I’ve decided to do this damn contest (and Jorge is foolish enough to join me), but the idea of writing a horror novel is starting to terrify me. The concept seems easy. We all like to take big dumps on Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and their ilk, but the more I think about this the more I realize that they’re brilliant at what they do. All horror novels have about five potential hooks to be shaped around: ghosts, monsters, aliens, madness, and supernatural ability. But these writers go back to a very shallow well of material and make fairly original works each time. Right now, I don’t feel like I can do that.
I’m not that creative a person, or not like I think I used to be. This was so much easier when you were a kid; there were no dumb ideas when you were in grade six English. You’re trapped on the playground by terrorists? So imaginative! KITT and the General Lee have a race around the world? A+! But at the wizened age of thirty, I tend to beat down any dumb or fantastic ideas. I’m not a great planner in my writing, but before it ever gets to the page I’ve considered every way that someone could find my story stupid. Point being: not very much gets to the page.
Add to this the fact that—much like the romance genre—people who write this stuff tend to churn out novels biannually. How can I help but feel that it’s all been done before? And I don’t just mean that as a figure of speech.
I think that at the core, every horror or sci-fi concept is a dumb idea. It takes a lot of faith to turn that into something, and I’m not quite there yet. Any of the (admittedly dumb) ideas I’ve had so far have died because I keep wanting to ground them in reality, or convincingly explain them. For this to work, I have to leave the explaining part aside. Where did the monster come from? Dunno. Why can this lady speak to the dead? She just can.
To be in a very good position, I need to have figured out what the hell this book is about no later then the October 25th. That gives me almost a week to plan everything out, because if there’s one thing the 3-day novel taught me, it’s that you can’t plan too much. Both times I’d outlined the story but then all but run our of plot by the end of the first day.
And while we're on the subject, here are a few interesting links I’ve found so far:
Neil Gaiman on where his ideas come from.
What is Horror, from the Horror Writers Association (which negates pretty much everything I've said here)
I’m not that creative a person, or not like I think I used to be. This was so much easier when you were a kid; there were no dumb ideas when you were in grade six English. You’re trapped on the playground by terrorists? So imaginative! KITT and the General Lee have a race around the world? A+! But at the wizened age of thirty, I tend to beat down any dumb or fantastic ideas. I’m not a great planner in my writing, but before it ever gets to the page I’ve considered every way that someone could find my story stupid. Point being: not very much gets to the page.
Add to this the fact that—much like the romance genre—people who write this stuff tend to churn out novels biannually. How can I help but feel that it’s all been done before? And I don’t just mean that as a figure of speech.
I think that at the core, every horror or sci-fi concept is a dumb idea. It takes a lot of faith to turn that into something, and I’m not quite there yet. Any of the (admittedly dumb) ideas I’ve had so far have died because I keep wanting to ground them in reality, or convincingly explain them. For this to work, I have to leave the explaining part aside. Where did the monster come from? Dunno. Why can this lady speak to the dead? She just can.
To be in a very good position, I need to have figured out what the hell this book is about no later then the October 25th. That gives me almost a week to plan everything out, because if there’s one thing the 3-day novel taught me, it’s that you can’t plan too much. Both times I’d outlined the story but then all but run our of plot by the end of the first day.
And while we're on the subject, here are a few interesting links I’ve found so far:
Neil Gaiman on where his ideas come from.
What is Horror, from the Horror Writers Association (which negates pretty much everything I've said here)
Comments
And sometimes, the scariest horror is the stuff you don't see. What totally freaked me out about The Stand wasn't the battle of good vs. evil, it was the fact that just about everyone died, and the ones that were left were scattered hither and yon, left by themselves to survive. (Joss Whedon had something similar to say - he never showed the Reavers, or described them in detail, but when the biggest badass on the ship practically wet himself everytime they were mentioned, you knew they must be scary.)
Considering I might only have 3 weeks to do this thing...
You already know what I'm planning, so it will be fun.
You should post our old story.
Horror = her recent FHM pics. She looks great, of course, but I seriously can't take the HORROR of it all.
Why you no likey?
I Likey.
I Likey a lot.
You just have to try a few times. Jay uses the same blog provider as you, and she seems to be able to post comments.
Maybe it's MSN's revenge for you never e-maiilng me back. ;)
Kris - Mmmmm, Rachel Ray. Haaaghlhaaaghlhaaghl.
The Johnny On the Spot looks like the Amityville House to him.