Guest Speakers: Marlena Frank, G. Russell Gaynor, Gini Koch
Why Young Adult fiction? One reason to choose this path is because it allows you to get into the mindset where everything is still new and fresh (in this age range). The characters are forging their own path, and figuring out their identities. Tons of decisions and mistakes are made, but ultimately they pick themselves back up again.
There is more freedom with YA fiction – it can be a lot of fun, and the pace is faster, and the genre can be more forgiving than other categories. You can also play around with structure.
Why Horror? One of the big questions that was presented by Dead Poets Society is ‘what do we live for?’ In horror, the question becomes ‘what do we live through?‘ When considering the fight or flight method, you must then ask ‘what induces people to run or face their fears?’
Sci-Fi is technical, Romance is deep and meaningful… Horror is fun and versatile. Dive into it, and take it apart, examine it from a variety of angles. Monsters can mean more than what they are, and fear brings out both the best and worst of people. YA Horror is a very character-driven genre, where lots of change happens to the main protagonist, and potentially other characters. Let them decide if they get better or worse when confronted with their worst nightmares. Sometimes… the monsters might even win.
What are your favorite and least favorites tropes of YA Horror?
Having a character that is completely defenseless or unable to protect him or herself is ok for slasher films – but in general, it’s better for characters to have some method to protect themselves or fight back. And no, “Let’s hide behind the chainsaw!” is not the typical viable option.
While YA Horror may not follow traditional structures in storytelling, there should still be some balance. The monster or mechanism has strengths, but should also have weaknesses. The characters should also have disadvantages to work around, but additionally the capacity to develop an inventive strategy for confronting the object of horror. Or vice versa, the monster can use creative methods to overtake the characters, despite its weakness. Do not brush aside inconsistencies for convenience’s sake.
Did you start in YA Horror, or was there a progression from other genres to this one?
Learn to embrace something if you’re good at it, even if you were not initially expecting it.
Play the ‘what if’ game in the middle of the night when it’s difficult to fall asleep. Participate and respond to character discussions. “Don’t go in there.” “Why not?” Write it down. Write what terrifies you because it terrifies you.
What if you couldn’t write YA Horror – what other genres are you leaning towards?
Sci-Fi, because you can break so many rules.
Weird Westerns, because of fun characterizations, moods, settings, and similar tropes. However, you can spin them in a completely different light.
Do you like breaking rules in the genre or world?
Both. For example, when you look at a vampire, it doesn’t have to be a normal vampire. They can be just as diverse in variation as people. It’s fun to look tradition in the face and challenge it, to be rebellious, but you must be able to justify and substantiate it. Be responsible unto yourself.
When it comes to structure, do you follow the 3-Act model, the Hero’s Journey, or something you make up yourself?
Abandon structure, let your characters loose! Allow them to make their own decisions, since YA Horror is extremely character-driven. By not struggling against them, and giving them freedom to roam, you are opening yourself up to countless other possibilities and may discover something priceless! You are not controlling them, you’re a conduit for them. Remember, you can always edit later. People don’t read for plots, they read for characters.
It’s fun to make your characters panic. “Oh my god! (The situation/monster) is not what we thought it was… it’s so much worse!”
Make a nice, plushy rug for your structure, have the reader stand on it – and then yank it out from under them! An example would be starting the story in what would traditionally be the beginning of book 2 – perhaps there’s a chase, or finding someone who should be dead. Then… 3 weeks earlier…
When it comes to writing rules for YA Horror, what hill(s) are you willing to die on?
Story comes first. It’s the reason the writer writes, and the reader reads. Always fall back on love for the craft.
Create a complex main character – they are your tether throughout the course of the story. If they’re not fully fleshed out, you’re going to run into problems. You need to really know them in order to understand how they will respond to situations.
How do you wrap up endings for YA Horror?
Go back to the beginning and answer the questions that were originally presented. Write from your heart, edit from your head. Keep going as passion grabs you and you’re forced to pay attention to everything around you, until the glass ceiling shatters above you. It’s a process of discovery. The ‘abrupt ending’ in horror is better than in any other genre, and resolution is that last missing piece.
Is it ok to have bad endings in YA Horror?
Yes, 50% of YA readers are actually adult audiences who want to relive their youth with experiences they didn’t have. Writers are witnesses, watching their characters, and allowing them to answer those questions.
You can tell the difference (as a reader) between someone who is letting go of the reins or charting a course for their story. It’s ok to let yourself go through the unexpected twists, turns, and hits. Horror is more guttural.
You can have terrible endings, but you can also have “it gets better” endings, where the characters have experienced so much in terms of trauma, but there’s still hope.
Then again, you can go the opposite route, where it’s a happy ending for the monster. Horror is technically a love story with a ghoul. Personal horror is often written from nightmares, where there is an abundance of options to draw upon.
Sci-Fi holds up a mirror, Fantasy is escapism (the desire for what could be), and Horror is about exposing fear and your inner self. It offers the chance to see who you really are.
Now that you’ve heard from the panelists, what do you think? Have you considered reading or writing for YA Horror before, and if not – does it interest you more now? What are you favorite stories in this genre? Do you have fears that both haunt and intrigue you? What do you think that reveals about yourself?
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