Fiction writing tips...
Entering the abyss is clearly something I enjoy doing, as once again I am plotting the course of yet another unpleasant horror story. At the time of writing this, I have got my disturbing plan all figured out, and I have completed the prologue and most of Chapter 1.
As with Rot, I have to remain unnaturally quiet about this story as I would hate to ruin it for people. But be under no illusions, it will be another brutal adventure. I wish I could be more forthcoming, but nature did not make me that way.
What I like most about fictional storytelling is just how much you can play with the worlds you create. I love how once I fully believe, it's so easy to imagine what’s happening and becomes almost automatic. I can see the scenes playing out, the looks on their faces, their expressions and the locations they inhabit. I don't know how it is for other people writing, but that is certainly how it is for me. If a person is not moving to where I would like them to go, rather than force it, I nudge them there. In some cases they've gone somewhere else, and I've just rolled with it. It's fun to see what happens, it gives my characters a sense of independence which adds to their realism. I never want to take that away from them. It's perhaps wrong to think of myself as a God, but in the case of my characters, I'm probably at this stage at least, a malevolent demon haunting their once peaceful lives.
I'm not sure if what I write comes under original, but I do try. I guess I figure that most, if not all stories, have already been written... bleak I know. I’m not sure I ‘m big-headed enough to assume I can be 100% original. I, like most people would love to achieve that. But I’m normal… ‘Ish, and I’m fine with it. However, what I do like to do is inject a sense of deep emotional realism. I want the world to believe in my stories, even if they think they’ve heard it all before. I want people to root for my characters, and suffer when, where applicable, they suffer.
Most of all, and above all else, I want my readers to be entertained. If I'm not doing that, then it's game over. Who wants to read boring horror fiction? What I also like to do, like most people probably, is to avoid easy/awful clichés. I can’t stand for example, the bathroom mirror cliché in horror films where someone opens it and closes it to find ‘insert baddy’ behind them. Or people watching ‘Night of the Living Dead’ on TV, or finally, turning around to be “jump scared” by the creature/thing/ghost, accompanied by a loud/deafening noise. I know these references are all from films and TV, but that’s kind of the medium I inhabit. I like that books can generally avoid these tropes, but I’m sure they must also suffer with eye-rolling faults too. Personally, I want my stories to be as unpredictable as possible, without being ridiculous obviously, and let the characters do their thing just as they would naturally do them.
Nothing must feel faked or forced, or we’ll all get bored, and then no one, not even me, will have any fun in my dark abyss.
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