Does Good Mean Sad?

I'm having writer's block. Well... that's not exactly an accurate statement. See, I've been telling stories since I was a baby babbling at my toys from the jolly-jumper, I've been thinking of my story ideas since I was 9, and been seriously putting these stories to paper since I was 14, I've got "writer" ingrained into my soul. I write fiction for fun. And I write for myself: my thoughts, opinions, woes, musings. Sometimes when I'm writing for myself I have so many ideas that I can't even put them down fast enough; sometimes I just start talking to myself, spewing ideas and opinions about the world, it's past, present and future, and what scares me about it.

Writing used to come easily for me. I could just sit at the keyboard and the story would come pouring out. It always had a dark twist, as they say "sad stories make good books." It used to be so simple for me to write the dark and depressing stuff, in fact I sought it out in reading material. But as I have grown up I have gotten a different spin on things, become more sensitized towards it I guess. I don't want to write about death and destruction and war, but then where does the plot line go? There has to be a conflict and a resolution in a basic story line, we did that in basic high school English classes.

And so when unwilling to write about the dark stuff, writing fiction comes harder and harder. But why is that? Why is it that I'm so convinced a story will not be good if it's only happy? Do stories have to be sad and sinister to be good? And here's another spin on things: does someone have to die in order to have the desired conflict necessary for the "good story"? So many things to think about. For the meantime I am stuck with a pile of half-started stories and novels, and no ideas as to how to proceed with them.

I know I am a good writer, I've been at it long enough. Some day I'll be one of the classics. But in order for someday to come, I have to get through today. And today I'm just a girl with writer's block.

I'm sure they all said that at one point or another...