Starting on Horror, But...

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gwendy85

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Hello guys!

This is my first time here. It's kinda weird since this really isn't much of my genre (historical and romance) but I love reading horror stories (Stephen King anyone? What do you expect?!) and so, I decided to challenge myself. I once thought I could never make anything up in horror, so I surprised myself when I formulated a plot. I have the characters, and even the ending in mind. I'm starting the story off with the heroine's past memories (nightmare form) and begin the first chapter with her waking up and thinking about it.

Here's the thing. My heroine has recently woken up from a coma, only to find that she couldn't remember anything that happened to her in the last 5 years (she's 18 now), though she vividly remembers seeing someone murder her beloved father. (stabbed)

Now, should I explain the details of her father's death in the first chapter in that the heroine has already been told of it by the police? (father's body in river) Or should I just let her find things out one at a time? the story's quite long, I believe. And though it sounds more like crime/suspense/thriller/mystery, it's actually horror since it deals a lot with ghosts and parapsychology.

I'm also having trouble with nationalities. I like her to be Filipino like me, but it's also okay for her to be American or Japanese or even Spanish! The nationality actually isn't very relevant, so should I just ditch it and let the readers imagine the nationality for themselves?

Appreciate the input :)
 

mastershake

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Hard to say really. Try out a few diffrent aproches and try and figure not only what works best at grabbing the reader, but also what helps move your storey along.

Somthing that came to mind while reading your post would be that your heroine is Asian, but the father who's death she clearly remembers is her adopted father.

Also i would say if you make her one specific nationality you would need her to act acordingly. If she's American would she act the same as a Japanese woman would if she was mugged walking to her car in the mall parking lot?

things to consider. good luck.
MS
 

gwendy85

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mastershake said:
Hard to say really. Try out a few diffrent aproches and try and figure not only what works best at grabbing the reader, but also what helps move your storey along.

Somthing that came to mind while reading your post would be that your heroine is Asian, but the father who's death she clearly remembers is her adopted father.

Also i would say if you make her one specific nationality you would need her to act acordingly. If she's American would she act the same as a Japanese woman would if she was mugged walking to her car in the mall parking lot?

things to consider. good luck.
MS

thanks for the advice, mastershaker!

hmmm...i guess i'll have to turn her into a filipina like me or some nationality i'm familiar with. i didn't realize it can be that important *_*

as for the story, the man who died is her real father, not an adoptedf one. i'm planning on calling this piece "Daddy" since it deals with her beloved father's death a lot.

again, thanks for the input. maybe i'll post how i'm coming along soon :)
 

ChaosTitan

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Tread carefully with the "she woke up and didn't know what was going on" approach to starting a story. It's been used so many times that agents are probably developing allergies. ;) Just keep it fresh, avoid cliches, and you should be fine.

gwendy85 said:
Now, should I explain the details of her father's death in the first chapter in that the heroine has already been told of it by the police? (father's body in river) Or should I just let her find things out one at a time? the story's quite long, I believe.

I would let her discover things in a logical manner. It's more suspenseful for the reader if she is disoriented, wondering where her father is and what's going on. Then the police come and talk to her about what she remembers, but maybe they don't tell her that Daddy is dead until the very end of the interview.

I'm curious about the horror elements of your story, though, since ghosts and parapsychology also fall into the realm of fantasy and spec fic.

Good luck!
 

icerose

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There are several instances where people will block out whole chunks of tramatizing memory, especially if they had a tramatizing childhood. So you could have it that she was never even in a coma, but she can't recall those events, and when she starts remembering she passes out, or something. And the images haunt her dream where her subconscious isn't as controlled as it is when she is awake.

Also you could have it that some dark entity, whatever you are dealing with, is blocking her memory, because her father discovered something and she knows.

Whatever you want to do really, and even if you want to come in from the coma perspective, just give a fresh point of view and you'll be fine.

Good luck.
 

gwendy85

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Tread carefully with the "she woke up and didn't know what was going on" approach to starting a story. It's been used so many times that agents are probably developing allergies. Just keep it fresh, avoid cliches, and you should be fine.
Haha! Yeah, I know. I've read that in a thread somewhere. In fact, I myself have grown bored with all the amnesia writings I've read and the waking up and not knowing what's going on thing. It's ironic I'm going to do that now, but my story won't go on without it.

would let her discover things in a logical manner. It's more suspenseful for the reader if she is disoriented, wondering where her father is and what's going on. Then the police come and talk to her about what she remembers, but maybe they don't tell her that Daddy is dead until the very end of the interview.

Thanks for the advice! I've taken it to heart, so, here's what I have so far.
After her nightmare, she wakes up screaming in the hospital or something (somewhat cliche, I know), saying that somebody has killed her daddy. After a time, she calms down enough for the police to interview her. She does know that someone killed her Daddy, however, it is only after the interview that she learns that she's already 18; not 13, which was the last time she remembered herself as. I think I'll start off with her search from there.

I'm curious about the horror elements of your story, though, since ghosts and parapsychology also fall into the realm of fantasy and spec fic.

I've thought about that, but the ghosts thing would be her father, who haunts her, as well as their old house. Their house also happens to have a malevolent spirit and I'm thinking of killing off a few people with the help of this spirit. Her father was once a parapsychologist and will constantly try to communicate with her, only she couldn't understand what he's trying to say. She just knows he's in trouble and will have to struggle through her lost memories as well as the paranormal activities in the house to solve the mystery and help her father's spirit somewhat.

There are several instances where people will block out whole chunks of tramatizing memory, especially if they had a tramatizing childhood. So you could have it that she was never even in a coma, but she can't recall those events, and when she starts remembering she passes out, or something. And the images haunt her dream where her subconscious isn't as controlled as it is when she is awake.

Cool! I think I may have that! No more comas. The thing that started me off on the coma was that...er...when the heroine wakes up, she has a nasty concussion or head injury of some sort. I'll have to research more on head injuries later. So, I guess I'll just have her unconscious and awake a few days later. And about the traumatizing memories, I've taken that into account ;)

Also you could have it that some dark entity, whatever you are dealing with, is blocking her memory, because her father discovered something and she knows.

Good suggestion. I'll see what I can come up with.

Thank you so much for the suggestions, you guys! I'm just starting off with the prologue and the first chapter, and I think I'll do the outline next.

Thanks again! :D
 

dclary

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Nationality doesn't have to play a part if you don't want it to.. but sometimes you can tie some cultural horror into the story.. maybe your character's home nation has a legend or curse specific to what's terrorizing her today?
 
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