Young Writers Society

Keeping dedicated to your "Work"

Remaining faithful to a story idea is difficult, even if you know that it has an amazing plot and enticing characters. Sitting at your writing place each day, working on it, can be dreary and become a chore—something that writing should never be, unless it is an essay for school (of which it’s automatically called a chore, one you must complain about.). It can drag you down and make you not want to continue—coming back to the same place, where you left off, time after time, day after day.

There are a few things you can do to avoid this feeling, this sense of boredom destroying your productivity. A few techniques can be brought into the monotony to keep things lively, and revert your focus to the story.


Build a Habit


You may have heard this before, and it is completely true—every bit of it. When writing something which is long, it’s crucial to set up a habitual moment in your day to write it. Find the time that works best for your writing, and then stick with it. Doing that may be difficult, even almost impossible, but it truly helps your writing.

When starting this, you will notice that the number of words you type will generally not increase the first day. In fact, it may go down after the first few days. Boredom, hesitancy, caffeine over-dosage—whatever the case may be. But stick with it. Give the habit a week to mature. After a short while has passed, the number of words you type will increase to a number that will surprise you. Guaranteed. And once you begin with that habitual writing program, never stop. Try not to take breaks, even. Write during that moment of your day no matter what. If you miss a few days, your writing productivity will go down, because you will have to reinstall the habit into your mental system, and reboot.


Keep things interesting


There are days when things look dull, and the chapter/part of the piece you are writing doesn’t look appealing to you. Instead of closing the computer lid or notepad and finding something else to do—not writing—or writing something else, just skip to another part of the piece that is more appealing.

Yes. Skip ahead. It may initially be confusing, and you may make many enemies if you have people reviewing it for you, but I have found this technique to be quite possibly the most helpful of any, because it keeps things lively and helps you continue to enjoy your piece. This practice works the best with second drafts of books, where you general plot is already worked up, but you can experiment with it on your first draft. It won’t hurt anything, because the later chapter will always be there for later, waiting.


Have Caffeine!


Erm, yesh. You should drink something, whether it be tea, coffee, soda, or perhaps merely water. There should always be a cup handy, preferably hot, that will stimulate your creative cells and keep you awake, ready to type.

Being halfway in the dream world tends to make your writing illiterate and confusing, and falling asleep in the middle of your work is only cool in the movies. So remaining completely awake is vital, even if the entire world is the opposite.


Shut Everything Else Down


While you are working on your chosen piece, shut everything else down. Every other document that's open, your e-mail and your browsers (and yes, that includes YWS—so sorry.). Everything. Shut down every program that you aren’t using, and anything that could distract you.

Writing demands your full and complete attention, or you will become even more scatterbrained than normal. Shutting everything else down makes you have no choice but to focus on the piece at hand; nothing is there to draw your attention away.


Listen to Music—or Not


We all have our preferences with writing. Some like it hot, some like it cold (although I have never heard of someone liking it seven days old), but we all have found certain things that just click into place—where without them, we are lost and have difficulty writing.
Music is one of those things. If you listen to music, or don’t listen to music—whatever—find that niche that works for you and stick to it. If you are doing well writing, why change anything? If listening to that certain song for hours on end (which I tend to do without realizing) works for you, just do it. The objective with all of this is to stimulate your writing abilities and get things rolling—and keep them that way.

I have found that different genres of music produce a different style of writing. Slow music without a beat brings out the calmness, the thoughts and dialogue. Music with a faster tempo and more depth in the melody brings out the action and passionate scenes. Experimenting with these things can be good, but keep it in check.
Remember: The point in listening to music while writing is to help stimulate your creativity and help, not make you lose yourself in the music itself. Music is a side attraction, not the center of attention. Keep it quiet and in the background, so you can focus on the writing in front of you. Just let your subconscious listen.


A few words from other YWSers who are dedicated novel writers to wrap this up…

@Pompadour says:

Usually, I make sure the plot's stable enough before I start. You don't want to start a fire if you don't have enough fuel, right? I also try writing in a way that makes the process fun, instead of a burden.

I then write character profiles, if I can be bothered to, especially focusing on their history.

@ThereseCricket says:

To remain focused on a certain story, I generally make sure I'm writing the story for the story's sake. I usually try to find some quiet place, and turn on some music, and just imagine what my character would feel inclined to do next.

