 Horror/Scary: April 29, 2009 Issue [#2984] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: It's Only Horror. Edited by: esprit  
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Hello, I'm esprit and I'm glad to be your guest host this week.
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." ~ H. P. Lovecraft
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It's Only Horror.
Horror - Where is the variety? I like the genre, but honestly, most of it seems to spurt from the same faucet.
The most overworked plot in horror fiction, which author Gary A. Braunbeck (Time Was, Things Left Behind) describes as a story in which the main character exists only to get "slurped by the glop." Characters are merely props to be eaten, drained, eviscerated, sliced, diced and turned into julienne fries by your monstrous "glop," Writing horror: the devil's in the details by Gary A. Braunbeck
Where has all the imagination gone? Real horror comes from messing with the mind as well as the physical. Instead of writing in the same old tired scheme to physically gross out as many readers as possible, why not avoid the cliches and write from what you know? Write about things that disturb you. People, places and events that make your life different from any other? Twist and turn them until you have a unique horrifying story. It just can't help but be original. That doesn't mean the story must be realistic; it means the cause and effect must make enough sense for the readers to suspend their belief for the length of the read.
Whatever genre you write in, there's no good excuse for sloppy storytelling. Whether you call it mainstream, minimalist, speculative or new age, the basic structure is the same. It must have a plot, characters with goals, satisfactory endings.
Horror has to have a reason to be, it cannot stand alone.
Readers are seldom told where the 'whatever' comes from, what it wants, why it wants it, or what exactly, 'it' plans to accomplish through its actions. If we were given some vague idea of the 'whatever's' nature, just a few established details, then we wouldn't feel that the writer was simply showing as much blood and guts as possible for shock value. Setting the 'glop' as the main character and telling the story through it's POV would be an original twist.
Readers pick up a horror story for the same reason they ride bigger and bigger roller-coasters, to be scared out of their wits. Any genre is boring without a good story that justifies the bloodletting. Showing lots of guts and riding small roller-coasters are not scary anymore. They're as boring as working in a butcher shop, and that's what the writer should be horrified of. Boredom is a sure-fire story butcher!
Horror is the emotion that accompanies fear and all genres can contain it. The main attractions of horror are characters on a mission strong enough to drag the reader through the blood, while it all makes unbelievable sense.
Study and learn by reading as much as you can. But be sure to read from well known authors to see the difference between good and not as good writing. Practice. When you review, do it with the purpose of learning what works and what doesn't. You are teaching yourself, so really pay attention.
There are some good writing tips linked below, and more scattered around the site. Spend as much time with your learning as you do with your activities and you'll be fine.
Thanks for reading, Keep writing!
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