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TECH: How to Write Horror Fiction 03
Jan. 30th, 2018 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarkerOriginal Posting Oct. 10, 2017
And as we slither closer, ever closer to the deadline for the Writers Halloween Contest (remember, get those stories and poems in by October 20!), we take another look at William F. Nolan's book about How to Write Horror Fiction.
Chapter 3 is about horrible imaginings. William starts out with this paragraph...
"Horror is all around us. It fills the news of the day. Woman kidnapped and killed. School bus tumbles over cliff. Terrorist attack destroys church. Commercial airliner goes down and mountains. Cancer claims more victims. Coed brutally raped on campus. Police officers shot in drug sweep. Border raid wipes out village…."
Whoosh. And that was back in 1990! Then William talks about a real-life horror from his life. Murder/suicide in Kansas City.
Horror surrounds us. And William points out that this may be why horror is so popular and effective. "They provide mass therapy, a way to deal with the everyday horrors we all encounter. Horror fiction offers us a way to survive. We are able to control the horror in a way we can never do in real life."
So, how do we separate horror from things that are just sad, unpleasant, disgusting? Well, it's really approach in handling. Horror fiction entertains, along with some chills and thrills. So where might you look for ideas?
Your childhood! As kids, there's a lot of things that are pretty scary. What's in the closet, what's under the bed, what's down the stairs? Think about what you were afraid of as a child, then put that fear in a story.
Grown-up fears? Well, there are primal fears – darkness, being abandoned, dangerous creatures, death. Being lost, waking up alone and helpless somewhere strange, becoming old, finding out that people are not really what you thought they were… What things frighten you as an adult?
How about dreams? Sure, dreams can be scary. Ideas, scenes, bits and pieces. Just grab them fast, because dreams seem to evaporate when you wake up.
Keep a notebook. Plot ideas, of course, in bits and pieces of overheard conversation, description, thoughts you had, story titles, travel notes, research data, scenes and dialogue, odd facts, memories, whatever excites you.
How about the do-it-yourself ending? Here William suggests reading just part of a story, the first half, then set it aside and write your own ending. If it's exciting enough, go back and write your own beginning. Even if the story isn't unique enough, you'll still learn a lot about structure, plotting, and some ideas.
William also suggests taking a look at a list of supernatural beliefs that J. N. Williamson put together as a background for his fiction. 22 possible seeds for your horror! I'm not going to list them all here, you'll need to read the book. But, reincarnation, voodoo, ghosts, fairies, vampires, alien invasion, mummies… There's a few, just for fun.
Finally, William reminds us that having an idea doesn't mean we have a plot. An idea is a seed. How do you turn it into a plot? Ask yourself questions! Who, what, why, where, when, and how are your friends. Figure out what's happening here. Build a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Mix well with characters, locale, threat, and resolution. And bingo! You've got a plot and the story. Now write.
tink
And as we slither closer, ever closer to the deadline for the Writers Halloween Contest (remember, get those stories and poems in by October 20!), we take another look at William F. Nolan's book about How to Write Horror Fiction.
Chapter 3 is about horrible imaginings. William starts out with this paragraph...
"Horror is all around us. It fills the news of the day. Woman kidnapped and killed. School bus tumbles over cliff. Terrorist attack destroys church. Commercial airliner goes down and mountains. Cancer claims more victims. Coed brutally raped on campus. Police officers shot in drug sweep. Border raid wipes out village…."
Whoosh. And that was back in 1990! Then William talks about a real-life horror from his life. Murder/suicide in Kansas City.
Horror surrounds us. And William points out that this may be why horror is so popular and effective. "They provide mass therapy, a way to deal with the everyday horrors we all encounter. Horror fiction offers us a way to survive. We are able to control the horror in a way we can never do in real life."
So, how do we separate horror from things that are just sad, unpleasant, disgusting? Well, it's really approach in handling. Horror fiction entertains, along with some chills and thrills. So where might you look for ideas?
Your childhood! As kids, there's a lot of things that are pretty scary. What's in the closet, what's under the bed, what's down the stairs? Think about what you were afraid of as a child, then put that fear in a story.
Grown-up fears? Well, there are primal fears – darkness, being abandoned, dangerous creatures, death. Being lost, waking up alone and helpless somewhere strange, becoming old, finding out that people are not really what you thought they were… What things frighten you as an adult?
How about dreams? Sure, dreams can be scary. Ideas, scenes, bits and pieces. Just grab them fast, because dreams seem to evaporate when you wake up.
Keep a notebook. Plot ideas, of course, in bits and pieces of overheard conversation, description, thoughts you had, story titles, travel notes, research data, scenes and dialogue, odd facts, memories, whatever excites you.
How about the do-it-yourself ending? Here William suggests reading just part of a story, the first half, then set it aside and write your own ending. If it's exciting enough, go back and write your own beginning. Even if the story isn't unique enough, you'll still learn a lot about structure, plotting, and some ideas.
William also suggests taking a look at a list of supernatural beliefs that J. N. Williamson put together as a background for his fiction. 22 possible seeds for your horror! I'm not going to list them all here, you'll need to read the book. But, reincarnation, voodoo, ghosts, fairies, vampires, alien invasion, mummies… There's a few, just for fun.
Finally, William reminds us that having an idea doesn't mean we have a plot. An idea is a seed. How do you turn it into a plot? Ask yourself questions! Who, what, why, where, when, and how are your friends. Figure out what's happening here. Build a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Mix well with characters, locale, threat, and resolution. And bingo! You've got a plot and the story. Now write.
tink
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