@Deanie says:

You've got to make the time for it. Try for at least 1000 words a week. Set a day every week and make sure you do it.

And make sure it's a story you love. Characters that come alive, a plot that excites you and a story you're bursting to write. Then 1000 words a week comes easy.

And post it somewhere so you have reader fans that encourage you and spur you on through the darker weeks.

All you need to do to find the niche is to experiment for a while until you find what works. The things I have mentioned are, like I said, merely a few of the many methods you can test to see if they work for you. Tweak them, work them apart, and find what works for you.

Once you find that secret formula, don’t change it until you find that your writing is beginning to slacken. Then go back over it, and tweak it once more.

The Weekly Puzzles

Puzzle 1:


Puzzle 2:



Puzzle 3:




If you solve all three of these puzzles, send your answers to @KatyaElefant. The first person to send it gets 200 points! You also get a shout-out in the next edition of the Weekly Writer. Good luck!

THE WEEKLY WRITER

YWS's Unofficial Writing-Related Newsletter

Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekly Writer! Before we go further, shout-out to the cast and crew:



Everyone, we are trying to get on track with the editions. Everyone is off track, but hopefully we can get everything on time this Friday. Keep your fingers crossed!

What You Should Read Next!

Writer here with a new column that I’m experimenting with. Each week, I’ll be writing an article about a new book I’ve read that I want to share with you all! This week’s book is:

A Land Remembered



It is vital for us to learn about history, for it can be doomed to repeat itself. In this book, A Land Remembered, Patrick Smith invites us into Old Florida, a world forgotten by many due to the development that overcame it. Though many who don’t reside in Florida may not find it interesting, history buffs certainly will. I recommend you read it, whether you live in Florida or not, because you certainly will learn so much. I won’t tell you where I live, but the book to me was highly enjoyable. Smith intertwines America in the 1870s, the Civil War, development, and much more in a heart wrenching story. His simple words provide so many great visuals; you’ll be asking yourself how he could possibly accomplish such a form of writing.

“This is the novel for which its author, Patrick Smith, is probably best known. A Land Remembered vividly demonstrates his keen and penetrating eye as a gifted observer of the human condition. Not a word is wasted in what many believe is the definitive story of Florida’s emergence into modern day history.” –
Warren Resen, Writer in FL

The book traces three generations of the same family, starting way back in the 1800s, skipping along in the early 1900s, and finally resting in the 1960s, when Florida has become more than just swamp land. Tobias MacIvey moves from his Georgia farm to Florida, dirt poor and with no knowledge of the unruly land. He, his young son Zechariah and his wife Emma venture into the unknown and learn how to survive in no man’s land.



The story opens up in the 1960s, or the present. The third generation of MacIveys, Solomon, is old and alone. He had made terrible mistakes in the past, therefore distraught and angry with the life he is living and the place he lives in, Florida. The next chapter travels back in time to the 1860s, in which we meet Solomon’s grandfather, Tobias. Chapter after chapter is a journey, connecting us with unique and intricate lives of characters that keep dying.

Spoiler!Fun Fact: Everyone dies.

Hey, I said it was a spoiler!

But I won’t give away too much information. The characters (including dogs) are introduced in a lovely fashion; the way Smith reveals them makes us more attracted to them. Though they aren’t always present in every chapter, he keeps them rich and detailed in every situation they are present. That’s the kind of writing I hope to master in the future.

Open up A Land Remembered and have your heart messed with for forty-five chapters. Become more attached to nature. I found myself angry with developers and more compassionate with Old Florida and just nature in general. I admit it, crying did ensue. Smith throws unexpected plot twists in sly and inconceivable ways that yet again play with your mind and most definitely your heart.

Through births, deaths, fights, mistakes, lessons, and even love affairs, you’ll learn so much about a past that needs to be remembered.

Harsh Language

When I began writing for Weekly Writer, I tried to convince myself that I wouldn’t write an essay using my opinions, because there is always a chance that they could be biased or derogatory. But there are many things pertaining to writing that are opinion, and many people disagree on aspects of that art. So I decided to shelf that idea and begin anew—pitching in essays involving my opinions on writing from time to time.

