The Newsletter Stand

horror scary NL 7-16-08

Hi there! I'm Robin, and I'll be your guest editor for the Horror/Scary Newsletter this week.

So, I’m not trying to discount advice from other authors who advocate the “make a plan” when it comes to writing horror/scary. I’d like to loosen the grips of what a “plan” means.

Last November, I participated in National Novel Writing Month. For those of you not familiar, it’s a writing project developed by a guy named Chris Baty who lives in California. In 1999, Baty and 20 of his friends decided they would write a novel –50,000 words in one month. In ’07, over 100,000 writes took on his challenge and wrote [collectively] over one million words!

National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo is held during November of every year, but you can take on the project by yourself. Although, the support of others coupled with the knowledge the 100,000 authors worldwide are attempting the same goals is motivating in a strong pronounced way.

Here’s just one of the lessons I learned while participating in NaNoWriMo:

Plans change
While I stared out with a rough plan, I even created Excel spreadsheets organizing characters including their general age, occupations, physical appearance, etc. My plan found its way in the trash cans of cyberspace once I began the writing.

Before you adopt a plan, but after you’ve given birth to your “idea” set aside a few writing sessions. These sessions can be 10- 30 minutes in length. The goal of these sessions is to write without stopping. You have permission to write anything, repeat words if you need too or type sentences like I don’t know what to write. The point is anything goes. The purpose of the assignment is to just write. (These don’t stop timed writing attempts are mainstays in NaNoWriMo and they blast huge holes in writers block while spearheading your creativity).

The fun thing I discovered on my way to 50k words is how my imagination popped out, took on a mind of its own and made strange things happen to my story's plot. Well-behaved sweet co-worker turned out to be an accomplice to a murderer.

Yes, make a plan before you write your story. However, remember flexibility and a willingness to change may result in a more creative piece.

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