Chris Chelser's Blog, page 10
September 1, 2016
August 28, 2016
August 19, 2016
Those summer niiiiiiiii-hiiiiiiights
So I had a last-minute change of plans when a consultancy client of mine needed me to come to Malta for a few days.
This is my view (if not my photo). Certainly there are worse places in the world…
August 14, 2016
Back from holiday hiatus!
The last couple of months have been madness, so my family and I decided to take a much-earned holiday.
We ended up camping in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, among beautiful gorges, old towns, and the odd… dinosaur. Yes, dinosaurs. We found them at a place called the Devil’s Gorge. Luckily for us, they were more friendly than they looked!
And the best thing about being away from urban centres is the night sky. You never realise how much light pollution civilisation causes until you experience a true, moonless night. Staring up, all I could think of was:
I took an intentional break from writing as well. Without my laptop, I was free to brainstorm new ideas, and to read: Frank Herbert’s Dune (reread), Alan K. Baker’s Feaster from the Stars, and George Orwell’s 1984. Especially reading the latter was a humbling experience, as a human as well as a writer.
So now I’m back from outer space – or what felt like it, anyway – and ready to finish The Devourer and launch the Story Mechanics Course. More on both of those next week!
See you!
August 5, 2016
Blog hiatus
The last couple of months have been madness, so this month, my family and I are taking a much-earned holiday.
Nothing fancy. Just the car, the tent and roadmaps of Europe. Maybe we won’t even leave the country, maybe we’ll cover 1000 kilometres before the month is out. Either way, the blog’s hiatus – and the newsletters – of the past month will continue a bit longer.
I’m off to enjoy the summer for a while. And when September comes around, I will be back in the saddle, ready to finish The Devourer and launch the Story Mechanics Course.
See you then!
July 15, 2016
Story Mechanics – free video
First Story Mechanics free video! Click the image to download, or watch it on Facebook:
For more information on the Story Mechanics advanced storytelling course, visit www.storymechanicscourse.com
July 5, 2016
Writer’s Woes: To Horror or Not To Horror?
Once a month I permit myself to discuss the dark side of being a (self-published) author.
In this month’s post rants about…
To horror or not to horror?
So, I’m a horror writer.
The thing is, the term ‘horror’ implies that such stories are frightening. You feel the fear dripping off the pages and dread to read another sentence. I can recall a few times when I felt like that, but I couldn’t say for certain if those stories had been classified under the horror genre.
Books that scare me are few and far between. Stephen King? His books tend to bore me to tears. Edgar Allen Poe? Interesting, but not frightening. And they are considered the founding fathers and masters of the genre.
Surely the internet would be able to deliver?
Hardly. On occasion I may find a story that makes me smirk and think “That’s a cool one!”. But for the most part they leave me woefully indifferent, and reading the comments from others about not being able to sleep for terror makes me wonder if we have even read the same story.
Movies, perhaps?
Admittedly horror movies may be able to get my hackles up. I’m a very visual person, so shock effects never fail to jostle me. All the same, feeling my heart jump-start is not a sensation I relish.
Plus what bugs me about the movies is the low-frequency sounds incorporated in many horror movies these days. Try as you might, you can’t help but feel sick and upset, because the sound has that effect on your body. Not the story or the imagery, but a biological hot wire added to the soundtrack.
That isn’t good horror; that’s cheating. But I guess film makers these days have to do what they can to coax a response out of their desensitised audience.
Am I desensitised? Probably. The only thing that freaks me out is the hand that grabs my ankle when I crawl into bed after everyone else has fallen asleep…
But, we were talking about fiction.
How can you write horror when your own stories don’t scare you? They move me – just ask my husband about the times I was crying after finishing a scene – but if they don’t frighten me, how can I tell if they will frighten others?
You can’t. A major part of fear, and thus the horror genre, is the unexpected. As a writer, I have a good idea of what happens when, so whatever you write doesn’t scare you.
All you can do is write the best story you can and hope (or with the help of a few beta readers, test) that your reader, caught unawares by the terrors you concocted, will be scared!
Or at least be so courteous to shiver mildly. That would be nice!
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group
A safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
July 4, 2016
June 30, 2016
June 28, 2016
Ask the Author: Reading for Pleasure
Every last week of the month, I’m answering readers’ questions.
Want to ask me something? Click here.
“ What do you read for pleasure?”
A while ago I wondered if I read for pleasure enough. Possibly not, but I’m definitely on the increase again.
The main hurdle is that I prefer to binge-read: I’m a fast reader, so once a story grips me I want to finish it in one, max two sits across one or two days. That is why, as an alternative, I love to watch movies. It’s a different way of telling a story, and I find that a refreshing influence on my own writing. Unfortunately, having the luxury to sit down and devour a book in one go is a rare event. So when I do, I’m quite fastidious about which book benefits from that ‘white elephant’.
Any Terry Pratchett is a 99% assured hit – language, intelligence, plot complexity, character development and acid sarcasm are all certain to satisfy – but I’m running out of those I haven’t read yet, and I’m saving the handful of pristine pockets on my shelf for a rainy day. Aside Sir Terry, I have a love for Michael Crichton and Neil Gaiman.
Beyond these authors, I look at individual books rather than oevres. And that can be anything: I may read anything from romance novels to classic literature to a non-fiction book for research. Horror, drama, scifi, comedy, fantasy, paranormal – anything goes, depending on how the mood takes me.
All I ask is that the story and its characters are well-constructed. Too often a tall order, but that only makes the delight of finding a good book all the greater.
Thanks for asking!
Have a question you want me to answer? Click here.
