So when I mean I tried EVERYTHING of researching different sources for writing it, I mean it. So please what else can I research to write this genre?
Read about real life war crimes and atrocities. See what humans are actually capable of. Then use that knowledge in writing your fantasy.
Like, books to read in this genre? Poppy Wars Trilogy by RF Kuang Any of the Warhammers (Those were just the 2 off the top of my head but i will have more once im on my laptop) All the genre is, is a story with dark tone and hopeless endings. May i ask, what specificly about this genre are you looking for? Like, what are you researching about it (because there are quite a few things on it)?
you wouldn't worldbuild and create characters any differently than any other genre. plot, though, is where it differs from any other genre. so, for Worldbuilding, I recommend these sites: WorldAnvil. its for RPG games, but it also has 25 templates an guided prompts fro writers to worldbuild from. I've never used this site, but it popped up in a few blogs that I follow. Jerry Jenkins is a good source. I've read his blog for other topics, but he has a worldbuilding article, too. For me, I create my world on Azgaar. Once I have the visual, I "fill in the blanks" (religions, cultures, conflict, kingdoms, etc). Azgaar also does this.... once you create your map, it will automatically populate people, religion, culture and all of that worldbuilding stuff down to capital cities of each kingdom. I don't use those. I delete them off of my map and then I come up with my own "world." But you can use it if you want. that information is unique to the map you make (for example, if you make a map and then make changes to it, the "world's" population will change and the capital cities will move based on what you've added or taken out) for Character... that's very broad. there are some that use character templates, some who use the "character interview." I tend to develop the character as I go, to be honest. but its much more than character appearance. what are their goals? what are their strengths and weaknesses? this might be the easiest thing to search, so I'll leave that alone. Plot: Book Riot has a great article on "A brief Guide To Grimdark" "dark, broken worlds, with dark, broken characters." Plots vary, but the above themes are incorporated into the plot. The article also give additional examples of books in the genre and how each author tackles the theme diferently
Wow, thank you so much ❤️ But personally I don't think that writing characters under this genre is easy, I think.
Understandable. How I approach my characters is that i make them respond the the situations they are in. Based on the personalities i give them and their skillsets... all of that is going to change depending on the world and situations i put them in. You can develop your character base. But when you put them in a "grimdark" world, that character has to face dark and hopeless themes. That character becomes a grimdark character. Same as any genre. If I set that character base into a romance plot and put them in a rom-com situations... it becomes a quirky rom-com character. Its a running joke between my sister and I, that my characters are like my Sims creations (I've never played Sims but I get the jist of it). Your characters will act differently depending on what you do to them. There a video of someone who put their Sims in a windowless and doorless room. That Sims character walked around for a bit... then freaked out... then started crying. Another way to think about it is... read the suggested books in that genre. think about how the characters are different and how the situation impacts the characters. how would those characters respond to situations outside of the genre? (I'm going to plug FanFiction here lol, because i'd say I learned a lot from writing it as a kid. Taking existing characters and plopping them in a genre outside of the one they were written for... its still a good exercise! especially for understanding the genre that you are interested in)
That's a good analogy, I like it, and it is true that reading and putting characters from a different genre to this one is a good exercise, especially when they're an existing character and know what they're about already.
Check out some Warhammer 40k lore, its grim dark sci-fantasy. Then again so is the War hammer Fantasy series.
You can also look at the following articles on SFWA.ORG https://www.sfwa.org/?s=world+building+ Characters are not that much different in this genre than in others. They all have their faults and character flaws/quirks. At a guess, I would say the world view of the character is where the problem lies. I would suggest looking at the world view of those who lived behind the Iron Curtain. The ingrained fear of living in a dystopian society.
