How to Write Entertaining Horror Fiction
Come up with the idea for your horror tale., Decide the title for your entertaining horror piece., Create your horror characters., Consider the length of the story., Write., Come up with a good beginning., Come up with a good ending.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Come up with the idea for your horror tale.
To ensure it is more interesting than the standard rehash of horror themes already produced, come up with twists on the usual take, to throw readers off the scent and really entertain them in terrifying, horrifying ways.
Be wary of writing yet another vampire/super villain style tale.
When a certain character type is everywhere in the media, it's tempting to join the bandwagon but also unoriginal and potentially less entertaining.
Look beyond what's currently popular and be a trendsetter with a new horror style.
Look back over centuries of writing about horror themes.
Which ones are yet to be fully explored and exploited? You'll have fun doing the research and that will flow through into your writing too.
Looking for inspiration? Try reading about the authors R.L.
Stine (writer of Goosebumps and Fear Street Series), J.K.
Rowling (writer of Harry Potter), K.A.
Applegate (writer of Animorphs series), Stephen King (writer of world famous horror stories), Diana G.
Gallagher (The Secret World Of Alex Mack series). -
Step 2: Decide the title for your entertaining horror piece.
The title should fit the story without giving it away.
For example, if the story is going to be about evil clowns, think of a title that reveals the presence of evil clowns, to draw people in when they see this book on a shelf.
If one of the clown's names was "Jack" for example, you could call the book "Jack The Clown." The title might include creepy, sadistic or sinister elements to make it more interesting. , Try to think them through in as much detail as possible, to help you to describe them well and to understand their motives and actions.
If you say something like "Jack used to be a clown before the incident," that doesn't paint a pretty picture (much less a picture, really.) Now if you say "Jack was a tall clown with face paint, an orange jumpsuit, and a blood-curdling voice," then people can begin to imagine this nefarious character's appearance and sound. , A juvenile fiction book for readers ages 12 onward is usually about 200 pages long, or less.
An adult fiction book can be over 1000 pages long, but don't get carried away.
Most people like a story that wraps up in 300 to 400 pages. , Add elements of surprise, pauses that will make the readers wanting more, detail and description, originality, unique characters, funny and scary and sad and silly parts and finally your story will come together. , A story's beginning or foundation needs to draw readers in.
It should be descriptive, imaginative and original.
Let's say the beginning to your story was "Everybody said that the chemical factory was haunted." Would you read that, or would you read something more lively? Try adding a few descriptive words to draw readers in.
Change this to: "An icy chill shivered up my spine as the ominous shadow of the old abandoned chemical factory descended over me, filling my head with the stories my friends had told me of the mutated factory workers inside".
This latter sentence captures the reader's interest more because it is invoking the atmosphere and throwing a bone to the reader of possible terrible things having once happened there. , In the horror genre, you can't have a character brutally murdered just to bring them back to life because you need them for the ending––it can become cheesy all too quickly.
Imagine the whole story play out in your head for five minutes or so.
You should get a good feeling of how you wish the characters to develop, how they all turn out in the end and who will potentially be left standing.
What will the final character have at the end––a trophy in their hand or lodged squarely in their head? Do you plan to write sequels? The ending of a story doesn't always have to mean "the end" if you're planning to write a sequel or series.
Make the readers want to read more by adding a "cliffhanger" to the end of the story, creating suspense to begin your next story.
If you're planning on ending the story altogether, make the ending descriptive and exciting and don't just end it with "the end" or "they lived happily ever after." Does it have to be a happy ending? No, it can be whatever ending you want, if you want the characters to die in the end or to be eaten by a zombie or abducted by aliens, it's all up to you.
If you want the characters to fall in love and get married or to defeat the mad pink poodle with razor sharp teeth he was fighting, it's your story.
Remember, no one else will write it for you, the story can be whatever way you want it, it's all about imagination. -
Step 3: Create your horror characters.
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Step 4: Consider the length of the story.
-
Step 5: Write.
-
Step 6: Come up with a good beginning.
-
Step 7: Come up with a good ending.
Detailed Guide
To ensure it is more interesting than the standard rehash of horror themes already produced, come up with twists on the usual take, to throw readers off the scent and really entertain them in terrifying, horrifying ways.
Be wary of writing yet another vampire/super villain style tale.
When a certain character type is everywhere in the media, it's tempting to join the bandwagon but also unoriginal and potentially less entertaining.
Look beyond what's currently popular and be a trendsetter with a new horror style.
Look back over centuries of writing about horror themes.
Which ones are yet to be fully explored and exploited? You'll have fun doing the research and that will flow through into your writing too.
Looking for inspiration? Try reading about the authors R.L.
Stine (writer of Goosebumps and Fear Street Series), J.K.
Rowling (writer of Harry Potter), K.A.
Applegate (writer of Animorphs series), Stephen King (writer of world famous horror stories), Diana G.
Gallagher (The Secret World Of Alex Mack series).
The title should fit the story without giving it away.
For example, if the story is going to be about evil clowns, think of a title that reveals the presence of evil clowns, to draw people in when they see this book on a shelf.
If one of the clown's names was "Jack" for example, you could call the book "Jack The Clown." The title might include creepy, sadistic or sinister elements to make it more interesting. , Try to think them through in as much detail as possible, to help you to describe them well and to understand their motives and actions.
If you say something like "Jack used to be a clown before the incident," that doesn't paint a pretty picture (much less a picture, really.) Now if you say "Jack was a tall clown with face paint, an orange jumpsuit, and a blood-curdling voice," then people can begin to imagine this nefarious character's appearance and sound. , A juvenile fiction book for readers ages 12 onward is usually about 200 pages long, or less.
An adult fiction book can be over 1000 pages long, but don't get carried away.
Most people like a story that wraps up in 300 to 400 pages. , Add elements of surprise, pauses that will make the readers wanting more, detail and description, originality, unique characters, funny and scary and sad and silly parts and finally your story will come together. , A story's beginning or foundation needs to draw readers in.
It should be descriptive, imaginative and original.
Let's say the beginning to your story was "Everybody said that the chemical factory was haunted." Would you read that, or would you read something more lively? Try adding a few descriptive words to draw readers in.
Change this to: "An icy chill shivered up my spine as the ominous shadow of the old abandoned chemical factory descended over me, filling my head with the stories my friends had told me of the mutated factory workers inside".
This latter sentence captures the reader's interest more because it is invoking the atmosphere and throwing a bone to the reader of possible terrible things having once happened there. , In the horror genre, you can't have a character brutally murdered just to bring them back to life because you need them for the ending––it can become cheesy all too quickly.
Imagine the whole story play out in your head for five minutes or so.
You should get a good feeling of how you wish the characters to develop, how they all turn out in the end and who will potentially be left standing.
What will the final character have at the end––a trophy in their hand or lodged squarely in their head? Do you plan to write sequels? The ending of a story doesn't always have to mean "the end" if you're planning to write a sequel or series.
Make the readers want to read more by adding a "cliffhanger" to the end of the story, creating suspense to begin your next story.
If you're planning on ending the story altogether, make the ending descriptive and exciting and don't just end it with "the end" or "they lived happily ever after." Does it have to be a happy ending? No, it can be whatever ending you want, if you want the characters to die in the end or to be eaten by a zombie or abducted by aliens, it's all up to you.
If you want the characters to fall in love and get married or to defeat the mad pink poodle with razor sharp teeth he was fighting, it's your story.
Remember, no one else will write it for you, the story can be whatever way you want it, it's all about imagination.
About the Author
Jacob Gonzales
Enthusiastic about teaching cooking techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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