“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Once
you start writing you'll begin to notice a trend. A style to your
craft. You often won't begin to take notice of this beautiful trend
until you've written more than one piece of work. The trick is to find
your formula. Once you find that, writing becomes easier. And you'll
have an easier shot at determining your target audience.
Let me tell you a little story...
There
was a little girl who was always fascinated with the macabre, the
paranormal, the unknown and unexplained. Not to the point where she was
one of those strange little freaky kids you see in every modern horror
film that you just want to kick in the shins and run away from. But she
found herself drawn substantially more to the dark, gothic literature
than her peers. She absorbed Poe, Jackson, Bronte, Hawthorne; reading
material that was far ahead of her years. And then she turned to more
modern horror writers; V.C. Andrews, Stephen King, R.L. Stine. She
began to pick up on trends/themes within Stine's YA horror novels (NEVER
own a pet; they always die!). And then she began to realize that each
of his books were pretty much the same exact formula, the same
equation. The characters and side story lines were all that remained
unchanged.
If
you didn't pick up on this already, that young girl was me. At first I
was almost ashamed of my fascination for all things unexplained.
Others thought I was a bit odd (I know plenty who still do!) so at first
I was hesitant to even really open up and talk to people about the
things that I was writing.
And
the intriguing piece of it has always been this: that when I'm writing,
I'm almost someone completely different. If you met me, I'm a super
happy person. I enjoy laughing with friends, socializing, meeting new
people, and I'm very extroverted.
But
then when I'm hot on the trail of a project or in that "mood," (which
I'll chat about later), it's like I turn into someone else. Someone far
more introverted and quiet, hanging out in the corridors of my mind,
working out plot points and twists like little equations. In short, I'm
falling in love. With my story.
I
tried my hand at children's books. It didn't take. In the market,
it's considered bad form to kill off the fluffy little bunny protagonist
by having the tiger antagonist eat his head.
I
tried my hand at journalism. But I was so bored by the formula of
writing factual copy that I often wanted to sensationalize things, pump
things up into more than what they really were. (And wouldn't you
know... had I stuck with it, I probably would have made a GREAT modern
journalist!) ;) But I digress.
There was no denying the inevitability of it. I am a horror writer.
I
didn't start writing to become famous. Or make a million dollars. I
began writing because I love it. And if I wasn't writing what I love,
why bother?
So
I buckled down, started writing, no holds barred, no matter the level
of dementia, and just let go. Let the story begin to write itself. In
realistic situations, often the worst things happen. I let them
happen. I let the heroic character die. I let the Hollywood ending
fester in the background. Life is messy. Things don't get buttoned
up. White steeds are for Disney princesses.
My
fascination with history, dark family secrets, horror and the
unexplained is basically the formula for my writing style. I'm a lover
of twists; not the ones that you create just for the sake of having a
twist. But one that adds to the dimension of the story line.
So
dig deep. Find the themes and pieces that really fascinate the hell
out of you. Use them. Use what you love, without shame.
And before you know it, your formula will find you...
~ A
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