The making of a horror novelist.
Studying the craft of writing is different than studying math or science. In college (I studied engineering) my classmates and I furiously scribbled down what the prof was writing on the board. Usually it was sample equations, things we’d see again on an exam. Our notes were top to bottom, pretty straight forward. I was … Continue reading How to Study the Craft of Writing
Last year and in the first couple of weeks of 2021 I received encouraging editorial feedback on short fiction (short stories and one novelette). But zero feedback on my haunted house novel. Perhaps, thinks me, I need a bridge between short fiction and novels, something to push my storytelling skills to longer lengths. Hm, whatever … Continue reading Reaching for the Stars, My First Half of 2021 Writing Goals
It’s been a little more than a year since I started this writing blog. Have I learned anything? Yup. Writing a 50k, episodic story is not the same as writing a novel. There are additional things, writerly things, to consider such as character arc and cause-and-effect scene structure and style stuff and grammar thingamabobs. Last … Continue reading 5 Lessons From My First Year
It’s October and time to blog my fourth quarter writing goals . . . because nothing says PRESSURE and ACCOUNTABILITY like announcing to God and the whole world what your goals are. But first, what were the wins and losses for my 3rd quarter goals? 1. Finish another draft of of my WIP Manor House … Continue reading 4th Quarter 2019 Writing Goals
Let’s say I want to write a creature feature novel, because who doesn’t?:-) I dig up a few contemporary comp titles. Reddit is good for stuff like that, but also Goodreads, BookRiot, book blogs, and your own reading. I came up with the following creature features: The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn Overlord by … Continue reading How to Find the Typical Word Count for Your Genre
I stripped James Herbert’s classic horror novel The Rats down to its plot outline, and here’s how I did it. The edition of Herbert’s novel that I read has 200 pages. Taking a basic plot structure and fitting the page numbers of The Rats into the structure, I knew I’d be looking for plot points … Continue reading Plot Structure of James Herbert’s The Rats
Priscilla Bettis, Author 