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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/6719-Watch-What-You-Ask-For.html
Horror/Scary: December 17, 2014 Issue [#6719]

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Horror/Scary


 This week: Watch What You Ask For
  Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter


Words have no power to impress the mind
without the exquisite horror of their reality.

Edgar Allan Poe



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Letter from the editor

Greetings!

         Have you ever been totally jealous of somebody? Admit it! Somebody who had the car, the outfit, the house, the grades, the money, the job, the breaks, oh, the breaks, the breaks. What did you do to deserve not getting the breaks? What if you got a break, could you see yourself ten, fifteen years from now? What if, just for a day, you could get a break, like you've wished everytime you got the bigger half of the wishbone?

         Would you go back and snag a break from somebody else? Or would you slip into the future and savor the public recognition you know you will have in ten or so years after your book is published and you've won the Pulitzer, or maybe Nobel? You know you can go even farther back, or forward, just take your pen in hand, lead or diode, and weave yourself there.

         But beware, because you may get what you wished for ~ some horror past or future. What if you slipped forward ten years to the Pulitzer awards, only to find that since you slipped forward, you never spent the years writing the book to earn the Pulitzer. Or go back, even farther, and find that your family tree holds a secret that will give you a break, but cost you your arm, your vision, or perhaps your sanity? Go back even farther and walk into the cave with the scratching noises you didn't dare explore as a kid, and you find...

         You may get what you wish for, beware, and the horror will scare the lead out of your pencil or fade the letters off your keyboard. But, before it does, you will write it and take your readers along with you on your journey.

*Bullet* Begin with the horror that you find in grasping what you (think) you absolutely want. No matter what form, human, animal, alien, natural, unnatural, make it seem invincible. Design a convincing way to defeat it, a believable flaw in the 'creature.'

*Bullet* Open with action. Encounter the 'beast' or the results of its action. The vacant house with bats and tattered clothing and a finger, bloodied, pointing towards the locked(?) basement door, for example. Make your reader want to discover where the bloodied finger belongs (and maybe put his/her hands safely in pockets while doing so).

*Bullet* Isolate your main character (protagonist), either physically or as the only one with the knowledge of the evil's existence. A kid nobody believes really saw a detatched bloodied finger (by the way, is it a human finger, that's for you and the kid to know) may not be physically alone, but alone in his knowledge and in figuring out how to prove, then best, the evil thing.

*Bullet* Torture your readers with tension. Hmmm, torture *evil* Raise and lower the stress level, offer anticipation with dialogue, action, and then moments of relief when your protagonist thinks he/she has found a solution, or perhaps wins a battle with the evil - but not yet the war. The stress rises after each breath of relief until the climax, at which point your reader has now clenched fists in pockets or perhaps is counting his/her own fingers (if it's a missing finger that started it all, that is).

*Bullet* Take your character into that cave, open the basement door, tiptoe down the rotty steps, until you find (and here is where you get creative - what do you find? - not the cliche slamming door, but ...) The tension in the investigation can really bring your readers to maybe sit on their hands to protect their own fingers.

*Bullet* Face off with the evil beast, mortal, animal, alien, nature, supernature. The climax that your reader is now near panting over pages to read. The battle, the confrontation, visual, active, and conclusive.

*Bullet* Your protagonist wins, finds the break he/she needed to best the beast (in whatever form it ultimately manifests), and is a stronger, better person for it. Everybody is now safe. However, the 'good' ending can be a ruse.

*Bullet* What if, there's something that intimates the bad thing may return, or still lurks in the shadows - do we have a fingernail still poking into a doorjamb, perhaps, as the protagonist passes through, closing the door on this journey?

         Give it a shot - what if - one day, past, present or future, you happened to find in that cave/ room/ closet/ cabin/ alleyway/ .... a bloodied ..... and smelled .... (now you take it from there - and try the above pointers to battle and best what you encounter when you get what you wish for ?

Write On *Gift*
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon


Editor's Picks

See what happens when desire overtakes common sense ~ share your thoughts (and desires) with the writers ~ a review or comment, perhaps

 
STATIC
Dead Man's Bride Open in new Window. (13+)
Greed, envy and arrogance, all of those are deadly deeds. Supernatural contest entry.
#2004731 by Casthavian Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1904331 by Not Available.


 One Heck of An Exterminator Open in new Window. (13+)
Greed is the real exterminator...
#393116 by Joy Author IconMail Icon


 Greed Open in new Window. (13+)
This story shows the horrors of greed unusual ways. Enjoy!
#1964968 by Kyra FireFlame Author IconMail Icon


What You Wish For Open in new Window. (13+)
He desires one last item to finish his collection. But is it everything he wished for?
#1371352 by LdyPhoenix Author IconMail Icon


 The Collector Open in new Window. (18+)
Entry for a competition that I missed the cut off for. Prompt was horror, greed.
#1861051 by Ham on Rye Author IconMail Icon


Seven Deadly Sins Contest - CLOSED!! Open in new Window. (E)
It's pretty simple; write a short story or poem based on one of the seven deadly sins.
#1774627 by Culraven Author IconMail Icon


Tales of Terror Open in new Window. (ASR)
Sacrifice a story at the altar and unlock the secrets of terror!
#1641024 by lotte Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1971713 by Not Available.




 
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Ask & Answer

Thank you for this brief respite in the relative safety of your virtual home ~ and for exploring that which we covet, and think we must absolutely have. May you attain that which you truly desire, your vision in verse and prose put to pen and paper and from tower to tower electrifying.

Until we next meet,
counting fingers and toes,

Write On *Paw*
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon

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