Language is one of the many things in writing where each person’s usage varies. No person’s style is the same, and neither is their usage of curses, obscenities, and dirty words. Many authors think that using a wide variety of language makes them sound learned and gives their character a big personality, but really it’s merely an excuse—a back door to escape having to really mold their characters.


Language for Emphasis


Using words for emphasis is a good thing. It shows that your character is feeling something—whether for the bad or good, varying on the circumstances. But one thing needs to be remembered when doing this: Don’t always use language for emphasis. When using harsh language to make something seem bigger or more concrete, you want it to have a lasting impression on your reader. It needs to have a big BOOM! in their faces when they read the words. So that means you should space them out, make your character use them infrequently so that when you really do need them, they garner the needed emphasis to show your reader.


Everyday usage for Language


Let’s face it, some characters just have dirty mouths. Some people just have dirty mouths. There is always a character in your book, story—any work—that just uses language likes they are sparkles—throwing them at everybody, expecting them to love him because he knows every word. Many books need characters like that, and having people like that in your story doesn’t mean that you are using language like it’s nothing. Your character is, and it’s part of their personality (Ronald Weasely in Harry Potter is a good example—Bloody Hell!) As long as every character doesn’t toss the cussing around like its confetti, it’s fine and truly adds some weight to that specific character. But otherwise, language can be fluff.


Does overusing harsh language repel readers?


I thought that asking a few other users on their opinions would help the picture become clearer, and be able tell more accurately if the opinion is applies to all readers, not just one.

@Arctic%20Monkey

Yeah, I think if there is too much in the dialogue and stuff it can take away from the story, but depending on the situation it can work well sometimes.

@megsug

Explicit language can be incredibly useful. It's an easy way to set a mood, define a character, and even give readers an impression of a setting. Used correctly, swear words can make a big impact fast. However, just like animal prints in fashion, if it's everywhere, you've ruined the effect and made your work tacky, crass, and tiresome. Think about it in reality terms. When a friend of yours that always cusses drops the f-bomb, you don't react. When a friend that hardly ever cusses does the same thing you know they're serious. When writing, use profanity when you're serious. Like everything else, it can be good if you don't overdo it.

@Blueafrica says:

In that case, I think it depends on why and how you use it. If it's part of a character's personality—I mean, you probably know those people in real life. Some people just swear a LOT. So in that case, I'd say it's okay.

BUT if it's used for shock factor, then I think it's a cheap strategy and you need to find a better way to wow people. Furthermore, if you're using it in a piece about an issue that's important to you--feminism/human rights, abuse, environmentalism, etc… I would say dropping one in here and there isn't going to break the piece, but using a ton of bad language can make you seem hysterical and as if your article is not well-thought out. Plus, even if it IS well-thought out and you just happen to use a lot of swearing, people whose views oppose yours will just point to the swearing and ignore the good points you made.

So language in itself (like most things) is something that can be used for the good—or the bad. Used sparingly with characters with clean mouths can be a very powerful tactic to tell your reader that, hey! This person is upset! But if you take a character that wouldn’t usually use harsh language and allow them to spew profanities permanently, you lose the effect and it becomes something that either fades into the background (if you’re lucky) or something that pulls readers out of your story and possibly away from your writing altogether.

So language is like anything else in writing. Over usage takes away the power and effect, but used judiciously, it can ultimately be one of the many building blocks to show emotion, and move both your story and your character forward.

~Timmyjake

The Weekly Puzzles

If you solve all three of these puzzles, send your copy of solved problems to @KatyaElefant. The first person to send it, gets 200 points! You also get a shout out in the next edition of the Weekly Writer. Good luck!

Characters

We love them, we hate them, sometimes we want to stab them until they die. If you happen to be confused (and didn't read the title) I am talking about our wonderful characters.

I am a mother to twenty or more main and secondary characters. ("Wow, she needs to write more.") All of them have interesting backgrounds/stories in general. (Except the ones I made when I was eight to nine. However, we don't talk about them...) One of my excellent puppets is mute, due to brain tumor that happened when she was young. Another is a girl who is trapped in a camp full of males (who happens to think she is male as well). Even another (this one is a secondary) is a dimension jumper, whose appearance is always changing.

See? Interesting. (To me, and my beta readers at least.) However, in my time of reviewing new writers' novels, I have come across many a bland character.

