Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy, page 5
March 3, 2015
Southern Eccentricities and Southern Characters
I enjoy Southern fiction, especially Southern Gothic and Southern horror. Eccentric characters in Southern fiction are not hard to find because eccentric people in the South are not hard to find. The same tends to be true of New England, and it is no surprise that New England and the South have provided the United States with some of its finest writers. I will list below some of the eccentric characters I have encountered, either directly or through family stories, in my own life:
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
Southern Eccentricities and Southern Characters
I enjoy Southern fiction, especially Southern Gothic and Southern horror. Eccentric characters in Southern fiction are not hard to find because eccentric people in the South are not hard to find. The same tends to be true of New England, and it is no surprise that New England and the South have provided the United States with some of its finest writers. I will list below some of the eccentric characters I have encountered, either directly or through family stories, in my own life:
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
March 2, 2015
On "Writing Storms"
I use the term "writing storm" to refer to a burst of material for a novel or other fictional work that overwhelms the mind. It is difficult to type fast enough to get the material down.
Writers have different styles. Some write a certain number of pages every day--Stephen King is one example. Other writers work very slowly and may take years to finish a novel. Then there are writers like me who work in bursts of energy, writing a first draft of a novel in less than two weeks. I wrote 90+ percent of my first novel in ten days. I wrote about 80+ percent of my second novel in five days. Now these were first drafts; the first novel required many, many edits--if you count minor tweaks, the number of drafts was in the 30s. My second novel required surprisingly few drafts given the speed of writing the first draft. Some writers may ask, "Can I work that way, too?"
The answer depends on your personality, how much you can deal emotionally with writing a great deal every day, and, most importantly, the amount of preparation you do before you began writing the novel proper. I wrote most of a novel in five days because I had previously outlined each chapter on index cards--one index card per chapter. I had prepared data sheets on each character. Since I was using the same general fictional world in my second novel as I did in the first, that saved me a great deal of time. When I was writing, I was caught up in that "divine madness" in which the words have to come out to relieve the tension in my mind and body. Exercise helped make those emotions manageable so that I could continue to write instead of continually pacing around the room.
If you have a similar personality, my suggestion is do a great deal of preparatory work on your plot, characters, and setting before you write your first draft. If you do this well, characters will seem to act on their own, and the plot development may diverge from your original plan--but that is okay. Adjust accordingly, deleting chapters that are unnecessary and adding those that are needed given the changes you (or your character) has made. You must find a quite place where you are alone to write. As I have noted before in this blog, put the novel away for a while, then edit, edit, and edit until you have a work ready to show the world.
Most people do not write out of the blue, even in a "writing storm." Even if the author does not use written notes, some ideas have been percolating in the author's head for a long time. No novel is created ex nihilo, "from nothing;" unlike God, authors have to work with pre-existing material. With proper sorting out of that material a person with the temperament for fast writing can finish an entire first draft of a short novel (around 60,000-80,000 words) in a week. I find such an experience exihilarating, and should you choose to go this route, I hope your experience is also enjoyable.
Writers have different styles. Some write a certain number of pages every day--Stephen King is one example. Other writers work very slowly and may take years to finish a novel. Then there are writers like me who work in bursts of energy, writing a first draft of a novel in less than two weeks. I wrote 90+ percent of my first novel in ten days. I wrote about 80+ percent of my second novel in five days. Now these were first drafts; the first novel required many, many edits--if you count minor tweaks, the number of drafts was in the 30s. My second novel required surprisingly few drafts given the speed of writing the first draft. Some writers may ask, "Can I work that way, too?"
The answer depends on your personality, how much you can deal emotionally with writing a great deal every day, and, most importantly, the amount of preparation you do before you began writing the novel proper. I wrote most of a novel in five days because I had previously outlined each chapter on index cards--one index card per chapter. I had prepared data sheets on each character. Since I was using the same general fictional world in my second novel as I did in the first, that saved me a great deal of time. When I was writing, I was caught up in that "divine madness" in which the words have to come out to relieve the tension in my mind and body. Exercise helped make those emotions manageable so that I could continue to write instead of continually pacing around the room.
