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How To Write Shop

Articles on the craft and business of writing

Horror

Worst Horror Plot Device? Going Back for the Cat

January 19, 2011 by Alex Bledsoe 1 Comment

I read a recent horror novel in which the hero, having bought a creepy old house, receives a scrapbook from the previous owner loaded with photos and clues to its history.  Our hero spies something disturbing in one of the photos, and his reaction?  He throws the whole scrapbook in the fire. This horror plot device … [Read more…]

Posted in: By Genre, Horror, Writing Craft Tagged: horror, writing fantasy

Writing Villains in Fantasy and Horror

November 17, 2010 by Alex Bledsoe 2 Comments
Grim Reaper

When writing villains in fantasy, always remember one thing… One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.* I once taught a class for young writers in which a student read from the prologue to her fantasy epic. Her black-clad, black-haired villain strode the black hallways of his black castle until he reached his black … [Read more…]

Posted in: Antagonists, By Genre, Characters, Fantasy, Horror, Writing Craft Tagged: characters, Fantasy, horror, villains

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Save The Cat!
by Blake Snyder

A book on screenwriting that is great for novelists too! Another must have for your How To Write library.

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