Horror Writing

                                                              

                                              Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

It is that time again, horror. Halloween is fast approaching. Those who have followed me along know that the genre of horror writing is not my thing, but at this time of year I dip my quill into the pot and see if any ink comes up. This year I have been inspired by Icelandic tales and try my hand at one. My first attempts done,but it needs work. Can you write your best work on your first try? I believe no. You need to cultivate the weeds and pick the flowers, so that what you are left with is the soul in which the bones lie. You will be left with the skeleton of a great story, but you still need to cultivate the soul to get your best work out of it.

Recently one of my writing pieces has so much attention. Here is the link to it for you to read at your leisure. Why Is Writing So Difficult

Why is writing so difficult for so many of us? Perhaps it is because your inner critic wont shut the hell up! You are not a writing, stop typing, stop the pencil, stop! No one wants to read my stuff, I have no voice, I have nothing to say worth hearing. Your inner critic stops you before you even write a word and you give up. Or it goes something like this, I write, but I am not a writing. Those are published people who make a killing writing. I cannot compete with them and everyone else writing. Am I right?  We silence our own voice before we speak a word. If we do not even try how do we expect to succeed? You gave up before you even tried!

Writing takes dedication. One needs to have perseverance as well. It will take both parts of this equation to make you write. Writing is not sitting down the keyboard or paper for a day and then giving up. Many writers work on their skill for months, sometimes years, for one book. Your words and voice matter, but you need to put in the time. You can pick one hour before everyone is up, you can do it at midnight, but you have to build a writing habit and make it a priority in your life. You need to show up to your dreams. 

Writing is not typing something out and being done. It takes many layers of writing to get the best voice you have down on the paper. Perhaps you just want to word vomit on the page, go for it, but do not expect this to be your best work. You will need to peel off the layers of bad crap, which could include typos, language issues like red instead of read, and another set of eyes on your work helps too. Grammarly works great if you do not have another set of eyes, but it will not catch the wrong word if it is written correctly, only you can fix it. You are taking away layers like adverbs and giving more adjectives. Details in your writing are what counts. It was a house like no other could be changed to the yellow house at the end of the road had blue shutters falling off, the yard was a cacophony of weeds and dis guarded toys, which house do you see now? 

We all have a voice, how you use it when you write is important. Writing is difficult and should be. It is work and you need to commit to it and peel the layers off your first word vomit. Find the bones and build your work up as you go. Editing and revisions come later and right now you need to focus on voice and making yours count. You have a story in you that no one else does. Go write it and if you need help I will be happy to. Just leave a comment with what kind of help and I will get back to you.

Happy difficult writing! Get those bones down!

Your story teller/poet

xo

Debbie