InkyBlots

Yesterday I talked about how novels are more organic than solid. Yes, novel writing is taught, but there is no one way to write a novel (or short story). Even in your personal experience, one idea may come to you quietly while some may smack you over the head and drag you along for the ride.

How do you encourage your stories to be unique and organic? Here are five tips on how you can encourage the full organic experience from your novel or short story:

Always carry a paper and pen with you. I know I always say this, but there is a reason I say it.

Write in different places. Comfort isn’t everything. Some writers need perfect conditions to write but that dramatically decreases the amount of time you can actually spend writing. It’ll be good for your writing for you to get out and about as well.

Let your novel lead. I said this yesterday and I’ll say it again: You never write a novel the exact same way twice. Don’t base decisions about your current work in progress on your last project.

Don’t be too controlling. Experiment or try things you. Even if you write yourself into a dead end or a place you didn’t expect, no material need be wasted. Maybe you can use it for something else.

Have fun. If writing is always work for you, then you’re doing the wrong thing.

Novel and short story writing is often taught, but any writer will tell you that there is no one way to write a novel. Some outline, some don’t. Some let the characters lead while others let the world be the dominant force.

No matter how you do it, I’m willing to venture you don’t write novels the same way twice.

I think of novels as a bit of a more organic thing than something I simply sit down and write. Each novel takes me in a different way. My current work in progress is presenting itself to me in little bits and pieces, none of which are in order. I have had novels keep me up at night because I simply had to finish writing that chapter or scene. I have completely outlined a novella before writing it, and I have also outlined absolutely nothing.

Sometimes the characters lead. Actually, with my work, the characters often lead, but even that varies from story to story.

As it should.

The organic novel is a good thing. It means that not every novel is the same in a very basic and perhaps even slightly subconscious way. The way your novel takes you in your writing it (by the hair, by the balls, or a more gentle approach) is often the way it will take your reader.

While your reader may not have to take a midnight cemetery ghost tour to really capture the essence of the book, the fact that your novel demanded that of you just goes to show that each one is and should be different.

Don’t resist where your novel takes you. Let it lead. You can always edit later.

The other day I got to thinking about horror. Since I arrived in Australia, I have become immersed in the speculative fiction world. (If you’re not familiar with the term, it covers most science fiction, fantasy, and horror.) While I have only tried my hand at writing horror once as a writing exercise, I have to admit I wish I could write the kind of horror that makes people shudder. (I have fantasies about writing in nearly every genre.)

But that got me wondering: What makes people shudder?

Horror movies these days certainly don’t give an answer about true horror; they’re all about making you gasp and jump. You’re not really scared but for the jump.

For me, there are two things that scare me the most:

1. The cosmic, cold intelligence. I actually have to thank a new acquaintance on Writing Discussions for bringing this one up because, while it is something that scares me, I don’t come across it very often in what I read or watch. Yet, there is something about the idea of an otherworldly force that humanity doesn’t understand – and has no hope to understand – that is scary to me.
2. Human evil. While it may sound cliché, the capacity of humans for evil acts is the scariest thing to me. Be it the child who kills, the adult who only knows how to dole out cruelty, or just the person you meet walking down the street who happens to have body parts in his/her basement freezer. There is just something about human evil that gets to me. Probably the fact that it’s possible for any of us…

Even so, those are only two examples of what horror writers use to get our hearts racing.

What scares you? What makes *good* horror?