Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy, page 6

Horror and Humor

Those of you who read and/or write horror realize that a great deal of horror fiction is filled with humor. From Steven King to Clive Barker, characters have been placed in situations in which their stupidity comes across as humorous--even in a death scene such as Jimmy's death in King's *Dreamcatcher*. King's clown monster, Pennywise, has a sick sense of humor in *It*. In my own novel I give the Lovecraftean monster a sick sense of humor.

Yet this seems paradoxical--that in the midst of horror there lurks comedy. However, this is not as paradoxical as it seems. I used to volunteer as an EMT and have taught a class filled with police officers--members of these groups often use sick humor as a coping mechanism to deal with the horrific things they see.

In addition, a humorous monster can serve a purpose--it is difficult to write about an evil creature while still giving the creature a symptathetic quality. Yet such is necessary for the reader to identify at all with the monster. If the monster has a sense of humor, the reader may laugh at the monster's jokes and think, "At least this guy is funny. He's cool in one way, even if he is bad in others."

Humor also serves as a break from the frightening and sometimes stomach churning events that occur in horror fiction. A reader overwhelmed with intense scenes may welcome the insertion of humor.

Humor in horror also appeals to the tendency in many people to laugh at the misfortunes of others. Humorous horror can function as an extreme side of the old "slipping on a banana peel" scenes in slapstick comedy. Although it is generally not good to write a character "too stupid to live," sometimes a character can do something so stupid when a monster is around that the reader will laugh at the scene. Let's say a character attacked by a monster with long, sharp claws grabs a pillow and starts swatting rather than grabbing the baseball bat right behind him or her. The incongruity creates a humorous situation.

Finally, on a darker note (befitting a horror writer), some readers have a twisted sense of humor--they actually laugh at bad things happening to others, and the more violent, the better. I don't think I would invite readers like that into my home.

How to Write a First Draft of a Novel in a Week

Although I do not recommend this for everyone, it is possible to write a first draft of a novel in a week, provided the novel is short enough. The bulk of my first drafts of my two novels were done in ten days and a week respectively. These novels were around 70,000 words each. I would never claim that the steps below will work for everyone--I can only tell of my own experience.

1. Before you begin writing your novel, have a list of your main characters and their character traits as well as a short summary of each chapter. In my case the summary was three or four lines consisting of the main events in the chapter.

2. Find a place without distractions, preferably in a beautiful setting. I wrote at the Weymouth Center in Southern Pines, NC, which sponsors free residencies for North Carolina writers. If something like that is not an option for you, rent a cabin in a state park or a hotel room with a great view. It is best if you have a place outside where you can relax or walk.

3. Get up with the intention of writing--and after breakfast, start right away.

4. Do not censor yourself. Travel into the world of the novel and live there as you write. There will be plenty of time for revision after you finish.

5. Write for a full hour, then take a walk outside. If there is something else you find relaxing, do that. My walks took about 20 minutes. After you finish your break, write for another hour. Only break the cycle for meals.

6. Write down any ideas for additional chapters or for deleting chapters in your original outline--this process continues the entire time you write.

7. Internet access is okay, especially for information you may need for your book, and checking e-mail is fine. Do not fall into the trap of continually surfing the web--tempus fugit!

8. My goal was 30-40 pages a day, and most of the time I succeeded. Your goal will depend on your speed of writing--it may take you longer than a week to write an entire first draft, and that is okay.

9. When you leave, set aside the finished draft for at least a week. Get some rest. Then you can worry about the many revisions that are essential to create a quality work of fiction--and that will take many, many weeks!

Can Creative Writing Help Academic Writing

There is a cliche that academic writing has to be boring. While literary essays may be beautifully written, an article in a peer-reviewed academic journal or an academic monograph has to read like wood. This is not the case, although some academics write in a way that makes the cliche seem accurate.

I have always tried to write clearly in my academic articles--I am not a fan of the school of thought that says, "The more obscure, the better." While academic writing involves a different skill set than creative writing, I have found that having skills in both forms of writing helps me in whatever genre I write.

Academic writing involves precision, especially in my field, philosophy, which demands careful reasoning and attention to evidence. Good philosophy involves good facts, and a failure of accuracy can be fatal to a philosophical work. Creative writing skills help me to communicate difficult philosophical issues in a concrete, rather than an abstract, way. Attention to detail that focuses on the concrete items in the world, and that focuses on the everyday experience and struggles of students can help communicate difficult concepts. I could not have written my latest book, *Aerobics for the Mind: Practical Exercises in Philosophy that Anybody Can Do*, without creative writing skills to bring philosophy down to earth. I wanted to make philosophy come alive to the reader, as Shelby Foote made the War between the States come alive in his narrative history of the war.

My advice to academics who also engage in creative writing is to think of the relationship between the two forms of writing as symbiotic. Hopefully, academics who write novels, poetry, and literary essays can improve their skills in all areas of writing by recognizing and using that fact to their advantage.