If you have a similar personality, my suggestion is do a great deal of preparatory work on your plot, characters, and setting before you write your first draft. If you do this well, characters will seem to act on their own, and the plot development may diverge from your original plan--but that is okay. Adjust accordingly, deleting chapters that are unnecessary and adding those that are needed given the changes you (or your character) has made. You must find a quite place where you are alone to write. As I have noted before in this blog, put the novel away for a while, then edit, edit, and edit until you have a work ready to show the world.
Most people do not write out of the blue, even in a "writing storm." Even if the author does not use written notes, some ideas have been percolating in the author's head for a long time. No novel is created ex nihilo, "from nothing;" unlike God, authors have to work with pre-existing material. With proper sorting out of that material a person with the temperament for fast writing can finish an entire first draft of a short novel (around 60,000-80,000 words) in a week. I find such an experience exihilarating, and should you choose to go this route, I hope your experience is also enjoyable.
February 19, 2015
Formulating Story Ideas from Your Fictional World
Although many people associate "world-making" in fiction with fantasy writing--J.R.R. Tolkien is the supreme example--it is essential to any work of fiction. This is especially true in the novel. The trend in much of fiction is to write sequels, and in fantasy and young adult fiction they are de facto required by some publishers. Horror fiction has not gone that far, but there are more series in horror fiction than in the past--Jonathan Mayberry comes to mind. Suppose you do not want to write a sequel and are starved of ideas for your next project.
One source of ideas is the world you created in one of your earlier works--at least a novella length piece is necessary for the requisite amount of world-making. Pick a setting from your fictional world, pick a different time in the same setting , or pick a different character and come up with an idea from the world you have already developed. This will save you time on understanding the setting of your novel or short story and allows you to derive new stories with different charcters in that same world. A good example is Ken Follett, who followed PILLARS OF THE EARTH with WORLD WITHOUT END. Both novels are based in his fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, along with its monastery (and later in the first novel) and cathedral. The second novel is set over 150 years later with different characters--and both are masterful novels. He did not have to develop his setting further--in the first novel the Kingsbridge Cathedral was built, so it was present in the second novel at the beginning. I am currently working on a third novel which is not a sequel to my first two--but like them, is set in middle Tennessee near the fictional city of Randallsville and the town of Morhollow. I know that setting well, since Randallsville is based on Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Morhollow is based on Smyrna, Tennessee where I grew up. I know the rural areas and the kind of people who lived there. Why should I change settings when there are rich sources of stories already present in the same world? If I am stuck coming up with an idea for a novel, I ask, "What would this (person I knew in the past) be like if he were, for example, a serial killer?" or "What if two local boys murdered a woman because she hurt the grandfather of one of the boys?" There are many sources of stories in a well-developed world, so a good job at world-making should provide a potentially endless source of story ideas.
One source of ideas is the world you created in one of your earlier works--at least a novella length piece is necessary for the requisite amount of world-making. Pick a setting from your fictional world, pick a different time in the same setting , or pick a different character and come up with an idea from the world you have already developed. This will save you time on understanding the setting of your novel or short story and allows you to derive new stories with different charcters in that same world. A good example is Ken Follett, who followed PILLARS OF THE EARTH with WORLD WITHOUT END. Both novels are based in his fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, along with its monastery (and later in the first novel) and cathedral. The second novel is set over 150 years later with different characters--and both are masterful novels. He did not have to develop his setting further--in the first novel the Kingsbridge Cathedral was built, so it was present in the second novel at the beginning. I am currently working on a third novel which is not a sequel to my first two--but like them, is set in middle Tennessee near the fictional city of Randallsville and the town of Morhollow. I know that setting well, since Randallsville is based on Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Morhollow is based on Smyrna, Tennessee where I grew up. I know the rural areas and the kind of people who lived there. Why should I change settings when there are rich sources of stories already present in the same world? If I am stuck coming up with an idea for a novel, I ask, "What would this (person I knew in the past) be like if he were, for example, a serial killer?" or "What if two local boys murdered a woman because she hurt the grandfather of one of the boys?" There are many sources of stories in a well-developed world, so a good job at world-making should provide a potentially endless source of story ideas.
