 Horror/Scary: September 24, 2014 Issue [#6558] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: Put Yourself in Their Shoes Edited by: blue jellybaby  
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| How about really showing the action, the detail, the gore, as your character is going through it. Submerge yourself in your story and the same will happen for your reader. |
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Whenever I find I'm reading something that really shocks me to the core or has my heart pounding against my chest as I'm sitting on the edge of my seat, eyes roving faster and faster... I realise I'm caught in the story. I'm not just a reader anymore, I'm right there. I'm that person, that main character, as they are experiencing that terror.
How do we achieve that? Getting your reader to feel like they are submerged in your story is an amazing feat and one that all authors want to accomplish. There are ways to do this, story telling techniques that we've all heard of before but you know what I want you to do?
As you imagine your character running down that dark alley or hiding in her house as something else stalks around inside, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Imagine yourself there. Put yourself in your character's shoes.
These are a few things to think about when you do that:
 What can you hear? What can you see? Are there any smells? What can you feel? Are you cramped up against a sideboard? What does the ground feel like beneath your feet? Are your feet cold? How about taste? Is there anything hanging in the air? Perhaps the remnants of dinner an hour ago or the coffee that repeats when the nausea kicks in?
 What are you thinking? Are thoughts rushing through your mind? What thoughts are they? Do you want to run or hide? Is your mind playing conflicting arguments within your skull?
 What about physically. How do you feel? What is your heart doing? How about your breathing? Are your palms sticky with sweat? Are the hairs on the nape of your neck standing up?
Okay, now open up. How do you feel? Are you terrified? If your character is, you sure should be. Now get that down, just like you remember. Include all of those senses you recognised and the thoughts that hurried through your mind and those things you felt. Now you're in your character's shoes. |
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| |  | Itch (18+)
I wrote this story when I was suffering from a constant itch.
#1777779 by Kotaro  |
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My last newsletter was back in July but I have a few comments from then! If you have any comments about today's newsletter please feel free to leave them and I'll look at them next time around!
 lawli says: When I do horror I can be in any kind of surrounding to get it started but when things get deep, that's when I bust out my dark soundtrack. The Silent Hill ost is everything when I'm creating fear.
I like disturbing fear, the kind that makes you uncomfortable no matter what the weather or happy atmosphere. You could be at a party, and continually hear a single knock upon the door of a bedroom no one is in. Its nothing if you don't care, but the character slowly taking notice instills an unease in you, wouldn't it?
Or I'll show a boy/girl playing in the park, and out of nowhere they're killed by a large branch falling on them. A couple minutes later someone will shimmy from the tree, with a saw in their hand, look the child over and walk away glowing from a job well done.
Ah, the old Silent Hill soundtrack. I have to say I'm with you on that, it's pretty creepy music and just perfect for writing horror!
LJPC - the tortoise says: Hi Blue Jellybaby! I really enjoyed reading about your own experiences with describing setting (and its effect on the characters). Great tips! In answer to your question about writing habits, I write with coffee and water by my side, and I put the TV on. I'm sure that sounds odd, but I find if I'm switching my attention back and forth, the writing goes by more quickly. 
~ Laura
Thanks for your comments, Laura! I don't do it so much anymore but when I lived at my parents I always did that too although it never tended to be horror I watched!
billwilcox says: Joanne,
Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere! What more can I say.
Thanks, Bill!
writetight says: Thanks for featuring "Invalid Item" in the July 2nd newsletter.
You're very welcome!
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  says: Sometimes you need a good backstory.
"Anthros Versus Zombies"
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