Give It Life Otherwise it's Just a Cliché
Give your story life, otherwise it’s
just a cliché.
Writing is an ongoing learning
experience. Even the greats can still learn. Yeah, all those clichés.
But you see, when you write about a
guy who goes into a house and he sees ghosts. It turns out those ghosts may be
something he’s dealing with internal.
Yada yada.
This can be altered in any multitude
of ways, but it’s still a basic story. And I’ve seen many authors, myself
included, mistakenly run down this path.
Grammar and other technicalities
aside, this story needs personality.
This is where write-what-you-know
comes into play. That guy could have lived in Florida. He’s moving to NY to
take a house that was given to him by his mom, because the siblings were
fighting and she wanted it to go to someone who hasn’t been around in a while.
The sister warns him with a threat about coming to claim it, and he remembers
she married a guy who runs with shady characters.
What’s more, his father, who he
hasn’t heard from since he was fourteen, is coming out of the woodwork. Turns
out he lives in the Bronx and heard about what his wife is doing to the kids.
See? Quick example, but if I did
that correct it should be a tad better than the generic example before it.
This advice may fall on deaf ears,
and as I always say, that’s fine. It’s out there for those who want to learn.
Hopefully I can help someone. Let me know if I have.
How do you inject life into your
generic story? Do you take from experience, or use that of friends or family?
Hope to see you there.
WCM
Also, check out my YouTube channel with this link: www.youtube.com/Wcmarchese where you can listen to Gary Buller and my radio show where we talk about horror and other things going on in the industry. Also funny little clips and more to come.
This coming Sunday we are going to be interviewed by Curtis Freeman from Cedar Hollow Horror. It will be up on his site, but we will be doing it live during the show.
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