Now, when I say bland I don't mean, "Wow, they have a perfect life, nothing goes wrong, everything is right!" Nope, I mean overused backgrounds. (This list is totally my opinion. If you write this, good for you. Continue doing so.)

So:
1. Abusive (step)parent(s).
2. Bullied at school.
3. Spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend cheating.
4. Supernatural romance where the girl/boy knows that it is bad for them to be in a relationship with said supernatural being, yet they continue to date.

Those are the ones I can list off at the top of my head. However, I wouldn't mind reading these if there was more to the character. Unfortunately, 8 times out of 10, the whole story focuses on that one aspect.

Good characters are hard to come by, mine are mediocre at best. Developing their backgrounds, deciding their descriptions, taking them through twists and turns is hard.

I wish you luck on your journey with your characters.

THE WEEKLY WRITER

YWS's Unofficial Writing-Related Newsletter

Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekly Writer! Before we go further, shout-out to this week's cast and crew:



Now onto the articles!

QUICK NOTE:

This is our FIRST edition from our long break and I am afraid it is a bit late (only four days!). The theme is Halloween, but since one of our lazy editors decided to take forever to post (*narrows eyes at lostthought*), the theme seems a bit late. Please enjoy this week's welcome back edition!

Another note: I would like to congratulate @RickyFireStone on recently joining the crew! Give him a big hand! Remember, we are looking for more writers! If you are interested in joining, just shoot a pm this way!

THIS WEEK'S GUEST WRITER IS GRAVITY.

**Last part co-written with @TimmyJake**

Halloween is upon us, and you know what that means. Time for trick or treat and scares! And when it comes to trick or treating, a good horror story does both. If you’ve ever watched The Twilight Zone, you’ll know the writer, Rod Serling, does an excellent job at creating a plot that either scares us, shocks us, surprises us, etc. In the end, most of us enjoy the suspense and determine the episode a good, satisfying one. Now, I’m no horror story expert, and I’m not a fan of scary movies to begin with. I can read a good horror novel, but it’s been a while since I’ve ready anything scary. So I’m going to base this article off of other articles and my viewing of the famous science-fiction TV show, The Twilight Zone.

One article that helps explain what makes horror stories horror stories is How to Make Horror Scaryby Richard Spurling. Spurling says, “…Horror scares us because the writer has manipulated our imagination. The writing doesn’t scare us, we scare ourselves.” This is true. Ever heard the saying, “It’s just your imagination?” Chances are whoever tells you this is right. A lot of the time we’ll read or watch something and then assume that it’s real, or feel that it is real, though you never actually see it or hear it in real life. Yes, this has happened to me quite a bit (*cough* Woman in Black *cough*). This is because, “In the simplest form of imagination, memory, the images appearing in the mind are based wholly on something earlier perceived.” So imagination, obviously, plays a huge role in scaring us during and after the movie/book.

But what’s the trick? Spurling writes, “‘show, don’t tell’. It's funny how that old maxim comes back to haunt us, isn’t it, and like all good hauntings, it’s all in the mind. The reader’s mind...” I read through the article and picked up a few points that will help establish a great scare and keep your readers hungry (and brave enough) for more..

1. Identify your purpose. What exactly do you want your readers to feel or think? Well, you obviously want to scare them. Spurling tells me that, “You are aiming to establish and then maintain a fictive dream, that state where your reader forgets the real world and lives only in yours.” In order to do so, you must be able to stimulate the reader’s imagination, which can be tricky to do. Make sure you get your story right first before you perfect your writing. Yes, both are very much different.

2. Determine the elements you will use to scare your readers. A good shock might freak a reader out for a few seconds, but it won’t create a lasting fear that you want your readers to feel. If you’re going to utilize shock, you need to build up to that point. You’re reading a part where the characters are in an empty house. They don’t suspect there’s any spirit in the house with them. Then, bam! The spirit comes out of nowhere and takes one of the characters. I’m not a horror writer, but I think you understand the gist of what I’m saying.

3. With that being said: Use suspense! Suspense is your friend in horror fiction. I’m sure most of you know what suspense is, but for those of you that want a definition: “Suspense is that feeling that something is coming … still coming. It’s not here but the reader can sense it, knows it’s there, and while it’s coming, tension is building.” So what you don’t want to do is just write “And then the spirit came and took away a body.” You want to slow it down, develop the atmosphere, give us a sense of what might happen. Make your story a real page turner!

