You turn your head and see someone a few blocks away, with a gray hoodie pulled over his head, following you with his hands in his pockets. You think very little of it at first, another person walking home from a shift surely. But then you turn right onto a side street and you hear him turn to follow you. Now it’s starting to feel like you’re being followed. You pull out your keys and place one between your fingers. You pull out your phone and pretend to make a phone call. As you fake a conversation, your breathing starts to pick up but you control your pace so as not to alert him. If he makes the next turn with you you’re going to start running.

Fear is a very instinctual and powerful emotion that heightens the stakes of your story. Here are some ways that you can write a scene where your character is experiencing fear by showing the reader rather than telling them.

1) Mannerisms

As with any time you’re trying to show rather than tell the reader something, you’ll want to start by looking at your character’s mannerisms. Fear is a very primal and extreme emotion so it will be a more obvious reaction than certain others. For example, having a character scream or shake or walk slowly. They could also be biting their nails or even full out running in certain scenarios. But how a character reacts when faced with fear can say a lot about them, so think about how your character would react when faced with the fearful scenario in which you’re writing them.

2) Observations

Being from the POV of your protagonist, seeing them observe certain things can also show that they’re in a fearful state. For example, let’s say your character is walking down a boardwalk at night. As opposed to noticing a cute couple walking hand in hand or the way the ocean reflects the lights of the buildings so beautifully, your character instead notices a man sitting in a dark corner who is eating a sandwich and staring angrily after him. The fact that your character focuses on anything that could possibly be suspicious as opposed to the wholesome parts of the walk can show that they’re in a heightened state of unease.

3) Atmosphere

The atmosphere surrounding your character can be another way to show fear. Describing the dark night, a cold wind that creeps up your spine, trees looming over you, animals rustling around in bushes, a howl in the distance… all of these visuals create an eerie and spooky tone. Since we’re viewing the story through the lens of your protagonist, your readers know that how the scene is being described directly connects to how the character is feeling. So if you’re scaring your readers by how you’re describing the scene, you’re showing them your protagonist is scared too.

4) Action

How your character is acting is another excellent way to display how they’re feeling- especially when it drastically differs from how they would normally act. Think of horror movies and the choices the characters make along the way. Do they go through the woods or through the city? Do they go to hide in the house or in the shed? In most cases yes it’s frustrating because they seemingly make very stupid choices, but in some cases, it makes sense that characters panic and just run for the first thing they see. Whether or not they go back for their friends or how they choose to hide or what choices they make all depend on the situation and who they are as a character.

5) Character Clues

In addition to your protagonist, using supporting characters can also be a helpful way to show fear. They could point out that your character is acting strangely through dialogue. Or the way that they act in fear could provide a contrast to how your protagonist is handling the situation. This is also another thing that your character could observe and that could add to their heightened state of fear as well. It’s one thing to find yourself afraid, but once you see others around you are scared too that can often increase one’s sense of panic.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Fear appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Let’s just say, as evidenced by the previous paragraph, that the horror genre is not for the faint of heart. Unlike the mystery genre which focuses more on the unknown, horror books focus on disturbing imagery and haunting concepts. For those attempting to go down this foggy deserted road, here are some tips on writing horror novels:

Choose your fear focus

There are a few different types of fear you can draw on in a horror novel. One of the most common types is instinctual fears which are fears that have a logical or biological foundation such as darkness, snakes, spiders, or heights. These are very easy to utilize since readers will already have an innate and inexplicable aversion to them. The next type is supernatural fears such as monsters, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. These are a little more difficult to write since they aren’t a real fear, but they’ve been prevalent enough in horror that people have developed a sense of dread surrounding them. Finally, there are societal fears which have become a more popular form for the horror genre lately. Good examples of this are in films like Get Out, Us and It Follows. These films utilize different societal problems such as racism and prejudice to tie a horror concept into our world. And you don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to one horror concept. There must be one overarching fear- a killer chasing you, a racist family holding you hostage, a vampire clan hunting down your family- but you can pepper in some of the instinctual fears along the way.

Choose your atmosphere

Once you’ve chosen your main fear-based antagonist, you’ll have to choose what type of horror atmosphere you’re going for. This involves selecting which horror subgenre you’re going for. So, for example, thriller-horror involves psychological fear whereas classic horror will feel more like Frankenstein or Dracula with that classic gothic vibe. There’s also gross-out horror, which is essentially exactly what it sounds like. This is the one where you hear the crunch of bones breaking, see flesh being sawed apart, feel eyes get gouged out- the goal is to make your readers shudder. Finally, there’s terror which essentially involves a sense of all-pervasive dread throughout a story.

Create characters with whom we can empathize

It’s very important that, in a horror novel, you create characters that feel real and with whom readers can empathize. Trust us when we say that every version of dumb jock, geeky sidekick, and popular cheerleader have already been beaten to death. And it can be extremely hard for readers to be invested in the character’s plight if they’re a) one dimensional and b) doing stupid and reckless things. When constructing your group or family, think of movies like the new It film or even Stranger Things (though that latter isn’t horror). They create incredibly realistic groups of kids, families, etc., so the viewer is more invested than they would be if they stuck with the normal stereotypes.