February 13, 2015
Writers and Alcohol
One stereotype about writers that, unfortunately, has some truth to it is that many writers abuse alcohol. O Henry, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Dylan Thomas, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac, and many others had such struggles. Among horror writers, Stephen King struggled with alcohol and drugs, and has successfully overcome his addiction. Edgar Allen Poe had a drinking problem as did Shirley Jackson. Even writers who do not have problems with drinking too much often drink an alcoholic beverage as they write. Why is this the case? Is there a link between creativity and alcohol abuse?
To be fair, some writers with clinical depression may have drunk too much to avoid the pain. Others may have suffered pain from injuries and drunk to dull the physical pain. However, I do think there is a link between drinking alcoholic beverages and writing.
What people who do not write fail to understand is that writing is a gut-wrenching, emotional experience. In writing, the author bares him or herself, psychologically stripping away barriers that are normally kept closed. I remember my own experience writing my novels--it was similar to a fugue state in which the emotions and scenes were flowing too fast to write down, and in which my body was so tense it felt as if it were on a caffeine IV. My heart pounded, my body trembled--taking a walk every hour helped with the physical stress, but the mental stress only increased. I drank a little wine or Tennessee whisky, allowing a glass to last over several hours. It slowed my mind enough to write what was inside it, but not so much that it interfered with thinking. Yet even then there were times I would have two drinks in two hourse because it was the only thing that would calm me down. It was easier writing my second novel, and I was moderate the entire time, but the gut-wrenching baring of my soul was still present. Writing is a great catharsis and can function like therapy, and I enjoyed the process of writing, but my body and emotions were taut--it is difficult to desribe the experience. Now that I cannot drink any alcohol for medical reasons, I still write, but listen to music or relaxation CDs to help.
Other writers are not so moderate--perhaps they had negative experiences in their lives that writing brought back into their consciousness. Perhaps their bodies reacted more strongly to the emotion of writing than did mine. Perhaps they had a genetic propensity to alcoholism. Some writers could only write when drunk. How can writers deal with the baring of the soul that takes place in writing?
My suggestion would be to drink moderately if you drink--if there is any hint of lack of control, leave the room and take a walk. If you are still tempted, you do not need to drink--you are depending on it, and when that happens, alcohol will become your master and you will be its slave. For those who do not drink, listen to calming music or relaxation tracks--there is plenty of such on YouTube if you have Internet access where you are writing. If there is no Internet access, bring a personal CD player and headphones along with whatever music you enjoy. For writing, I prefer either Gregorian chant or one of the works of Arvo Part--slow, meditative, calming.
Exercise is a must--take walks, at least, and if you are a jogger, go for a run. Anything healthy way to relieve stress is good. For those tempted to drink too much, rememember that dead people cannot write anything. It is not worth losing your life to solve the emotional wrenching process of writing via too much alcohol or other drugs.
To be fair, some writers with clinical depression may have drunk too much to avoid the pain. Others may have suffered pain from injuries and drunk to dull the physical pain. However, I do think there is a link between drinking alcoholic beverages and writing.
What people who do not write fail to understand is that writing is a gut-wrenching, emotional experience. In writing, the author bares him or herself, psychologically stripping away barriers that are normally kept closed. I remember my own experience writing my novels--it was similar to a fugue state in which the emotions and scenes were flowing too fast to write down, and in which my body was so tense it felt as if it were on a caffeine IV. My heart pounded, my body trembled--taking a walk every hour helped with the physical stress, but the mental stress only increased. I drank a little wine or Tennessee whisky, allowing a glass to last over several hours. It slowed my mind enough to write what was inside it, but not so much that it interfered with thinking. Yet even then there were times I would have two drinks in two hourse because it was the only thing that would calm me down. It was easier writing my second novel, and I was moderate the entire time, but the gut-wrenching baring of my soul was still present. Writing is a great catharsis and can function like therapy, and I enjoyed the process of writing, but my body and emotions were taut--it is difficult to desribe the experience. Now that I cannot drink any alcohol for medical reasons, I still write, but listen to music or relaxation CDs to help.
Other writers are not so moderate--perhaps they had negative experiences in their lives that writing brought back into their consciousness. Perhaps their bodies reacted more strongly to the emotion of writing than did mine. Perhaps they had a genetic propensity to alcoholism. Some writers could only write when drunk. How can writers deal with the baring of the soul that takes place in writing?