4. Decide your ending; and make it good! Twists are also helpful in creating a good ending. “A good twist is one that is inevitable but unseen. You want your reader to sit back, shocked but convinced that this really happened.” Say you write a story about a creepy old house that is haunted by its last owner, who died. You don’t want the ending to be “and then a psycho clown jumped from the ceiling onto Mary and Kyle, killing them and ending their hunt.” Even if you were to kill of your characters in the end, that line makes no sense and in no way correlates with the plot. (Unless, of course, the owner formerly was a clown). Good endings are very thought provoking as well. “A good ending leaves one major question gaping to tease the reader’s imagination. A good ending leaves the conscious satisfied but provides the imagination with a puzzle to play with even after leaving the author's fictional realm.” Make sure you don’t go too far! Endings fail when all explanations are provided and the writer drifts away from the main resolution. Leave the readers satisfied, wanting more, and of course, freaked out for nights to come.
That’s the treat!

5. Character development: Characters aren’t just pawns you utilize to cause something to happen. They’re real people too! And you have to convince your readers that they’re real. You won't scare your readers when describing a fake mask. You will, however, frighten them with the monster you describe that's wearing the fake mask. Remember, if the Incredible Timmy can't believe in the character, his awesomeness won't believe in the story. And that's never a good thing.

For instance, one episode in the Twilight Zone involved one freaky doll, Talking Tina.

Now, we all know talking dolls that want to murder you aren't real, but what if they were? Just put them in a realistic environment, and BAM. You have viewers staring at their dolls and wondering what might happen if they ticked them off.

We're nearing the end of this long (and probably boring) article. Spurling makes a point in his article that horror is mainly just like any other genre. However, it's the emotions you target that make a difference. “If you can learn how to evoke pity, you can evoke fear. If you can make a reader laugh, you can leave them horrified. The techniques and skills are the same, it’s the emphasis that changes."
Well, I hope this article assisted you in all your horror writing. Timmy is aghast. Yes, he is. Writer believes so.

Have a great Halloween, Timmy is awesome.

For more information on how to perfect your horrifying writing, please visit horrifyingwriting.timmy.awesome. Timmy will be glad to assist you there.

If you want more information on how to perfect your horror story writing, visit this article: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/scary.html
If you have some candy you don’t want, I’ll take it!

~Thewriter13

Interview with Mary Shelley

Timmy wasn’t planning on spending his Saturday afternoon running across town to go shopping. Seriously. When he envisioned his day, he saw a steaming cup of coffee—but not tea, ewww—set on the table, laptop resting beside it. Fingers on keyboard. Words being typed. Article being written. Weekly Writer being happy—sort of.

But no, he had to go to the store to pick up—uh, what do you people call it, again?—h-h-healthy food. Yeah, that was the supreme order, dictated with a boom of the hammer from the comfy couch.

Walking through Walmart (it was either that or go to Petco for dog food—Premium Nuggets, good flavor), he tried navigating himself through the aisles with a vroom! When people stared, he coughed and walked stiffly past the meat section to buy the most expensive bars of chocolate available. After all, Mom said buy good food.

After going through the self-checkout and successfully re-breaking every machine on the row, he was hungry and tired. The chocolate bar was for Mom, but he figured she wouldn’t notice if he took just that one teensy tiny corner off the side, and then the other corner, and then the middle since the entire bar was lopsided. Folding the edges over, the bar still looked new… sort of.

A little restaurant off the beaten path (off to the side of Walmart—terrible inconvenience) beckoned him to a hearty, old-fashioned meal of McDonald's hamburgers and French fries. Holding a big Mac that looked suspiciously small, he sidled over to find a table and discovered they were all occupied by teenagers bobbing around in premature Halloween costumes. There was only one table open, and it was all the way across the restaurant, ten yards away.

Sheesh. What terrible customer service. Having to walk all that way.

Of course, when he arrived, a women appeared beside him and sat in the chair in a dignified fashion, adjusting her weird skirts and setting her meal down with a sigh.

Well, there wasn’t much choice. Only table open. One chair left. Rain pounded the roof.

