Horror Newsletter September 5, 2007

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From the Editor:

When you sit down to write a piece of horror fiction do you intentionally add the horror elements or do they creep up on you?

When a panel of horror writers were asked this very question, no two answers were the same. It depends on the work, says one author. She deliberately adds gore to one story while another suprises her with its direction. Another author works for the "scare factor" as he goes along. Yet another is completely surprised by what he has written.

I know in my own writing, I will write freely for quite some time before I stop to see what is on the page. Often I am startled by what has come from my head. At that point I may not even be trying for a horror story yet that is exactly what has appeared on the page. Do I attempt to change it to the genre I was originally going for? No way! I take what I've written and run maniacally with it. That is when I may add all those extra elements, foreshadowing and such. It is at that point that I am consciously writing horror.
I must admit though, that other times, I do write with the horror genre in mind. I may see a great title or a plot or character come to mind. Those moments are golden. I often will struggle with a plot but if a character is in place, they will often take my hand and lead me down that dark road. Got to love them.

So tell me, how do you go about writing horror?

Until next month,
Nikola


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