Tone; or, Now I Understand Stephen King

A side effect of having moved back to Maine five years ago: this state is creeping into my stories.

Not only are more and more ideas set here, but the tone and mood of the stories are changing. They’re becoming darker.

All right. There are more factors at work than just geography. Five years ago – the precipitate for the move home from Seattle – my dad died. That’s one of those moments that break life into a definite ‘before’ and ‘after.’ It certainly changed me on a fundamental level. Of course, it changed and continues to change my writing.

Then there’s the fact that I’m a better writer now than I was five years ago. I consciously write on more levels. I allow myself to go to deeper and darker places now, push characters further and raise stake higher.

This new novel – the one I’m typing – is the one that made me realize the trending tone. Many of my ideas over the last five years share a certain mood. (At least for those stories set in Maine.) If I have to describe it, it feels like dark forests and dense sea fog.

You know, I think I’ve begun to understand Stephen King. A tiny bit. Maybe.

Now if only the execution can halfway match what is in my head . . .

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