Rain? Introduce? Rain? Introduce? Rain? Introduce?

Gah! Introduce.

He had a wonderful greeting all planned out, which included putting his lime-green shoes in plain sight (all the better to sear your eyes with, my dear!) and repeating some eloquent lines he’d read somewhere that started with hello and how are you.

“I, uh, well, that is to say, erm... what’s—hey,” he said.

She lifted her eyes from the book she’d been reading—Frankenstein, with some butt-ugly dude with extra hardware on the front cover. “Oh, hello. You need to sit here?”

“Um, yeah.” Timmy scratched the back of his neck, then gestured to the costume crowd around them. “Place is full.”

“Mpph mphh!” The women put a hand to her mouth in shock and swallowed her bite of burger down. “I am terribly sorry for my bad show of manners, young man. Take a seat.”

Timmy pulled the chair out, wincing at the squeal that went out across the restaurant. “So, you, uh, like that book? Kinda appropriate for, you know, this time of year.”

The women smiled at his attempts to strike up conversation. “Well, I let my readers decide, I suppose. Some people like it. Some don’t.” She turned the book over so Timmy could see the front cover better, the ugly dude with wrenches poking out his neck. “Do you like it?”

“I, um, yeah! It’s a wonderful book.”

“What do you think of the poem on page ninety-four? It’s always been one of my favorites.”

“Uhhh…”

The woman smiled knowingly. “So you haven’t read it. I think my book is—”

“Wait. You wrote this book?” Timmy picked it from off the table and found the date. “This thing was first published in 1818! Either you are seriously old and just age gracefully, or—”

“I think I did,” she said. “I can tell you everything anyone would know—and more, besides—about my book, Frankenstein.”

Timmy’s brain started to go into hyper drive. Article for Weekly Writer on Mary Shelley he was supposed to write, and the author of the book sitting in front of him. If the woman knew her stuff, who really cared if she was a zombie or was faking? This could really get him out of a lot of work—erm, it would really help.

“So do you mind if I ask a few questions? he asked, grabbing a paper napkin (the sophisticated way of taking notes), and pulled a pen from his pocket, as well as a few sheets of paper, with WIKEPEDIA printed across the top (cheat sheet for questions) . “I am writing an article for an e-zine, and I think you might be the perfect author to interview.”

“Oh, of course,” Mary said, assuming it was her. “I think that would be a lovely way to pass the time.”

“Uh, great.” Timmy wasn’t really thinking of "lovely" and writing on napkins in the same breath. Stupid things wouldn’t stop tearing beneath his pressure. “So I guess I will just ask the questions now. I’ll copy what you say down like I would for the interview, so it may take a while… and I may need a re-supply of napkins.”

Timmyjake: So when did you write Frankenstein?

Mary Shelley: Well, I started writing it in 1816, when I was just eighteen years old. It was a hard struggle for me, but I think it was all worth it. I finished the book less than a year later, and published it anonymously in 1818. Dumbest thing I ever did. It was published with my name two years later.

Timmyjake: Yeah, getting credit for your stuff is important. So this whole idea is, no offense, a little weird. How did you come by it?

Mary Shelley: Huh, you know that is probably the most asked question of all? The idea came in the purest form of inspiration—through a dream. I was just sleeping (no duh, lady) and the entire idea of that being came to me. I was so inspired, I began writing so fast and just couldn’t stop until I finished.

Timmyjake: I wish I could write like you. I write about as fast as a snail with a bum leg. I hear some people refer to your book as “early science fiction”…. Do you agree with that statement or not?

Mary Shelley. I guess, in many ways, it could be referred to as a science fiction piece? Many of my critics called it the first actual science fiction story, because it dealt with actual science when Victor built the creature.

*** “Hey, can we have some napkins over here? We’re all out.” ***

Timmyjake: Okay, I guess you have beaten my novel there. xD So what would you say led to the creation of Frankenstein? You know, with all those bolts and stuff sticking out of his head? How did you create his character, him/it being so original?

Mary Shelley: First of all, let’s get one thing straight that the majority of people get wrong. It just grates on me. The creature’s name is not Frankenstein. That’s the name of the scientist—Victor. His last name. Got it? And no bolts! Nothing protruding from him at all. He was just an eight-foot-tall creature, hideous and formed from corpses. That’s it! (Talk about paranoid. Oops. Going away).

