Summer and I were invited to write a short story for a Halloween anthology that will be coming out the first of October. All proceeds will go to benefit a charity. The theme? Well, Halloween, duh!
We're supposed to write scary stories of psycho killers, monsters, ghosts or the darkness of the human psyche.
I feel like this should be an easy project for me, even though I don't write horror, yet. But it's not. i'm having one hello f a time coming up with any ideas. When I think about Halloween and ghosts and scary stories I think seriously scary, or at least somewhat creepy. You know, something that'll keep you awake at night, or have you making sure all of your doors are locked.
My current genre of expertise is Urban Fantasy. Lots of werewolves (don't judge me! it's not the typical, crappy cliche riddled stories, I swear!) Mine are filled with drama, action and lots of violence, but with great plots. Now don't get me wrong, my wolves are scary as hell in their own right. I'd hate to meet one in a back alley on one of their bad days... But they're not really nightmare inducing scary. So i'm having a bit of a challenge in trying to write this story. In fact, I haven't gotten a single word out thus far.
I will write something though, oh yes. Even if it doesn't end up in the anthology. Perhaps I'll post it on here!
Summer says she's putting a lot of pressure on herself too. We both think it's because this could really turn into something, you know? Pressure, so much pressure.
~ Whiskey
Yup, like Whiskey said, pressure has been the undercurrent of this piece. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I embrace darkness, so why has it been tough? Well, like Whiskey, I have never written horror. But, more than that, it is simply the knowledge that the story is for something real - something big. This is not just a grade in a fiction class, and not something that I'm creating just for me in the beginning (even if I do intend to submit for publication later), this is starting out as something that is for publication.
Having learned that everything happens for a reason, being committed to my own growth both spiritually and as a writer, and analyzing everything, I have decided that this anthology invitation was dropped in my lap just when I needed it most. In addition to the fact that I am completely humbled and grateful that I was invited, this will potentially be my first publication (I have a few other things floating around out there awaiting an answer). As big as that is, its even more than that. You can look at pressure in two ways - in fact, this has come to be the way I approach nearly everything - if you see it as negative, it will be, but if you see it as positive, it will be that too.
I literally want nothing more than to make a living as a
writer, and this will mean deadlines and editing and rejections. I have met
deadlines before, I mean I am a professional student, and I have reluctantly been
in the professional work force in the past, but turning my passion into a
career means that I will have to shape it to fit the very real pressures that
are ahead of me as a professional writer. Though when I have sat down to write
my Halloween story, I have second-guessed myself, felt blank, questioned what really constitutes a thriller or horror story, and overanalyzed
every word that came out, I realize that this is nothing I am not choosing. I
am choosing this pressure. It’s just a taste of what is to come in my future,
so I am being put right where I need to be – at the gateway to professional
writing.
~ Summer
Photo Credit: Photo taken from creative commons site. Artist: Alun Salt
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