How to Become a Horror Writer

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Laura Turner and today I'm going to talk with you about how to become a horror writer. As with any other type of writing you want to think about, you know, what do I want to write about in this genre. So think about as a horror writer, what are your worst fears and write them down. Horror writers also write about the deep subconscious. So what is... what are some things that you feel are recurring in your life. You know, what are your nightmares about. These may not be things that are fear per say. They may just be strange occurrences. So you're going to start writing about things that are supernatural and unreal and very much in the subconscious mind. So think often about your dreams. Think about your world view and why it's different from other horror writer's world views. Of course, in order to do this you have to read as many horror novels as possible and see what's out there now. Because you can't just say, you know, I want to be a horror writer and only have read Dracula because Dracula is a couple of hundred years old at this point. But I would say go back and read Dracula and read all the very first installments of sort of the horror genre when it was first becoming, you first being put out there. But really try to see what's being done in contemporary horror today, you know, and how shocking they are, and what subjects are being written about so that you don't just become a copy of someone else without even knowing it. And also of course decide why you need to write your stories in this specific genre. Make sure this is the right genre for you. And after you've written everything down, take out your best idea and start writing."