  Horror/Scary
This week: Expect the Unexpected Edited by: NaNoKit  
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Real life bad people do not fit a set profile. That means that fictional baddies shouldn't, either.
This week's Horror/Scary Newsletter is all about expecting - and creating - the unexpected.
Your guest editor: NaNoKit |
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He was a loner, they said. Polite enough to his neighbours, but awkward. Spent a lot of time on the Internet. Loved computer games. Especially those shoot-'em-ups. And he liked to wear those rock band t-shirts – you know the ones, with band logos and skulls and such.
Does the above profile sound familiar to you? Would it surprise you if the guy I described had committed a horrible crime? Probably not.
When horrible crimes are committed, people look for signs in the perpetrator's life that might hint at their dark nature. How could he or she have done such a thing? What is it that turned them into a monster? Perhaps the most uncomfortable question is, what makes them different to me?
The answer is, quite possibly, even more uncomfortable: the way they lived their life might well be completely normal. As far as any life is normal. Even if the perpetrator was as I described above, a lot of people can be classed as loners. How many of us spend our days studying, or at work, and come home at night and watch TV or browse the Internet?
How many people play computer games? How many people listen to rock music? How well do you know your neighbours?
Stereotypes may be reassuring, but just like every Frenchman does not cycle around Paris with a baguette under his arm and onions around his neck, not every criminal fits a comfortable profile. As writers, we must appreciate this.
The best writers do appreciate it, and they make good use of the unpredictable. Take Michael Connelly's The Poet, for example. There is a twist in that tale that I did not see coming, which made it a truly memorable novel.
It is easy to be lazy with our characters. To resort to fat and ugly baddies, thick thugs, crooked teeth, cold eyes, but all that has been done before, far too many times. If you genuinely want to creep out your readers, you can take a step closer to reality. Real villains can be anyone... your colleague who brings the nice cookies every week, the girl who is the life and soul of every party, your boss, your window cleaner, that pleasant gentleman down the road.
They may read books or collect stamps. They may listen to Elvis or One Direction. They may watch reality TV, or play football, or organise bake sales for good causes.
The point here is that you never know. And because you can never know, you can avoid overly predictable outcomes in your work. It will be more fun for you, as well as for your readers. After all, if you want them to stay with you for several hundred pages, you've got to make it worth their while.
Good luck!
NaNoKit
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The Horror/Scary Newsletter team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! 
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Horror/Scary Newsletter Team |
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Horror/Scary: March 16, 2016 Issue [#7537]
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