The darkest hour can take many forms. It can be as “simple” (not that anything is) as a character having a bad case of self-doubt. It isn’t just writers who suffer from imposter syndrome - characters can too! It can be as “complicated” as a character having too many problems to resolve at once (and I’m sure many of us, and our readers, will sympathise).

It pays to give some thought as to what kind of darkest hour your characters will face. Also what is it about them which makes them prone to this? If it is outside circumstances, what could your characters do to circumvent these? What help would they need and are they the kind of character prepared to seek help? Plenty of story ideas there, I think.

There can be something behind the darkest hour - spiritual or other attack. So how can that be overcome or, at least, minimised so your character can come out of the other side? 

All stories pivot on moments of change. A character overcoming something, with help or not, is a major pivot, as can be recognising there is something which needs to be overcome. Ebenezer Scrooge had to be forced to face up to his past to recognise the darkness which had taken him over. No redemption would be possible until he did face this.

As writers, we face our darkest hour as we craft our stories and non-fiction. I doubt if there has ever been a writer who hasn’t been tempted to give up at times. I often find tiredness is a factor here. 

Being kind to yourself can be a major help against your writing darkest hour. It can help let the light back in again. All writing “counts” whether you write for five minutes or five hours and I’ve found it pays to remember that during busy times.