Timmyjake: Okay, that sums up a lot of stuff. Maybe we’ll avoid that topic for now.

Some say you got quite of few of your ideas and the general plot of the story from your father—another famous writer?

Mary Shelley: Okay, I will admit. There is a slight resemblance with parts of my novel with one of my fathers. He wrote one about the hunted having to become the hunted, and that seemed like a good twist to use. And the name, Frankenstein? I did not copy it from the castle my husband and I passed by. It truly came to me in a dream. I didn’t take it for my own usage or anything. The name is original.

Timmyjake: I believe you. You know, some people may be a little bit upset with you for not having ever given your “creature” a name. When Victor refers to him, it’s always by some weird name, like: monster, demon, wretch, fiend, vile insect, etc…

Mary Shelley: Yeah, I get that a lot. And looking back, I think the story may have benefited with a name for the monster? I mean, especially since there would have been no confusion with who is Frankenstein—Victor or the creature. Yeah, I think I should have given him a name… maybe. Victor didn’t want to name him because he didn’t want to give the beast an entity, something he belonged to. He wanted him to simply fade away, leave him alone, have never existed. So he never named him.

Timmyjake: So have you watched any of the Frankenstein movies?

Mary Shelley: Yeah, I watched the first two or three versions. After that, I couldn’t take it anymore. All that stupidity from the actors and directors messing with my story… too much. Especially aggravating because I can’t do anything about it anymore. They can use the book however they like, interpret it however they like. I haven’t watched the last 38 versions of the movie. Perhaps I shall see them… someday. Maybe I’ll find one not quite as bad as the rest.

Timmyjake: I hope you do, too. Look around, and maybe you’ll find the movie that fits your book.

But, uh, we had better wrap up this interview. So thank you for your time.

Mary Shelley: No problem! Happy to help you out. Oh, and do me a favor, would you?

Read my book.

Timmyjake: Uh, I, um—okay. I will read it tonight.

And they both stopped talking, and Timmy stopped writing. He packed up his stack of napkins, slipped them into his pocket, and then enjoyed his burger. Even though it was cold, the meal still tasted good. It could have used more sauce, though.

~Timmyjake

History of Horror

Horror stories have embodied cultures of the world for centuries. It fascinates and terrifies, intrigues and yet disturbs. Homo sapiens have been creating horror and scary stories since before history was written down. So how did it come about, and how have those ancient storytellers evolve into people like Stephen King and Clive Barker?

Horror, at first, was not used just for entertainment. It was used by the ancients as warnings and also rituals and religions. The oldest creatures of the night were ones we are familiar with today including witches, werewolves, vampires, demons, ghosts and banshees. In Renaissance times, children were told scary stories of these beings to warn them to mind their manners and do as they were told. They grew up hearing these tales, little did they know that horror would become one of the most predominant genres in the modern world right next to romance and fantasy.

The earliest pieces of written horror are found mostly in the 1700s starting with a man named Horace Walpole. This book isn’t exactly horror, but part of a precursor called “gothic literature” which later evolves into “gothic horror”. Oddly enough, Walpole was a politician. We all knew politicians are scary and disturbing… haha. That was a joke.

Why aren’t you laughing?

Anyhow, so Walpole eventually dies, as all these old dead guys did, and becomes other famous horror authors such as Charles Maturin, Ann Radcliffe, Bram Stoker and the famous Edgar Allan Poe.

Let’s talk about my buddy Edgar here, for a moment. His most well known work is probably, hands down, The Raven. Granted there are other famous works by him that we all love like The Cask of Amontillado and The Masque of the Red Death but this is the very poem that is analyzed by hundreds of school children EVERYWHERE.

The early 1800's is where we see the more predominate horror characters of all time including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Sheridan Le Fanu (don’t worry, I can’t pronounce it either), Robert Louis Stevenson with his famous Jekyll and Hyde personality disorder, and then Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Grey.

So how do those old dead guys lead up to today? Well today we have authors like Stephen King, Clive Barker and Ramsey Campell. And while those older authors are great and we need to study them and preserve their works, sometimes it’s cool to just sit back and read without looking up every fifth word in the dictionary.

~Gravity