Tips in Writing

Lesson 13

fourteen|let's talk about horror

🌸 First thing you need to know is that horror is easy to mix along with other genre. Example:

1. Horror + Adventure

2. Horror + Fantasy

3. Horror + Romance

4. Horror + Vampire

I honestly can't think of any genres that doesn't work well with horror.

🌸 If you're worried your work wouldn't turn out scary like any horror fiction should be, you could consult others for help. Ask your friends what scares them most and list them out. You could use that list as a series of event in your story.

🌸 Don't forget to add thrilling moments. The secret to these is when the scene is up into a suspense, there is actually nothing. Kumbaga sa mga senaryo na dapat e nakakagulat, e wala naman pala. Example:

My heart is beating fast to the point that any moment by now ay lalabas na ito sa dibdib ko. Dagdag pang my breathing is out of control. Hinihingal ako at di nakakatulong ang lamig ng hangin na dala ng nakabukas na bintana. Tinignan ko ito. Ang puting kurtina ay mahinahong umaangat sa pag-ihip ng hangin. That seemed to calmed me a bit. Or so as I thought.

I felt a breathing fanning my neck. Mainit ang kanyang pag-hinga. Napapikit ako sa alaalang kanina pa umalis sila Mama at kasama nya si Angela para mamili ng pagkain. I got the house all to myself. Mag-isa lang ako sa bahay. The breathing fanning my neck stopped.

Pero parang nanadya dahil maya-maya ay inihipan nya naman ang batok ko. Napaka-init ng hininga nya to the point na nakakapaso... Napapikit ako dahil dito. Tunog lang ng orasan ang naririnig ko. Unti unti iginalaw ko ang paa ko para harapin ang nasa likuran ko. While doing this I kept my eyes shut. Afraid of what am I going to see.

Dahan dahan iminulat ko ang aking mga mata kasabay ng pagkawala ng malamig na hangin. Para bang tumigil ang pag-ihip nito mula sa bukas na bintana. Hindi ko alam kung ako ba'y nabingi na rin dahil hindi ko na naririnig pa ang tunog ng orasan.

At sa pagbukas ng aking mga mata, bumungad sakin ang di ko inaasahang..... salamin.

🌸 Lengthen the suspense.

🌸 Scare them when they least expect it.

🌸 End a chapter is to be a cliffhanger. It spices up the mystery in the reader's mind. Makes them want to read the next chapter.

🌸 Kill a character. This one is savage but recommendable especially in horror genre.

🌸 If you're planning to be gore, go for it. Basta ba hindi ka timid sa pagkakasulat nito. You must be detailed and brave in writing explicit things like this. Sa pagsusulat ng gore, it requires extreme imagination. You must hold on in what you're imagining in able to convert your imagination to words. Descriptive writing ka dapat dito. I-describe mong mabuti ang mga sumusunod na eksena. Be bold.

🌸 Writing horror is a combination of narrative writing and descriptive writing.

🌸 By writing in narrative, you narrate the story either in third person's point of view or first person's point of view. You could have multiple point of views. This works when your book has many leading characters. Different POV in different scenes. Just be careful not to confuse the POV and repeat a scenario only changing the approach of narration.

🌸 In narrative writing, you need to learn what's the right way of narating a scene. Either third person's view or first person's view.

🌸 By writing in descriptive, you give the readers a closer view of the character or the scenery. Be artistic in decribing. Like I said before, specific details helps trigger the reader's mind. It helps them get the picture of the scene

🌸 Be careful in sewing the story together. As much as possible, don't leave out holes in the story. If there are questions, give out clues to the the answer. These questions must be resolved before tge story ends

🌸 Kadalasan sa mga horror, ang ending ay patanong. Na parang bang may mangyayari pa pero hanggang doon na lang. By this, maraming mga 'baka' ang tumatakbo sa isipan ng mga readers. Baka happy ending. Baka natakas yung kontrabida at bumalik.. And the list goes on. The possiblities and what if's are endless and that's how you're gonna leave a mark in ending a horror story.