Writer's Shelf: Nanowrimo Begins

 

Happy first day of Nano!!

For those of you taking part in Nanowrimo, good luck! Wishing you all the best. For those that aren't, don't fret. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy some prompts, writing inspiration, and lots of hard work as well. We're choosing to celebrate the month of November as the official month of writing! Since Halloween was yesterday, we decided to live the spooky holiday for one day more. We found some useful articles that will help all you horror fiction writers out there! 

Writing horror fiction has to the great success of various writers. Who hasn't heard of Stephen King? For some it may be easy to write about what goes bump in the night. For others it may be more difficult to write stories that make people scared. When writing horror fiction, you'll find a lot of advice to get you started that range from the basics - writing longer sentences - to digging deep and confronting your own fears. These are two examples from this article that can be found at Masterclass. It's also important to know when writing horror that the genre is vast and comes with a range that allows for a vast variety of writers to make themselves at home. You're looking at everything from the literary classic (Dracula) to gory details to psychological. This Reedsy article breaks down the genre nicely. The best course of action when writing horror is to read and watch horror movies where you'll see a variety of motions (typically basic survival) to seeking out the twist ending. For more on writing the genre, you can find tips from horror writer R.L. Stine (Goosebumps) here. Bustle provides tips from horror writers that include Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Anne Riche and Linda Addison. Find that article here.

When writing horror, you can't forget the ghost story. Ghosts are a common element when watching horror movies and are creepy enough to send chills down your spine. The Writers Write website provides ten brilliant tips for writing ghost stories. Find that here. Tips include setting rules, giving your ghost a life story, and doing research. 

Still needing some good ideas to get your Nano off to a good start? 

Check out some prompts below. 

1.) Pick a setting and keep the entire story within that setting. For example, a maze, cornfield, or haunted house. Have a group of people trapped within the setting begin to go missing or found dead one by one. 

2.) Have you ever wondered why a character reads aloud from a book instead of in their heads? It's time for you to answer that question and have a character read aloud from a cursed book. Make sure the book brings forth something horrifying whether it's a demon, ghosts, or end of the world.

3.) A mad scientist lives on a farm. Come Halloween monsters are released into the town.

4.) Your character visits a relative or friend. Everything is normal and they have a great time together. Following the visit, the character learns that their relative or friend has been dead. 

5.) It's not all treats when your character receives candy at Halloween. Upon eating it, they become cursed and turn into an atrocious beast. 

Enjoy!