Reading is such an exhilarating experience that makes people believe, fall in love, hope, laugh, cry and scare them away just with their own imagination encrypted through a series of words and sentences. However, no one has mastered the art of moving people with words better than the horror writers. In hindsight, it makes no sense at all; how few words and sentences curated out of someone’s imagination get us to imagine monsters and scare us to the core. If you’re an aspiring writer trying to navigate your way through, how to be a horror writer; then you need some of the most trusted and followed writing tips from the best of the best in the industry.
We have accumulated a list of some of the most effective tips and tricks that horror writers swear by while crafting interesting, effective, truly gross and scary stories. While every writer and author’s process differs, there are certainly a few things that keep everyone sane on this journey. From being true to the story and committing to it, there is so much to know, learn and finally implement it in your stories. So, keep on reading for more on how to be a horror writer and excel at it.
Tips on how to be a horror writer:
1. Find the fear you want to play around with
Every horror story revolves around a central character and the first and most important step on how to be a horror writer is to understand that in the horror genre, the central character is the one you want to deal with. The fear that keeps other characters on their toes, as well as the readers to keep them invested in the storyline. The best kind of fear to start out your horror writer journey is using your own fear.
Pay special attention to things that scare you, and insert them in your writing, it will make the story more real and relatable since it’s coming from a place of actual fear, and not something that has been cooked up entirely.
2. Choose your characters wisely & make them relatable
Always remember that your characters are going to be the first point of contact for the readers of your story. You need to chart them out excellently; so that the reader can find them relatable and can actually experience themselves being in the character’s shoes. Even if you plan to have a dumb character that happens to be the reason for things to go wrong; commit to it, don’t make them change their course of behaviour in every other instance.
3. Get inside your narrator’s head – How to be a horror writer
Zero down on your narrator, who they are, what they do, do they have a role to play in the story or simply a spectator in the larger scheme of things. Many popular and legendary horror writers swear by the fact, that you need to absolutely get inside your narrator’s head. If you’re writing the story from his point of view; then whenever he’s feeling scared, the reader should too; only then will you be able to hook readers to your story and book. Hence, always try to keep your narrator’s point of view to keep readers on the brink of being scared and confused; since that will navigate the readers in a similar direction.
4. Keep few loose ends in the middle – get the reader to keep on asking questions
The next great tip on how to be a horror writer is to maintain uncertainty throughout your story. Your readers should keep on asking questions about what’s going to happen next? Horror writing is a series of solving mysteries, however, do remember that each time you solve a mystery, you go on to raise a further question to keep the reader interested. As a horror writer, you must not make the readers feel like they have all the answers; including the ending because that takes out the thrill of it. In fact, some of the most popular and acclaimed horror endings has left certain elements unexplained to keep the reader immersed in the story even after they’re well finished with it.
5. Don’t go for clichés
There’s a thing about clichés; that people are bored of it. They can imagine it, read it, smell it and certainly sense it; which takes away the fun and thrill out of the story. You need to keep your readers on the edge of their seats; and clichés are certainly not the right way to go about it. These clichés include taking a bath at night, going in the basement alone, riding back alone and so much more; that has been milked to death by horror writers and films. You need to give them a unique experience; and this includes scenes, moments that they’ve not been kept under, that scare them to the core.
6. Keep the atmosphere in check
Another amazing tip on how to be a horror writer is to keep the atmosphere of your novel in check throughout the story. The setting that you choose has got to have a big impact on the overall mood of the story; and so it should align with your narrative and story. From every tiny detail like the weather, location, mood etc; everything needs to be zeroed down to the T and maintained till the end. The tip is to be very detailed and specific about the atmosphere for your readers to experience; especially if it’s an important scene. This helps the reader experience the atmosphere better and more realistically.
Suggested read: Mysterious Story Ideas
7. Take your nonsense seriously, because then who would?
No matter what you’re writing about; be it ghosts under one’s bed, a psychotic serial killer, a dead woman, or a clown who kills little kids. You need to commit to your fears and ghosts and story like nobody’s business. This means that you need to take your own work and taste very seriously, which might be contradictory to many. In the end, what matters is how much does the writer believes in the work that he’s doing.
So, these were 7 of the most effective tips on how to be a horror writer that your legendary writers swear by, and should be picked by new and budding writers as well.
