Drawing from the Well
Queries Sent: 0
Total Queries: 35
Rejections: 10
Scenes Mapped: 4
Total Scenes: 319
I’m still working through the “foreword” of the Guide to Literary Agents 2019 so querying is still on pause. As for mapping, I would have gotten more done yesterday, but I had to walk back through Urela’s arc to this point to revisit her various motivations that I’ve shown. That took quite a while so 4 scenes is all I got. Fortunately, those 4 scenes sewed up a couple of pieces leading to the Third Plot Point so those few scenes were rewarding for me. More to come.
Filling the Well
Bloodwitch: 39%
The Raven Boys: 90%
Guide to Literary Agents 2019: 70/332
I got some time to read a bunch of Guide this morning which was nice. I read about pitch contests on Twitter so I’ve got some research to do there but I’m excited about it.
Polishing the Well
Last night was amazing. We went to see our last play of the season and it blew us away. We both walked away saying “What a way to end the season!” And we’re amped up for the next season starting in the fall. Not only that, we bought the book that inspired the play and found out that it is slated to become a feature film. We can’t wait to see it.
In other news, I’m looking into starting a newsletter soon. It iwll help expand my platform and give me an opportunity to talk in long form about what I’m working on and things I learn along the way as well as a way to give away extra content (yes, I have some already). If you have anything you’d like me to talk about there, I’d love to hear it; sound off in the comments.
Well Chat
My Least Favorite Genre that I’m SO Curious About
We already talked about slasher films yesterday, but that is only one type of horror. There’s a lot more to it than that. So let’s take a look at the core aspects of the genre and then dig into some subgenres.
Horror. Is. Scary. It’s been around as long as literature. Fear is one of the deepest emotions of the human psyche so it should come as no surprise that it is an enormous genre of literature and film. People like to be scared. When you get close to death, you’re reminded just how alive you are. It also often serves as a metaphor for certain darknesses in society, but I’m not getting into THAT today.
Sometimes horror can be speculative if you’re dealing with some kind of monster or supernatural threat that does not exist, but slashers or crime-based horror would just fall under general horror fiction so there’s a wide gamut. The biggest parts of horror that make it distinct are suspense through the reader/viewer wondering if the protagonist (and often their friends) will make it through things alive and the fear involved in being scared as various characters are killed off. The more creative, the better.
So what are some different kinds of horror?
- Speculative
- Extraterrestrial: Aliens show up to kill everyone
- Cosmic/Space Isolation: The universe itself is trying to kill you
- Classic Monster: Vampires, Werewolves, or Frankenstein are killing people
- Fantasy: Some weird monster you’ve never seen is killing people
- Sci Fi: Scientific means are leading to people dying (could be a disease a la The Stand or a machine a la parts of Terminator)
- Non-specualtive
- Gothic:
- Splatter/Slasher: A murderer is killing people in a community rapidly and with A LOT of blood
- Survival: The lead is afraid of dying because of nature or natural causes such as starvation, animals, drowning, etc.
- Psychological: The scary/horrible part is the killer getting into the protagonist’s head and, by extension, the reader/viewer’s. There’s also usually a kernel of truth in his insanity.
- Religious: Some artifact of some religion has come alive to kill like a nun or priest.
Like I said, Horror Is Scary. That is invariable. How and why it is scary is what determines the subgenre. Well-crafted horror fascinates me, but I still don’t enjoy watching it. My fight-or-flight response tends on flight. Where do you land? Do you like horror? What kinds?
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG