How to write a zombie novel - Write your own Walking Dead

Get your teeth into writing a zombie novel








I never expected to be
able to write a zombie novel. I thought horror was best left to three of my
favourite authors – Shaun Hutson, James Herbert and Graeme Masterton.





Then this image came
into my head of a couple lying in bed when there’s a knock at the door. One of
them pads down the hall, opens the door and finds his friend Archie standing
there. Archie looks like he’s been mugged. Then they notice that his insides
are dripping out…





And so Dead Bastards
was born. So called because the zombies are dead and a bastard to kill (a Glasgow phrase for
difficult).





Along the way I’ve
learnt a few things -





1. Don’t concentrate
on too many people’s stories. This is a big mistake. Too many characters and
too many stories distance the reader from the story you are trying to tell.





2. When it’s a genre
that people are well acquainted with like zombies, you need to stick to the
rules. By all means push the limits. I recently read a book by a well known
author who gave one of his zombies the gift of thought. Bad enough, but he also
gave them the cloak of invisibility. I threw that book across the room.





3. Make your
characters distinctive. People should know who’s speaking even without speech
tags.





4. Every step of the
way, your characters must have a goal. For instance, in Dead Bastards they had
to go to a shopping mall for supplies. There was no way out of it. Having goals
creates conflict and brings your characters to life.





5. Don’t do what
writers of The Walking Dead’s did and get too bogged down with one aspect of
your plot. In the case of the hit show, they dwelled too much on the Lori,
Shane and Rick love triangle. In the end, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who
got bored with it.





Dead Bastards is
available now from the following -