My suggestion would be to drink moderately if you drink--if there is any hint of lack of control, leave the room and take a walk. If you are still tempted, you do not need to drink--you are depending on it, and when that happens, alcohol will become your master and you will be its slave. For those who do not drink, listen to calming music or relaxation tracks--there is plenty of such on YouTube if you have Internet access where you are writing. If there is no Internet access, bring a personal CD player and headphones along with whatever music you enjoy. For writing, I prefer either Gregorian chant or one of the works of Arvo Part--slow, meditative, calming.
Exercise is a must--take walks, at least, and if you are a jogger, go for a run. Anything healthy way to relieve stress is good. For those tempted to drink too much, rememember that dead people cannot write anything. It is not worth losing your life to solve the emotional wrenching process of writing via too much alcohol or other drugs.
February 12, 2015
Writing on the Run
How can someone who travels often due to a job or some other good reason find time to write? There are times in which I do a great deal of travel, and in months with two conferences, that can take eight days out of the month. Some people travel more often than that. How can a frequent traveler find more writing time?
If you fly, the situation is easier than when you are driving a vehicle. On long flights, if you own a laptop, you can work on it during the time (most of the flight) when laptop use is permitted. If you are not in first class or business class, this may be uncomfortable, and if you are not good at tuning out distractions, it may be difficult. If you do not own or do not like to use a laptop on a plane, write on a legal pad. Poems, story sketches, the beginnings of stories, an initial outline for a book or a screenplay--these can all be written down on a legal pad. You can return to your work later if you have a break in your hotel room. I am most effective at writing poetry on the run, and unless I am writing a long poem, I can usually have first drafts of several poems completed by the end of the trip.
If you are a passenger in a vehicle, the medium you use to write depends on the available vehicle space. In some vehicles you may be able to work on a laptop; in others, a legal pad is best. If you are in a cab for a long ride and can stand the multiple fast turns, you can write there. If you get car sick and you have a tolerant driver, you can bring a digital voice recorder or tape recorder and record your ideas in a voice medium. If you are the driver and can safely pull over when that idea that seems brilliant pops into your mind, do it. I have a DVR in my car, and have spoken poems or story ideas--or even academic paper ideas--into the DVR during traffic jams in which the traffic is at a complete stop (especially when the police have blocked traffic due to an accident). Pay sufficient attention to the road, though, to know when traffic starts again. Someone behind you will be sure to let you know if you failt to move, but a careless driver could run into the rear of your vehicle. I find that glancing at scenery, especially in rural areas, stimulates ideas. If you are working on a longer work, follow the habit of stopping a sentence in the middle so you can re-read and begin again where you left off. There used to be scenic train rides for writers who wanted to allow the view outside to inspire their writing. Breaks on a cruise ship can also be used for writing--plus the sights you see can inspire ideas for stories and poems.
Any writer can adjust to the circumstances of travel--it takes discipline, but so does writing in a quiet room on a retreat. Good writing can be accomplished despite a busy schedule of travel.
If you fly, the situation is easier than when you are driving a vehicle. On long flights, if you own a laptop, you can work on it during the time (most of the flight) when laptop use is permitted. If you are not in first class or business class, this may be uncomfortable, and if you are not good at tuning out distractions, it may be difficult. If you do not own or do not like to use a laptop on a plane, write on a legal pad. Poems, story sketches, the beginnings of stories, an initial outline for a book or a screenplay--these can all be written down on a legal pad. You can return to your work later if you have a break in your hotel room. I am most effective at writing poetry on the run, and unless I am writing a long poem, I can usually have first drafts of several poems completed by the end of the trip.
