How to Write a Gothic Novel

During the 19th century--especially the Victorian era--society had a tight grip on the imaginations, morals and libidos of the general population. As an outlet for their repression, those who could read often immersed themselves in Gothic novels for titillation, dark suspense and a vicarious peek into the lives of characters who were emotionally and physically diseased. These forerunners to the modern horror genre in film and literature expanded in the 20th century to include romantic themes involving naive young governesses and brooding lords of fog-shrouded estates.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with the styles and themes of the most popular authors of Gothic fiction. These include the Bronte sisters, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Elizabeth Gaskell and John William Polidori. For more modern fare, study the works of Victoria Holt, Virginia Coffman, Phyllis Whitney and Barbara Michaels.

2. Identify a spooky setting for your Gothic fiction, preferably a place that hints of danger even in broad daylight. The objective of a Gothic novel is to isolate your characters from the rest of the world so that they can't go scampering off for help at the first sign of danger. Sample settings would include manor houses, castles, underground caves and private islands. It should also be a setting and a season that favors thick fog, torrential rain, thunder and lightning and howling winds.

3. Create a vulnerable heroine who is capable, honest and trusting. Gothic heroines are typically either all alone in the world or are the daughters/wards of cruel men who want to marry them off to suitors they don't love or seize control of their fortunes. The potential romantic interests of Gothic heroines are usually handsome, strong and wealthy but harbor sinister secrets such as an invalid wife in the attic, a criminal past, crazy relatives or perverse habits regarding sex and/or substance abuse. It was also not uncommon during the Victorian Age for male characters to be devils or closet monsters.

4. Incorporate supernatural elements in your creative writing. Gothic fiction utilizes devices such as ghost sightings, mysticism and seances, tarot readings, family curses and prophecies of disaster, reincarnation, inexplicable noises, and shadows and ordinary objects that float around without human assistance.

5. Make the threat of death a prevalent guest throughout your plot. This can take the form of ongoing references to ancestors who met a wicked demise or the gruesomely systematic winnowing down of the manor's residents. In vintage Gothic fiction, the heroine does not always make a successful escape from her attacker. With modern novels that embrace Gothic themes, she is either rescued at the last minute by the man she truly loves or uses her own wits to dodge destruction.

6. Be generous with lusty sex scenes, keeping in mind the very reason that Victorian fans of this genre read the books to begin with. The evil characters in your plot will probably engage in taboo sexual acts as well as have multiple partners. (Mental illness, by the way, was usually a product of syphilis in Gothic fiction.) Males in vintage Gothic novels are generally misogynists; the males in modern Gothic romances are initially depicted as smugly superior but eventually come to respect their heroines' intelligence.

Tips & Warnings

• Introduce your heroine to the spooky environment as quickly as possible. Dark, sensual writing that taps all five senses is required for the book to make a strong impression with prospective editors. Escalate the level of danger at every turn as you concurrently reduce the number of potential allies and escape routes. Type an occasional chapter by candlelight to set the mood while writing. If you have a commercial tape recording of a thunderstorm, put that on, too.
• Never make your Gothic villains bad just to be bad; provide them with plausible motivations for their actions. An example would be alienation/rejection as a child because of a deformity.

References

• The Gothic Novel
• "Gothic Reflections: Narrative Force in Nineteenth-Century Fiction"; Peter Garrett; 2003
• "American Gothic Fiction: An Introduction" Allan Lloyd Smith; 2004

Resources

• Gothic Literature
• Elements of the Gothic Novel

Who Can Help Sponsored

• How To Make Big Money With Low-Budget Postcard Projects. PostcardProfits.com
• Earn your degree from industry experts at University of Phoenix. Take the next step in your career.