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Capt
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Apr 9 2010, 11:56 AM
Post #1
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Dunno if this needs to be revised. Wolfeh knows his horror.
- Horror
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Your First HORROR Story! *Wishes he had some creepy font for HORROR*
Before you start, outline the goals and main aspects of your story. Get a sort of guide in your head about how you want the finished product to be.
Think about: - Length (Will this be a novel? A campfire story? A short?) - Genre (Thriller? Slasher? Gore-filled? Psychological?) - Setting (Medieval? Future? Present day?)
Also, think about tense. The verb tense and the person (1st person, Omniscient 3rd, etc) can hugely affect the tone of a piece.
This is actually a good idea before you write any story, but with a touchy genre like horror, you need to especially think.
Ok, you're ready to start writing!
You're most likely going to run into what I call the DEATH of horror. What could that be, you ask?
OVER-WRITING.
It seems that new horror authors have somehow got this notion into their collective heads that gore = horror.
"Blood dripping out of his exposed liver and intestines, Keith screamed loudly as the zombie pulled out organs and ate them, chewing on his intestines like they were some kind of meat pasta."
It gets comical. I've seen passages written every bit as ineptly as that one, probably more so (though I have to say, I really like that simile about the intestines. *keeps*).
Horror is a genre of finesse. You have to be intelligent and prudent. It takes a single passage like that to make a potentially frightening work into a comedy of violence.
However, take care also that you do not UNDER-WRITE the piece. This is probably even more damaging. Nothing ruins horror quite as well as boredom.
"The vampire suddenly jumped out of the tomb, biting Joe's neck."
Oh mercy, I do declare. I nearly swooned.
"Guttering torches cast pale shadows as Joe slowly crept through the crypt.
From the shadows, a single malevolent eye began tracing his progress; a cold grin."
Horror is every bit as much about what you DON'T write as what you do.
Think back to the last semi-scary movie you saw. Was it scary because of what it showed? Probably somewhat.
But it's also scary because of ANTICIPATION. The SUSPENSE of a piece is incredibly important.
You can't write a horror like you write an Action/Adventure story. The more you tell the reader, the less their imagination can scare them for you. Not saying you should tell them NOTHING, but don't give it all away at once.
If you need a good idea of how a suspenseful passage should work, read the Dream sequence from my piece White as Snow, on the Anthology.
As always, what you DO tell the reader needs to be shown and not told. You don't introduce the character. The environment and other characters introduce the character.
And what you show needs to drip with detail. Intelligent detail, not the "Joe's loud footsteps echoed off the cold, hard stone until he walked up to the large, oak door. He grabbed the huge steel handle and swung it open, creaking loudly in the silence."
Listen up, cuz here's my Golden Secret to writing amazing description.
You're watching a movie. It happens to be about the story you're writing. Picture every scene in your head as it unfolds. Pretend you're looking at a big movie screen.
Every detail YOU would notice when you look at the screen, write down. Every sound that stands out, write down.
If you're watching a panning shot of a poverty-stricken city in an introduction, you're not going to notice the weather vanes. You won't notice what the doors are made of.
You'll notice the broken window panes, the doors hanging off their hinges, and the tattered banners flapping sluggishly in the humid breeze.
In the next shot, you might hear the rusty squeal of the weather vane, and THEN you can write about it.
If you don't know if a detail is important, ask yourself if you'd notice it in a photo or a recording. If yes, it is. If not, it's not.
Horror is every bit as much about what you DON'T write as what you do.
Think back to the last semi-scary movie you saw. Was it scary because of what it showed? Probably somewhat.
But it's also scary because of ANTICIPATION. The SUSPENSE of a piece is incredibly important.
You can't write a horror like you write an Action/Adventure story. The more you tell the reader, the less their imagination can scare them for you. Not saying you should tell them NOTHING, but don't give it all away at once.
If you need a good idea of how a suspenseful passage should work, read the Dream sequence from my piece White as Snow, on the Anthology.
As always, what you DO tell the reader needs to be shown and not told. You don't introduce the character. The environment and other characters introduce the character.
And what you show needs to drip with detail. Intelligent detail, not the "Joe's loud footsteps echoed off the cold, hard stone until he walked up to the large, oak door. He grabbed the huge steel handle and swung it open, creaking loudly in the silence."
Listen up, cuz here's my Golden Secret to writing amazing description.
You're watching a movie. It happens to be about the story you're writing. Picture every scene in your head as it unfolds. Pretend you're looking at a big movie screen.
Every detail YOU would notice when you look at the screen, write down. Every sound that stands out, write down.
If you're watching a panning shot of a poverty-stricken city in an introduction, you're not going to notice the weather vanes. You won't notice what the doors are made of.
You'll notice the broken window panes, the doors hanging off their hinges, and the tattered banners flapping sluggishly in the humid breeze.
In the next shot, you might hear the rusty squeal of the weather vane, and THEN you can write about it.
If you don't know if a detail is important, ask yourself if you'd notice it in a photo or a recording. If yes, it is. If not, it's not.
Just guess what we need.
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