If you are a passenger in a vehicle, the medium you use to write depends on the available vehicle space. In some vehicles you may be able to work on a laptop; in others, a legal pad is best. If you are in a cab for a long ride and can stand the multiple fast turns, you can write there. If you get car sick and you have a tolerant driver, you can bring a digital voice recorder or tape recorder and record your ideas in a voice medium. If you are the driver and can safely pull over when that idea that seems brilliant pops into your mind, do it. I have a DVR in my car, and have spoken poems or story ideas--or even academic paper ideas--into the DVR during traffic jams in which the traffic is at a complete stop (especially when the police have blocked traffic due to an accident). Pay sufficient attention to the road, though, to know when traffic starts again. Someone behind you will be sure to let you know if you failt to move, but a careless driver could run into the rear of your vehicle. I find that glancing at scenery, especially in rural areas, stimulates ideas. If you are working on a longer work, follow the habit of stopping a sentence in the middle so you can re-read and begin again where you left off. There used to be scenic train rides for writers who wanted to allow the view outside to inspire their writing. Breaks on a cruise ship can also be used for writing--plus the sights you see can inspire ideas for stories and poems.
Any writer can adjust to the circumstances of travel--it takes discipline, but so does writing in a quiet room on a retreat. Good writing can be accomplished despite a busy schedule of travel.
February 6, 2015
Types of Fear and Horror Fiction
"Fear" is said in many ways. A summary of the different kinds of fear may be useful to some writers, since different ways of writing elicit different types of fear.
Types of Fear:
"Startled" fear--for example, to a sudden noise, to a window breaking. This is often used in horror flicks, though it is more difficult to communicate via writing.
Awe--includes fear and fascination, Rudolf Otto's "mysterium tremendum et fascinans." This is the fear elicited by stories such as Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" or Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows."
Dread--the fear of knowing or believing that something bad will happen. In Ernest Hemingway's story, "The Killers," it is the kind of fear the man holed up in his home waiting for the inevitable mafia hit feels.
Anxiety--existential dread, dread of annihilation, dread of death. Regan's mother in William Blatty's The Exorcist experienced that fear. It can also include fear of long-term disease or fear about being "thrown" into the world, a world for which one did not ask. Also compare any of Kafka's or Rilke's characters.
"Running for one's life" fear--a person is in immanent danger of being killed by an animal, human, or monster. This version of fear is found in most horror literature.
Phobias--fear of the dark, being outside, elevators, heights, etc. A story may have a character with one of these fear and face the situation they dread the most.
Fear of the death of loved ones--one example is when a woman dies of breast cancer and her sister fears she will have the same disease.
Panic attack--fear that one is dying when there is little or no danger of dying. A character having a panic attack is already stressed, and placing a monster with the character during an attack can up the ante on the character's fear.
Fear of harming oneself or others. For example, a character with dissociative identity disorder. One of that individual's personalities may be murderous.
Fear of the unknown--one of the best kinds of fears to elicit in a reader through suspense, as I mentioned in a previous post.
Terror--fear to the nth degree--the fear of a woman who was attacked by a man who sees the man in a lonely alley wielding a knife. Can include many of the other kinds of fear mentioned above.
Horror--fear of a monster, whether the monster be human, such as a serial killer, or of a nonhuman monster (lions, ghosts, vampires, zombies, etc.)
Those are types of fear of which I can think at the moment--if you want to add to the list in a comment, feel free to do so.
Types of Fear:
"Startled" fear--for example, to a sudden noise, to a window breaking. This is often used in horror flicks, though it is more difficult to communicate via writing.
Awe--includes fear and fascination, Rudolf Otto's "mysterium tremendum et fascinans." This is the fear elicited by stories such as Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" or Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows."
Dread--the fear of knowing or believing that something bad will happen. In Ernest Hemingway's story, "The Killers," it is the kind of fear the man holed up in his home waiting for the inevitable mafia hit feels.
Anxiety--existential dread, dread of annihilation, dread of death. Regan's mother in William Blatty's The Exorcist experienced that fear. It can also include fear of long-term disease or fear about being "thrown" into the world, a world for which one did not ask. Also compare any of Kafka's or Rilke's characters.
"Running for one's life" fear--a person is in immanent danger of being killed by an animal, human, or monster. This version of fear is found in most horror literature.
Phobias--fear of the dark, being outside, elevators, heights, etc. A story may have a character with one of these fear and face the situation they dread the most.
Fear of the death of loved ones--one example is when a woman dies of breast cancer and her sister fears she will have the same disease.
Panic attack--fear that one is dying when there is little or no danger of dying. A character having a panic attack is already stressed, and placing a monster with the character during an attack can up the ante on the character's fear.
Fear of harming oneself or others. For example, a character with dissociative identity disorder. One of that individual's personalities may be murderous.
