Fan Mail: What Advice Can You Give Me as a First Time Horror Writer?
Today's question comes from Wattpad user, Monody. He asks:
"I'm trying to write my first horror story, and this is the first one I've ever written. Are there any pointers or tips you guy can give me about starting my book, or about writing horror stories in general?"
For those readers out there unfamiliar with Wattpad, www.wattpad.com is a website where anyone can publish fiction, non-fiction, fan-fiction, and comic books of all genres ranging in horror, erotica, mystery, YA, and much more.
To cover all the answers to Moody's question would take a lifetime so, like building a house, let's begin with the foundation.
Fear is the emotion that hooks the readers while intrigue keeps the readers reading. Your readers will be more likely to experience fear if your character feels afraid. This effect is what I call the scream effect. If your protagonist looks out her isolated cabin window and sees a man in the snow staring back at her she will feel fear. It is a natural instinct that, when afraid, humans and animals seek the company of others. This witness to the peeping Tom will call to her other friends in the cabin, causing uneasiness to form between them. If your protagonist is not afraid, then don't expect your readers to be.
Also, never let an opportunity to make your characters feel uneasy pass. Every detail that would otherwise seem insignificant can add to the tension in the air. Conflict is the heart of the story and cannot exist without it. Perhaps your lactose-intolerant male protagonist who has a secret crush on the barista down the street is caught off guard when a man with a harelip serves him a dairy-based coffee instead. How you choose your character to react will demonstrate the mood, but how your readers will feel about the ironic interaction.
The movie Se7en does is an excellent example of conflict. In the opening scene, conflict comes in the form of rainy weather, Bradd Pitt is late to work, he spills his coffee, it's his first day on a new case, the obnoxious sounds of inner-city traffic, car alarms, shouting pedestrians, and Morgan Freeman's dialogue expressing judgment of Brad Pitt's cocky behavior.
In the first chapter of my novel, Evilution, I add conflict to a loving scene by adding elements of a speeding logging truck (Final Destination, anyone?) an elderly man running for his escaped shopping cart of groceries into traffic, and a single rain-soaked girl scout selling a mushy box of high-fructose corn syrup cookies to a pregnant woman.
Characters define the story, and characters are defined by the impossible choices they make. Characters need to be relatable. Not everyone is 100% good and no one is 100% evil. They both need to make bad decisions, but with good motivations behind them. For example, audiences always scream at the big-breasted woman who runs outside after receiving a threatening phone call from a killer. We know that's a bad choice, so why do we care if she lives or dies? But what if you as an author change it so that she runs outside because her pet dog is on the porch and she wants to save him from the killer? Now we know she's making a bad choice to run outside, but we sympathize with her because she's making the wrong choice, but for a very right reason. The biggest challenge now, a challenge that separates good stories from great stories, is how to make your villain likable.
"I'm trying to write my first horror story, and this is the first one I've ever written. Are there any pointers or tips you guy can give me about starting my book, or about writing horror stories in general?"
For those readers out there unfamiliar with Wattpad, www.wattpad.com is a website where anyone can publish fiction, non-fiction, fan-fiction, and comic books of all genres ranging in horror, erotica, mystery, YA, and much more.
To cover all the answers to Moody's question would take a lifetime so, like building a house, let's begin with the foundation.
Fear is the emotion that hooks the readers while intrigue keeps the readers reading. Your readers will be more likely to experience fear if your character feels afraid. This effect is what I call the scream effect. If your protagonist looks out her isolated cabin window and sees a man in the snow staring back at her she will feel fear. It is a natural instinct that, when afraid, humans and animals seek the company of others. This witness to the peeping Tom will call to her other friends in the cabin, causing uneasiness to form between them. If your protagonist is not afraid, then don't expect your readers to be.
Also, never let an opportunity to make your characters feel uneasy pass. Every detail that would otherwise seem insignificant can add to the tension in the air. Conflict is the heart of the story and cannot exist without it. Perhaps your lactose-intolerant male protagonist who has a secret crush on the barista down the street is caught off guard when a man with a harelip serves him a dairy-based coffee instead. How you choose your character to react will demonstrate the mood, but how your readers will feel about the ironic interaction.
The movie Se7en does is an excellent example of conflict. In the opening scene, conflict comes in the form of rainy weather, Bradd Pitt is late to work, he spills his coffee, it's his first day on a new case, the obnoxious sounds of inner-city traffic, car alarms, shouting pedestrians, and Morgan Freeman's dialogue expressing judgment of Brad Pitt's cocky behavior.
In the first chapter of my novel, Evilution, I add conflict to a loving scene by adding elements of a speeding logging truck (Final Destination, anyone?) an elderly man running for his escaped shopping cart of groceries into traffic, and a single rain-soaked girl scout selling a mushy box of high-fructose corn syrup cookies to a pregnant woman.
Characters define the story, and characters are defined by the impossible choices they make. Characters need to be relatable. Not everyone is 100% good and no one is 100% evil. They both need to make bad decisions, but with good motivations behind them. For example, audiences always scream at the big-breasted woman who runs outside after receiving a threatening phone call from a killer. We know that's a bad choice, so why do we care if she lives or dies? But what if you as an author change it so that she runs outside because her pet dog is on the porch and she wants to save him from the killer? Now we know she's making a bad choice to run outside, but we sympathize with her because she's making the wrong choice, but for a very right reason. The biggest challenge now, a challenge that separates good stories from great stories, is how to make your villain likable.
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