| The Write Way by Karen Koehler |
You want to be a horror writer, but which way is the right (or write) way to develop, write, publish and promote your novel? The most important job a new horror fiction writer has is sifting ideas through the great idea mental net. Every moment we are awake we are bombarded by sensory information: what we see, what we experience, and what we read. The challenge comes in choosing poignant and useable story ideas out of this massive menagerie of input. But where do most horror writers first get their ideas? The average good horror writer is a constant reader, and not just of other authors’ work. Sifting through news stories, biography and history books, classic literature and textbooks can easily jump-start your imagination. Remember the building blocks of storytelling are based on story elements. These elements can be taken from just about anywhere. Start a notebook of story elements, clippings, notes and other factual information that can later be turned into plots and story devices. Generally speaking, the storytelling technique can usually be broken down into several popular formats. My favorites include The Quest, The Mystery, The Romance, and The Challenge. There are others, but let’s stick with just a few for time’s sake. The Quest is by far the most popular and well-loved storytelling technique in the world. In The Quest, your protagonist will go on a long journey. This journey can be physical, mental or even spiritual. Likewise, your protagonist need not be actually physically moving across a story “board” but may be challenged to move from one point in his life to the next through a series of hardships. The Mystery employs much the same technique as The Quest, but in The Mystery, our protagonist will attempt to unravel a challenging mystery, apprehend a wrongdoer, and bring order to a disorderly situation. In The Romance, your story will center on the relationship between two protagonists and the challenges they face as they attempt to deepen or consummate this relationship. The Challenge can appear in any of these other formats as a subplot, but basically, it represents your protagonist facing his worst fears or being forced to his farthest endurable limits in some hardship. Once you recognize and know which storytelling elements you enjoy, organizing your novel will be that much more simpler. These storytelling categories have been around since our earliest known human records, so be sure to make classic stories and novels a part of your literary diet. Most modern horror authors are astute students of the “Classics” and many use them to help mold and model their own stories. Study the Classics that interest you and don’t be afraid to model your tale on these well-loved works. Remember that a good, solid story never goes out of fashion. Don’t have the time to read all the classics? That’s okay, because there are many good tutorials online and in books that cover classic literature. One example are Cliff’s Notes and classical book summaries like Masterpieces of World Literature edited by Frank M. Magill. Don’t be afraid to utilize these for groundbreaking work on your novel. Reading online synopses is another good example of how to “consume” classical literature when you just don’t have the time you need, and you may even want to download the online episode guides to your favorite TV shows; there is a wealth of story-structure possibilities inherent to these. Be sure to join reading groups both online and off that discuss the books which most interest you, and keep in mind that there are many good film adaptations of these books, so there is no real excuse for not exposing yourself to classical stories. The most important document to own while writing your novel is your outline. Be sure to design one, and don’t be fooled by authors who claim “I never use an outline,” because they do in one form of another, even if it’s nothing but scratch notes jotted down on a cocktail napkin. Your outline is a brief overview, or long synopsis, of your work. Be sure to spend a sufficient amount of time on this. You may want to compare it to the works you have been inspired by to see where you stand, and to bounce it off readers, friends, family and literary groups before you move forward. Is your outline solid? Does it have an interesting opening? Does it have one or more of the popular story formats? Is the story tight and well plotted? Does it propose a real challenge to your characters? Will the events of the story bring out the best (or worst) in your characters? These are all considerations. Probably one of the biggest complaints I hear from beginning authors is “I just don’t have the time to devote to writing that I would like.” This is a fairly common problem in a world full of 40-hour workweeks, home, family and other responsibilities. My answer is always the same, “You don’t work all the time.” In other words, if you’re determined enough, you’ll find a way of fitting in “writing time” somewhere amidst your busy week, even if it means cutting snippets off other not-so-terribly-important activities such as shopping and watching television. You’d be surprised to know how much TV is consumed by the average person in a week. Well, watch one-half hour less a day, and devote that time to your writing. By the end of the week, you would have put in 3 ½ hours of work. Not bad for a beginner! |
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