Obvious Stakes

In horror, as opposed to mystery, the stakes must be both extremely high and obvious. So, for example, just a basic survival instinct because the character is being chased by a murderer. Or perhaps it’s simply protecting their loved ones from being killed. You can include a mystery element in a horror genre. For example, perhaps your main character is a detective attempting to solve a crime. But to differentiate from mystery your story needs to focus more on that sense of terror, dread, and fear as opposed to the mystery itself.

Create shock

Horror is unlike the mystery genre in the sense that you don’t need this huge plot twist in the end to shock your readers. Subtle haunting revelations can work just as well in horror as huge plot twists. In addition, the climax of your horror story could very well simply just be the final violent showdown- similar to 70’s horror films. Though the showdown itself will be predictable, this approach gives you plenty of opportunities to shock your readers throughout the story. You’ll have them find different members of their family/friends killed in horribly gruesome ways, they’ll have to escape various horrific and violent deaths, and all of these equally disturbing situations will lead up to this ultimate violent showdown.

Scare yourself

This is truly the ultimate rule for horror writing. If you’re interested in this type of writing, you’re likely already fascinated by horror films/books and you likely listen to crime podcasts detailing horrific deaths and gore (don’t get mad, you know it’s true). This means you already have a lot of messed up imagery laced deep in your subconscious that you could easily draw on to truly shock and disturb your readers. A good rule of thumb is that if you have even freaked yourself out, then you’re doing your job well.

The post Genre Focus: Horror appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) Introduce your Detective, Culprit, and Crime Early On

One of the most important aspects of a mystery novel is the payoff. Your protagonist needs to go on a journey, search for clues, and it needs to amount to a satisfying climax. It’s made satisfying when the reader can go back and find the clues you left them throughout the book. That may seem tricky, but the first step to getting there is making sure you’re introducing all the key elements to the story as soon as possible.

The protagonist of the story must always be ‘the detective’. Not to say that they have to work in law enforcement, but rather that they need to be the one trying to piece together the clues. Then there’s the culprit, who should also be introduced in the beginning. The longer the audience has seen that character in the story, the more shocking and satisfying the payoff at the end. Finally, experienced writers recommend introducing the crime within the first three chapters of the book (at least). That may seem tricky, but waiting longer would risk losing some readers. Mystery fans are reading for the crime. Give the people what they want.

2) Believability

Another key element to weaving the mystery novel web is believability. One of the biggest ways to ruin a mystery novel is getting to the climax and realizing the crime wouldn’t physically be possible. Your readers will feel cheated by this. It’s your job to make the crime real. This may require some questionable google searches on disemboweling and knife wounds, but we promise your readers will thank you for it. Make sure you know every detail of how the crime occurred, as though you’re a lawyer presenting to a jury in a court of law. Think of the timing, the murder weapon, the perp’s movements, motives, fingerprints, blood, hair- everything.

The other facet of believability is in the solving. Make sure your protagonist isn’t having suspicions or drawing conclusions out of thin air. Every time they get a step further in the mystery, there should be something tangible that they experienced, saw, or remember that led them there.

3) Don’t over explain, leave clues

Now, this may seem contradictory to what we just said, but hear us out. While the reader should always be able to see clearly where your protagonist’s head is, make sure you’re not over-explaining. For example, say there’s a vase in an apartment that is (eventually) going to be the place where the murder weapon was stashed. Don’t write a whole paragraph about the vase- write a sentence. You should be merely leaving clues for the reader throughout your novel. Some clues your protagonist may notice, but others your readers may notice first. Don’t make it too obvious where the reader should be looking. Otherwise, you’re taking the mystery out of mystery novel.

4) Use Red Herrings

This is possibly the best tool for the mystery novel writer. The toughest part of writing a mystery novel is trying to make the reader surprised and satisfied with your ending. It involves a very tricky juggling act between leaving clues while also not making the clues too obvious. That’s not an easy balancing act. Your best tool to achieve this is to use what are called red herrings.

A red herring is a clue or a piece of information which is intended to be misleading or distracting. In order to surprise your readers by the end, you have to lead them down some false trails, distract them, and make them miss some of your clues. You could include a character that is initially acting suspiciously. You could have your detective find a clue, only later to realize it was placed there by the villain to lead them the wrong way. You could even have an object that seems to have more significance than it really does. Whatever route you choose, distraction is the key.

5) Create Suspense through Dialogue and Character

The other tricky part of crafting a mystery novel is creating suspense. Creating a good crime is part of that, but there are a few other facets to keeping suspense consistently high throughout the novel. The first is character and character development. While the plot of a mystery novel is crucial, in order for readers to care about the journey, they have to care about the character. You want your reader to love your protagonist- to care about their safety, desires, and overall success on their journey. This will only happen if your character is well-written, so spend time really fleshing out who your detective is (as well as other important characters in the story).

The other facet of this is dialogue. Every second of your story must keep the reader on edge, so use dialogue to further engage your audience. Have a character lie, while your protagonist knows they’re lying. Have another say or do something unexpected or out-of-character. Your detective should be pulled in a lot of different directions and, once the mystery starts, virtually every conversation they have should make them feel uneasy in one way or another.

Though the prospect of tackling a mystery novel may seem monstrous, if you work hard at mapping out your plot and characters it becomes a lot less terrifying. Much like a Scooby Doo episode, the monster isn’t ever as scary as it first appears.

The post Genre Spotlight: Mystery appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.