Fear of the unknown--one of the best kinds of fears to elicit in a reader through suspense, as I mentioned in a previous post.
Terror--fear to the nth degree--the fear of a woman who was attacked by a man who sees the man in a lonely alley wielding a knife. Can include many of the other kinds of fear mentioned above.
Horror--fear of a monster, whether the monster be human, such as a serial killer, or of a nonhuman monster (lions, ghosts, vampires, zombies, etc.)
Those are types of fear of which I can think at the moment--if you want to add to the list in a comment, feel free to do so.
February 5, 2015
Writing: Short Story or Novel?
Beginning writers sometimes wonder about the best route to take in their prose fiction. Should they write short stories? Flash fiction? Novellas? Novels? All of these?
It is probably useful to start with the short story since that is a quicker way to learn plotting, characterization, theme, style, and other aspects of the craft of writing. Short stories also offer self-contained packets for critique groups--each member can evaluate a whole work by you rather than one chapter at a time of a novel.
My advice for writers who are beyond the beginner stage is to write novels. One ironic fact of writing is that novels, while much longer than short stories, are easier to write. You cannot afford errors in a short story--the plot and characterization must be near-perfect to have any chance at publication. In a novel, you can afford a few errors, but your goal should always be to have none. That is not possible for a lenghty work, but make the novel as good as possible before sending it out. Have someone who is a skilled writer critique your novel; then make final revisions. Then you have options: you can try to find an agent, search for a small press to publish the novel, or self-publish. Novels will net you a profit with each sale, and you will have a book of which you can be proud.
This does not mean you should abandon the short story. I do not, however, recommend your writing a novella. Markets are there, but they are few and far-between. Stephen King has several novellas published, but he is Stephen King, and you are not. I usually like to write short stories for anthologies since they have themes, and if a theme fits the kind of story I enjoy writing, I'll take the time to write a short story. If it is accepted and you are in a quality anthology, your name could be listed in the Table of Contents with well-known writers in your genre. That can do nothing but help you.
I mainly focus on novels now, but every few months I submit a short story to an anthology. You do not have to follow my advice--perhaps you only enjoy writing short stories. If you are happy with that, work on your craft, on your storytelling skills, and send out short stories. If you discover how tight the market for short stories is, then you might reconsider and write a novel.
It is probably useful to start with the short story since that is a quicker way to learn plotting, characterization, theme, style, and other aspects of the craft of writing. Short stories also offer self-contained packets for critique groups--each member can evaluate a whole work by you rather than one chapter at a time of a novel.
My advice for writers who are beyond the beginner stage is to write novels. One ironic fact of writing is that novels, while much longer than short stories, are easier to write. You cannot afford errors in a short story--the plot and characterization must be near-perfect to have any chance at publication. In a novel, you can afford a few errors, but your goal should always be to have none. That is not possible for a lenghty work, but make the novel as good as possible before sending it out. Have someone who is a skilled writer critique your novel; then make final revisions. Then you have options: you can try to find an agent, search for a small press to publish the novel, or self-publish. Novels will net you a profit with each sale, and you will have a book of which you can be proud.
This does not mean you should abandon the short story. I do not, however, recommend your writing a novella. Markets are there, but they are few and far-between. Stephen King has several novellas published, but he is Stephen King, and you are not. I usually like to write short stories for anthologies since they have themes, and if a theme fits the kind of story I enjoy writing, I'll take the time to write a short story. If it is accepted and you are in a quality anthology, your name could be listed in the Table of Contents with well-known writers in your genre. That can do nothing but help you.
I mainly focus on novels now, but every few months I submit a short story to an anthology. You do not have to follow my advice--perhaps you only enjoy writing short stories. If you are happy with that, work on your craft, on your storytelling skills, and send out short stories. If you discover how tight the market for short stories is, then you might reconsider and write a novel.
February 4, 2015
On Scaring People
I have read a great deal of contemporary horror, but have found that much of it lacks an essential element of horror--scaring the reader. Now people have different threshholds of fear. Someone else may find frightening what I find gross or boring. There are a few contemporary authors that scare me: Stephen King's early work does, and the classic ghost stories by M. R. James or Le Fanu are chilling. Russell Kirk's ghost stories not only chill me, but create a sense of awe that crawls up and down my spine. Lovecraft's fiction sets an atmosphere of fear and dispair akin to anxiety.
