Horror is every bit as much about what you DON'T write as what you do.
Think back to the last semi-scary movie you saw. Was it scary because of what it showed? Probably somewhat.
But it's also scary because of ANTICIPATION. The SUSPENSE of a piece is incredibly important.
You can't write a horror like you write an Action/Adventure story. The more you tell the reader, the less their imagination can scare them for you. Not saying you should tell them NOTHING, but don't give it all away at once.
If you need a good idea of how a suspenseful passage should work, read the Dream sequence from my piece White as Snow, on the Anthology.
As always, what you DO tell the reader needs to be shown and not told. You don't introduce the character. The environment and other characters introduce the character.
And what you show needs to drip with detail. Intelligent detail, not the "Joe's loud footsteps echoed off the cold, hard stone until he walked up to the large, oak door. He grabbed the huge steel handle and swung it open, creaking loudly in the silence."
Listen up, cuz here's my Golden Secret to writing amazing description.
You're watching a movie. It happens to be about the story you're writing. Picture every scene in your head as it unfolds. Pretend you're looking at a big movie screen.
Every detail YOU would notice when you look at the screen, write down. Every sound that stands out, write down.
If you're watching a panning shot of a poverty-stricken city in an introduction, you're not going to notice the weather vanes. You won't notice what the doors are made of.
You'll notice the broken window panes, the doors hanging off their hinges, and the tattered banners flapping sluggishly in the humid breeze.
In the next shot, you might hear the rusty squeal of the weather vane, and THEN you can write about it.
If you don't know if a detail is important, ask yourself if you'd notice it in a photo or a recording. If yes, it is. If not, it's not.
10-Jun-2008 05:50:53
- Last edited on
10-Jun-2008 06:02:31
by
A White Wolf
