There are a lot of stories I could write.
Lighter ones.
Simpler ones.
Stories where everything resolves cleanly and the lines between right and wrong are easy to follow.
But those were never the ones that stayed with me.
The ones that stayed—
Were the ones that made me sit with something.
A choice that didn’t have a clear answer.
A character who didn’t fit into one side or the other.
A moment where doing the “right” thing came at a cost.
Those stories didn’t just pass through me.
They lingered.
And when I started writing, I realized something.
Those were the only kinds of stories I wanted to tell.
Stories about power that doesn’t feel safe.
About identity that isn’t clearly defined.
About characters who exist somewhere in between what they were told to be… and what they actually are.
Because that space—
The in-between—
That’s where everything interesting happens.
That’s where the hardest choices live.
That’s where the truth usually hides.
That’s where people become something more than what they started as.
It’s not always comfortable.
It’s not always clean.
But it’s real.
And those are the stories I’ll choose every time.
🖤
— Anna Gerard
Complexity Is Not the Same as Darkness
I do not write difficult choices because every story needs more suffering. I write them because simple answers can hide the most interesting part of a character.
What do they protect when protection costs someone else? Which truth do they choose when honesty may destroy a relationship? What part of themselves are they willing to betray in order to belong?
The darkness creates pressure. The character’s response creates meaning.
I Still Need Something Worth Saving
Complicated does not mean hopeless. If a world contains only cruelty, the choices eventually stop carrying weight because nothing better seems possible.
I need tenderness, loyalty, humor, and moments of mercy inside the damage. I need characters who fail without becoming nothing more than their failures.
Those pieces of light are why the struggle matters. I write broken people and broken worlds because I want to know what they can still choose to build.