My desire as a writer is to say something important about the human condition, but with horror fiction I have the further desire to frighten my readers. Different writers have different methods of doing this. Suspense is one of the best ways--when I watch a scary horror movie or read a horror story or book, I find myself most fearful during the time of anticipating a monster's visit rather than when the monster actually visits. In my favorite horror movie, Ghost Story, there is a scene near the beginning of the movie in which a young man has slept with a woman who is now lying on the bed. He asks her, "Who are you?" and she says, "You know." Now I am suspecting that she is not all she appears to be--perhaps she is a ghost or some inhuman creature. He touches her and she is ice cold. Then he turns her around--the peak time of anticipation. When she is turned around, her face an body are rotting, and the man panics, stumbles back, and through a window, falling to his death. I have a video on YouTube in which I recorded my heartbeat during the first ten minutes of that movie--and the maximum rate occured just before the man turned the woman around, not when her rotted face appeared. Setting up suspense well is difficult and demands exquisite timing. If a scene is too short, a reader of a horror story is not sufficiently frightened, but if a scene goes on too long, the reader may get bored.
Another means of increasing a reader's fear is to describe the horrible appearance of a monster in great detail. Yet that is usually not as effective as describing the monster's speech. I gave my monster in my novel a sick sense of humor (similar to my own, unfortunately) that, I hope, made the demonic character more frightening. He is also malevolent to an extreme and enjoys torturing people to the point of despair. It is the psychological portrait that is often more effective in causing fear than the physical portrait.
Awe can be part of fear; one can feel awe for an evil creature as well as for a good one. Cosmic horror acheives this well, especially in Lovecraft. If a monster is so powerful as to be awe-ful, this increases the intensity of fear. Of course awe-fulness must be communicated through story--through characters' actions and through their dialogue.
One question people ask horror writers is, "Do you like to scare people?" Obviously, the answer is "yes"; otherwise, why write horror. The scarier horror is, the better--I like to be scared when I read a horror story, and I am sure that regular readers of horror desire that as well. I only hope I succeed to some measure in scaring the hell out of my readers!
My desire as a writer is to say something important about the human condition, but with horror fiction I have the further desire to frighten my readers. Different writers have different methods of doing this. Suspense is one of the best ways--when I watch a scary horror movie or read a horror story or book, I find myself most fearful during the time of anticipating a monster's visit rather than when the monster actually visits. In my favorite horror movie, Ghost Story, there is a scene near the beginning of the movie in which a young man has slept with a woman who is now lying on the bed. He asks her, "Who are you?" and she says, "You know." Now I am suspecting that she is not all she appears to be--perhaps she is a ghost or some inhuman creature. He touches her and she is ice cold. Then he turns her around--the peak time of anticipation. When she is turned around, her face an body are rotting, and the man panics, stumbles back, and through a window, falling to his death. I have a video on YouTube in which I recorded my heartbeat during the first ten minutes of that movie--and the maximum rate occured just before the man turned the woman around, not when her rotted face appeared. Setting up suspense well is difficult and demands exquisite timing. If a scene is too short, a reader of a horror story is not sufficiently frightened, but if a scene goes on too long, the reader may get bored.
Another means of increasing a reader's fear is to describe the horrible appearance of a monster in great detail. Yet that is usually not as effective as describing the monster's speech. I gave my monster in my novel a sick sense of humor (similar to my own, unfortunately) that, I hope, made the demonic character more frightening. He is also malevolent to an extreme and enjoys torturing people to the point of despair. It is the psychological portrait that is often more effective in causing fear than the physical portrait.
Awe can be part of fear; one can feel awe for an evil creature as well as for a good one. Cosmic horror acheives this well, especially in Lovecraft. If a monster is so powerful as to be awe-ful, this increases the intensity of fear. Of course awe-fulness must be communicated through story--through characters' actions and through their dialogue.
One question people ask horror writers is, "Do you like to scare people?" Obviously, the answer is "yes"; otherwise, why write horror. The scarier horror is, the better--I like to be scared when I read a horror story, and I am sure that regular readers of horror desire that as well. I only hope I succeed to some measure in scaring the hell out of my readers!
February 3, 2015
Are Adjectives and Adverbs Evil?
"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher." --Edgar Allen Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"
While there are rules in writing, each rule has exceptions. I agree with the dictum that in general it is best in writing to avoid adjectives and adverbs unless they are absolutely necessary. However, as the above quotation shows, a skilled writer such as Poe can use adjectives and adverbs to set a mood. Part of his skill is in his use of alliteration: "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day..." The repetition of "d" sounds helps focus one's mind on the adjectives. The reader has a tendency to read the words, "dull, dark, and soundless" slowly and (to use an adverb) pondorously, so as to create a an atmosphere of decay and ruin. The words give me a feeling of suffocation. Lovecraft, like Poe, could use adjectives and adverbs effectively.
Yet such skill is rare. In ordinary writers, overuse of adjectives and adverbs can bore the reader. Unless they contribute to creating an image in the reader's mind, they are usually unhelpful in keeping a reader's interest. Most writers should focus on creating concrete imagery instead of using multiple adjectives and adverbs. A good image will stick with the reader far more than an ineffective use of modifiers.
What is especially grating is the use of adverbs in dialogue tags. In the phrase, "he said angrily," the adverb is unnecessary; instead the writer should make clear from the context that the speaker is angry: "He shook his fist and said,..." The reader then will pass over the word "said" as if it were not present and focus on the actual dialogue.
I have read good works with too many adverbial dialogue tags. Stephen King's Salem's Lot has quite a few, and I did not find them effective, though I like the book overall. Stephen Follett's great work, , uses too many adverbial dialogue tags. I do not know if writing in the UK has been as influenced by Hemingway as American writing, but Hemingway's advice on using few adjectives and adverbs remains sound.
This is not to say that one can avoid adjectives and adverbs altogether--that would make an awkward work. In horror fiction, which I write, they can be useful in establishing atmosphere in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft. Adjectives and adverbs are neither evil or good per se As you write, read aloud a sentence and/or longer passages and determine whether the adjective or adverb works in that setting. If not, focus on creating concrete imagery.
While there are rules in writing, each rule has exceptions. I agree with the dictum that in general it is best in writing to avoid adjectives and adverbs unless they are absolutely necessary. However, as the above quotation shows, a skilled writer such as Poe can use adjectives and adverbs to set a mood. Part of his skill is in his use of alliteration: "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day..." The repetition of "d" sounds helps focus one's mind on the adjectives. The reader has a tendency to read the words, "dull, dark, and soundless" slowly and (to use an adverb) pondorously, so as to create a an atmosphere of decay and ruin. The words give me a feeling of suffocation. Lovecraft, like Poe, could use adjectives and adverbs effectively.
Yet such skill is rare. In ordinary writers, overuse of adjectives and adverbs can bore the reader. Unless they contribute to creating an image in the reader's mind, they are usually unhelpful in keeping a reader's interest. Most writers should focus on creating concrete imagery instead of using multiple adjectives and adverbs. A good image will stick with the reader far more than an ineffective use of modifiers.
What is especially grating is the use of adverbs in dialogue tags. In the phrase, "he said angrily," the adverb is unnecessary; instead the writer should make clear from the context that the speaker is angry: "He shook his fist and said,..." The reader then will pass over the word "said" as if it were not present and focus on the actual dialogue.
I have read good works with too many adverbial dialogue tags. Stephen King's Salem's Lot has quite a few, and I did not find them effective, though I like the book overall. Stephen Follett's great work, , uses too many adverbial dialogue tags. I do not know if writing in the UK has been as influenced by Hemingway as American writing, but Hemingway's advice on using few adjectives and adverbs remains sound.
This is not to say that one can avoid adjectives and adverbs altogether--that would make an awkward work. In horror fiction, which I write, they can be useful in establishing atmosphere in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft. Adjectives and adverbs are neither evil or good per se As you write, read aloud a sentence and/or longer passages and determine whether the adjective or adverb works in that setting. If not, focus on creating concrete imagery.
Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy
The blog of Michael Potts, writer of Southern fiction, horror fiction, and poetry.
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