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THE HORROR, THE HORROR, PART 2
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REACH YOUR APEX
Late October Updates
Halloween is nearly here! We have one of the spookiest writers in horror, Tim Waggoner, leading a horror writing workshop on the 21st. Then on Halloween, we're going to turn the lights off, make some pizza, eat some candy, and watch some horror movies! The last opportunity to unwind before the family holidays are upon us!
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We have expanded our offerings from workshops and video on demand to include multi-session classes. There are also several new VOD options so that you can learn at your own pace. Find it all below.
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In the spirit of the season, today I will share five of my favorite horror shorts.
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- "THE LOTTERY" by Shirley Jackson - Yes, I know. Every list has this story. There's a reason this is an all-timer. Influential. Chilling. A story I still think about.
- "THE YELLOW WALLPAPER" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - This story shows how ambiguity can create terror and tension. What's not ambiguous is the effective and pointed metaphor the author makes.
- "each thing i show you is a piece of my death" by Gemma Files - This story is a cross between The Ring and House of Leaves. The mysterious "Background Man" spreads like a virus through the format of film. This is a story that gets under your skin.
- "IN HASKINS" by Carson Winter -The town of Haskins has an unusual annual tradition. The townsfolk trade personalities every year. But the way this manifests and the troubles it creates is memorable.
- "IN THE PENAL COLONY" by Franz Kafka - It's surreal and weird. About a machine that punishes you with the crime you committed. As a sci-horror reader, this classic delighted me.
Obviously, there are hundreds, if not thousands of incredible horror short stories that are worth noting. What are some of yours? Let me know, and I might read and review them in a future newsletter!
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PAYING IT FORWARD: FRANCESCO VERSO
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RYA asks Francesco Verso "What advice do you have for writers just beginning in their career?"
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An editor once told me: “Furnish your plot, not your character’s thoughts,” meaning that actions should emerge from the character’s behavior and not from his/her mumbling and concerns. Readers are best engaged by other people’s actions and reactions more than their thoughts and internal monologues. That doesn’t mean characters should be flat and driven by hectic actions like in a bad thriller movie, but that – on the contrary – all inside feelings and emotions should rise to the surface of behavior during the course of events and physical actions. In other words, it simply means putting real life into fiction and not considering fiction as a literary world outside the real one. That’s also what makes Science Fiction plausible and moves the reader's mind in a wonderful direction: a story that keeps doing its job even when the book is over for a long time. The persistence of a book is the best measure of its quality and it will help your present and future sales!
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So my advice is to read as much as possible, and especially what is being written today, by the best contemporary authors from different countries, striving to understand what might be the so-called 'weak signals' that have the potential to turn into real trends in the next 30-40 years. At the moment Science Fiction becomes old very soon under the blows of technological innovation, so the risk is to write vintage, nostalgic, retro Science Fiction that no longer captures any "Sense of "Wonder'... because it's already around us.
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Francesco Verso (Bologna, 1973) is one of the most relevant voices of Italian Science Fiction and editor of Future Fiction. Over the last 12 years, he has won many SF awards (including the Best Publisher Award by the European SF Society in 2019) and for seven years he’s been the editor of the multicultural project Future Fiction. His books include: Antidoti umani, e-Doll (Urania Award 2009), Nexhuman (Odissea and Italia Award 2013), Bloodbusters (Urania Award 2015) and I camminatori . His novels Nexhuman and Bloodbusters – translated in English by Sally McCorry – have been published in the US, UK, and soon in China with a translation by Zhang Fan and Shaoyan Hu for the publisher Bofeng Culture. His short stories have appeared in magazines like Robot, MAMUT, International Speculative Fiction #5, Chicago Quarterly Review #20, Words Without Borders, Future Affairs Administration and international anthologies such as A Dying Earth (Flame Tree Press) and The Best of World SF (Head of Zeus).
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OCTOBER WORKSHOPS
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The Horror Hero's Journey
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$30.00
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Learn to use the pattern of the Hero’s Journey to construct effective horror fiction from multiple Stoker Award winner Tim Waggoner.
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$30.00
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Long-form work can seem intimidating when it comes to revision—this class will explore strategies, tools, and checklists to revise and strengthen novels and novellas for consistent, organized, and efficient edits every time.
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LATEST VIDEO ON DEMAND WORKSHOPS
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Learn at your pace for the right price!
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Outlining Your Novel (Premee Mohamed) - Video On Demand
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$15.00
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Don’t like outlining? Feel like it stifles your excitement to create? Just want to build on or experiment with your current outlining practice? This class will have something for everyone, from pantsers to plotters, to create a transparent, flexible outlining system that works for you and your process and results in faster, more joyful writing.
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World-building When Writing Cosmic Horror (Mary SanGiovanni) - Video On Demand
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$15.00
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Even in the unblinking glare of infinite darkness, there are rules that must be followed. The good news is that as a writer, you get to define those rules. Author Mary SanGiovanni will provide tips, recommendations, and exercises to help you build the most dreadful, hopeless cosmic horror world possible.
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INTRODUCING MULTI-SESSION WRITING CLASSES
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In-depth personal instruction from professional writers
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Use Afterpay to split your payment!
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$90
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This class will explore nonlinear fiction of various lengths, with a focus on speculative fiction. Sessions will involve text analysis, structural diagramming, historical and cultural traditions in nonlinear fiction, the goals and motivations for writing nonlinear narratives, and strategies and tools to stay organized and coherent while writing nonlinear fiction.
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$360
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Where does your story start?
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How on Earth do you keep it going?
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What’s the difference between ending a story and just stopping it?
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Regardless of genre, length, or form, every story has a beginning, middle, and an ending—in no particular order. Beginning writers often start their stories in the wrong place, confuse action with plot, and then end a scene a bit too early… or too late.
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This workshop will give you the tools you need to move through a story with confidence—whether it’s a novel, novella, or short story.
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FOR WRITERS: How to be a Word Machine
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How do you do it? I get this question a lot. I started writing seriously with a goal of becoming a professional when I was eighteen. I’m fifty-nine now, and in that time, I’ve written and published fifty-four novels, six nonfiction books, seven short story collections, and ten novellas – all while teaching college English full-time and raising two daughters. …
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