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This article was co-written by Lucy V. Hay. Lucy V. Hay is an author, script editor and blogger who helps other authors through seminars, writing courses and her blog Bang2Write. Lucy is a producer on two horror movies and her debut crime novel, The Other Twin, is being adapted for the screen by Sky’s Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Agatha Raisin (Free@Last TV).
There are 9 references cited in this article that you can view at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 5,504 times.
You can write horror stories as a class assignment or a fun project of your own. Perhaps one of the most challenging of horror stories is the opening, or opening paragraph. You can start a horror story by coming up with story ideas and crafting an impressive opening paragraph. After that, you should edit the first pages to match the rest of the story and be as engaging as possible.
Steps
Find ideas for stories
- Use your fear as material for a story telling about something scary or gruesome. Think about how you would react if you were a character pushed into a situation where you faced those fears.
- Another option is to ask a loved one or friend what scares or disgusts them the most and borrows their fears as story ideas.
- For example, maybe you came across a severed ear on a morning walk in the park, or the vegetable you were cutting for dinner suddenly turned into a finger or a tentacle. Get creative and think about how to distort or transform a seemingly ordinary situation into a horror.
- Thinking about a tight space makes you panic or panic. Ask yourself where you would be most afraid of being locked up.
- You can place the main character in a narrow space such as a coffin, a cold and wet cellar, an abandoned police station, an island or an uninhabited town. The scene where the character is confined in a terrible space will bring fear into the story and create an atmosphere of tension and suspense from the very beginning.
- Character’s age and occupation
- Character’s marital status or romantic relationship
- The character’s way of seeing the world (skepticism, pessimism, anxiety, optimism, satisfaction, composure)
- Any characteristic or unique detail about a character’s appearance, such as a certain hairstyle, scar, or style of clothing.
- How to speak, dialect or language of the character
- Having a character go through a terrible shock, such as the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, is also a way to create conflict for the character. It can lead a character to a decision they wouldn’t normally make without experiencing a shock or aftershock after a terrible event.
- You can also instill in the character a paranoia or a feeling that something is wrong. It will make the character always suspicious and see things through a distorted lens. This is also an easy way to establish the protagonist’s relationship with other characters. Paranoia also evokes a sense of bewilderment in the reader and causes them to begin to doubt the events happening in the story.
- Another option is to give the protagonist a fear or premonition of an impending bad omen. The feeling of terror also helps to create tension in the story and a sense of suspense for the reader.
- You can use a plot diagram to make an outline. The plot map will consist of six distinct sections, forming a triangle with the vertex at the top of the triangle. These six sections include: introduction of context, motivating events, climax, climax, decline and end.
- You can also use the snowflake method to outline. Write a plot summary sentence, followed by a plot summary, and finally a storyboard.
Outline a persuasive opening
- For example, if you’re telling a story about the fear of thorns, set in a dark world, you could write an opening sentence like, “Sara tries to sit still as the men tighten the bandages. around her wrists, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t hear the horrible sounds.”
- This opening sentence introduces the main character Sara, placing her in a terrible and miserable situation. It also raises questions in the reader’s mind, such as who are these “men”, and why was Sara arrested? These questions will engage the reader and make them ready to turn to the next page.
- Try to put the main character in a miserable or dangerous situation in some way to create a horror element from the beginning of the story.
- For example, you could start a story with a scene where the protagonist is trapped in a device, followed by describing how the character feels when she is trapped and her thoughts when trying to get out of the device. , while the trappers were trying to hold her back.
- For example, you can include gruesome scenes such as gore, organs, mucus, brain fragments or saliva in the first paragraph of the story. Try to use only gore images one at a time so the story doesn’t sound cliché or too familiar. As such, when you add some gruesome scenes, it will have a stronger impact on the reader.
- For example, you might have the main character trying to get rid of a ghost in the house. This could be the main contradiction that you put right into the story. The rest of the story will be about the main character’s attempt to expel the ghost without harming anyone in the house.
- Another common overarching conflict is the theme of survival, in which your characters face a life-threatening situation if they fail to get out.
- If you decide not to disclose the conflict in the first place, you must have a good reason to do so. Confidentiality must be done intentionally and in favor of the story, as the reader may be confused or confused by the lack of information.
- For example, instead of opening the story with “The bandages were cold on Sara’s skin when the men tied her to the chair”, which sounded passive and confusing, you could write: “Sara felt the bands. The bandages were cold on her skin as the men pinned her to the chair.” The second sentence is active and puts the subject of the sentence, “Sara” next to the verb “to feel”.
- Using active sentences does not mean that you are limited to the first person and present tense for your point of view. You can still use active sentences in the past tense and in the third or second person.
- Opening of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Confessed Heart”: “Yes – I am extremely nervous – I am still extremely stressed until now; But how can you say I’m crazy?” [10] X Research Sources The opening sentence tells the reader right away that the narrator is nervous, frightened, or even distraught. It’s a great opening because it gives the reader a sense of dread and prepares them for an uneasy story.
- The beginning of the story “Where are you going, where have you been?” by Joyce Carp Oates: “Her name is Connie. She’s fifteen years old and has a habit of giggling and craning her neck with quick glances in the mirror or examining other people’s faces to make sure she looks okay.” [11] X Research Source The opening sentence seems simple, but it fulfills the task of introducing the main character, indicating the age, gender and portraying the frivolous and innocent personality of the main character. This prologue prepares the reader for a story about a weak and vulnerable character.
- Beginning of George Orwell’s 1984 : “It was a brilliant cold April day, and the clock struck thirteen.” [12] X Source of Research This famous opening sentence is impressive because it encapsulates all the elements of the story in one sentence. It puts the reader in context with a bewildering visual, a day that is both brilliant and cold. Thirteen times the ticking of a clock also causes a bad omen and is a harbinger of an impending disaster.
Edit the opening paragraph
- You can also read the opening paragraph aloud to a trusted friend for advice. Ask them if they feel shivery, nervous, or scared. Be open to criticism and feedback on your opening, as a different perspective can help make your opening more persuasive.
- You should check to see if the opening of the story is in harmony with the rest of the story. You should also adjust the prologue to describe any character or setting changes later in the story. Your opening should feel like a natural start to the rest of the story.
- Make sure the character’s tone of voice in the opening and the rest of the story is the same. You need to keep the tone of the character consistent from beginning to end to keep the story coherent.
This article was co-written by Lucy V. Hay. Lucy V. Hay is an author, script editor and blogger who helps other authors through seminars, writing courses and her blog Bang2Write. Lucy is a producer on two horror movies and her debut crime novel, The Other Twin, is being adapted for the screen by Sky’s Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Agatha Raisin (Free@Last TV).
There are 9 references cited in this article that you can view at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 5,504 times.
You can write horror stories as a class assignment or a fun project of your own. Perhaps one of the most challenging of horror stories is the opening, or opening paragraph. You can start a horror story by coming up with story ideas and crafting a great opening paragraph. After that, you should edit the first pages to match the rest of the story and be as engaging as possible.
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