In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Savannah Cordova says that writers in every genre could learn a lot by writing a horror story. “Attempting to write horror can be incredibly valuable for writers looking to refine their abilities,” she says. Cordova highlights three reasons why:
- Horror Teaches You to Build Great Tension. Every story needs tension, which requires you to understand, thwart, raise, and meet your reader’s expectations. “In order to properly scare your readers, you’ll need a strong understanding of how to methodically build anticipation, gradually raising your story’s stakes until its dramatic crescendo,” Cordova writes. Creating this level of tension can help you tease the resolution of a romance story or create mystery in your SF novel. “These kinds of unanswered questions are great for engaging readers in all genres, but it may be particularly useful to practice posing them in horror, wherein the stakes are often high,” Cordova adds.
- You Can Practice Weaving Internal and External Conflicts. “You can elevate the fear factor and introduce some characterization by linking your character’s internal conflicts and vulnerabilities with the external horrors they’re exposed to,” Cordova writes. “This will make things all the more terrifying for the character, and far more gripping for the reader.”
- It Tests Your Ability to Write Believable Dialogue. “When you’re trying to construct a life-or-death scenario, the dialogue needs to feel authentic in order to keep readers engaged,” Cordova says. Nothing will undermine your tension faster than clunky, stilted dialogue. “The ability to write realistic dialogue in high-stress, emotionally-charged situations will help build your characters’ authenticity — regardless of genre.”