Lost in Cyberspace: The Difficulty of Getting One's Books Noticed Online

With fewer Americans reading and more people writing books than ever before, especially with self-publishing being free, it is difficult to make one's book stand out. Although I try to write as well as possible, some online readers seem to enjoy bad writing, especially if so-called "fan-fiction" is factored in. The best advice I have read is that after a writer publicizes his work to the best of his ability, he should write another book. The more books an author writes, the greater the chance is that someone will be interested in one of his works. The reader may be so intrigued that he becomes interested in other books by the same author. Thus I plan to write more books and hope that some readers take notice. The joy is in the writing--most writers "have to write." If the writer is true to himself instead of someone seeking only profit, he will write a better book and have the self-satisfaction of accomplishing something rewarding. Sales are more like icing on the cake.

On Revealing the Raw Self in Writing

How would a person feel if she revealed her most secret self, her strangest quirks, in print for all to see? Some writers will not go there, fearing that someone will see their most secret self through the fiction. I have personally found that to be the case--the first novel nearly everyone writes is the one I wrote--the semi-autobiographical coming of age novel using a first person point of view. That is difficult to successfully pull off, and I was aware of that while writing. I have a "quirk" that is part of my ordinarily secret self, and I allowed the main character, Jeffrey Conley, to reveal that quirk in both my novels (End of Summer and Unpardonable Sin).

Since a psychologist has diagnosed me with Asperger's Syndrome, it is not surprising that I have obsessive interests. One of those interests is the human (biological) heart. Someone might yawn and ask, "Is that all? That doesn't make your character stand out." So I "took the plunge" and revealed that Jeffrey is sexually aroused by the sound of a woman's heartbeat. Including my quirk as part of Jeffrey makes an unusual character and one I could develop in unique ways. In my second novel, I make greater use of Jeffrey's heartbeat interest as well as adding more fictional elements, and Jeffrey comes to life more as a character independent, though closely related, to me. Jeffrey's fetish/fascination with the heart grows and colors his other actions, especially his reactions to women--and their reaction to him when he reveals his quirk. There is no judgement, just an imaginative showing of how Jeffrey's life might be in the particular world created for him in my imagination.

Authors should not be afraid to reveal their secret side through a character. That will both add depth and edginess to the character as well as give the author a grounding in the one who knows the character's quirk firsthand--the author himself.

Christian Fiction, "Show, Don't Tell," and Edginess

Reblogged from “Southern Angst: An Author’s Blog” at Google+

The problem with much Christian fiction (with the exception of fine writers such as Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker) is that it often descends to preachiness–to “telling” rather than “showing.” Fiction writing is primarily telling a good story with strong characterization and plot. Still, there is nothing wrong with fiction reflecting the world view of its author. J. R. R. Tolkien, for example, stated that The Lord of the Rings was a Catholic novel, explicitly so on revision. Yet he tells, rather than shows, so that we do not see that the “Secret Fire,” to which Gandalf refers when confronting the Balrog, is a reference to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Christian Trinity.

Yet even Christian fiction that shows often fails to capture enough of the complexities and temptations of life in its attempt not to offend its predominately Evangelical Christian readers. Sometimes it will not do to merely say “John swore,” or “David cursed.” The author should show this through dialogue even if the work has “bad words” in it. There are times that violent scenes are integral to the plot. There are even times in which explicitly sexual scenes are integral to the plot of the story. When that is the case, “telling” alone will result in a poorly written story which deserves the disdain of the secular critic and the general public.

I would consider my novel, Unpardonable Sin, to be primarily a horror novel. Yet it is also a Christian novel in the sense that it clearly reflects a Christian world view. It has cursing, blaspheming, swearing. It has violent scenes. There are scenes of masturbation and of sexual intercourse, including an older woman having sex with an underage boy. Now I do not approve of underage sex, even if it is “consensual” and even if the underage person is “mature for his age.” Yet it is a scene that is integral to the overall plot of the story and reveals the main character, Jeffrey’s, failure at spiritual warfare against a demonic entity. Now Jeffrey may or may not recover and win the war–read the book to find out–but the novel is a horror novel about spiritual warfare against not only a supernatural demonic entity, but against the temptations that arise during puberty and early adolescence. Another theme is the threat that an overly legalistic religion poses to spiritual development. The edgy scenes do not take one iota away from the overall theme, but they add to the plot and make the atmosphere of the story more vivid–that that vividness is an important part of horror fiction. Now it is fair to say that my book is not for young children–probably anyone below sixteen would find it too disturbing. I believe it is a good story for adult eyes to see the horror of a boy facing both an outer demon and his own demons in a world that, while flawed, still offers hope.

Christian writers need to remember that the world they describe is a fallen world, and a fallen world is not always pretty. It is sinful, gritty, and often reveals the worst in people. If fiction is to “tell the truth” about the world, it must tell the whole truth, not just what is palatable to the too-often overly sensitive eyes and ears of Evangelical Christians. This will broaden the appeal of the literary work and encourage others to think about the story more when they have completed the work. Show, don’t tell. Show life in its fullness.

New Novel: Unpardonable Sin

My horror novel, Unpardonable Sin has been published by WordCrafts Press in Tullahoma, Tennessee. A servant of Azathoth, blind god of chaos, who is called "The Antibeing," invades this dimension. His goal is to drive a teenage boy, Jeffrey Conley, to despair and suicide. The Antibeing exploits Jeffrey's Fundamentalist Christian religion by appearing to him as a traditional demon from the Christian tradition. As he struggles through his teenage years believing he has blasphemed the Holy Ghost and is going to hell, will Jeffrey be able to avoid despair and death? Read and find out!