One of the problems – or, perhaps, the best things – about Gothic Horror is that it does tend to be sad. Usually, there are at least one or two characters who don’t deserve whatever is happening to them, or who have done something which is being punished in a way which does not in any way fit the crime. M.R. James’s writing is perhaps a constant reiteration of the old proverb, “curiosity killed the cat”, but curiosity in itself isn’t a bad thing; while Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula finds himself in the initial dangerous situation through no fault of his own. Perhaps the saddest story in this anthology is The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes , which was first published by Sley House in Tales of Sley House 2022 . Here is the story of a man who is facing professional and financial ruin as a result of suggesting that mental health patients can be treated in the community rather than institutionalised. He is one of the most sympathetic narrators you will find in the book, but he bad...
It is a truism that writers' minds spring to life the moment we are nowhere near our computers. As soon as we are snuggled up in bed, beginning to drift off to sleep, the best plot twists and most amazing characters appear in our mind's eye. This is why I have an array of notebooks by my bed, as well as about six pens (just in case the first five don't work!), because I know I will not remember these details beyond the morning.
Be smart, writers: ready your notebooks!
Here is an example, and the story of how The Year We Lived came into existence...
There is only one thing more immersive than a good book. No, not a film. I love films, but there isn't that envelopment which you get when you read, when the pages reach out and hug you into their story's embrace. The only thing more encompassing is a dream. In dreams anything is possible: any world; any time; any person - the opportunities are limitless. The only problem is we don't get to choose them.
There are inevitably those dreams which are so boring you would never bring them to life, although these tend to be the ones which trick you over the following days as you try to remember what was real and what was dreamed.
There are recurring dreams, too. Ones where you go back to the same place or time as another dream and, even though you know in your dream that you've only ever dreamt this reality, it seems wholly believable at that moment.
But then there are the dreams which take you as far from everyday life as you could imagine. These are where those notebooks come in handy! Writers, you will never have the same dream as someone else. Whatever we dream is unique to us, even if these dreams are in the similar vein to someone elses, there will be something which makes it different.
November 2018 there was one such dream for me. I remember waking up and thinking how amazing that story-dream had been. I can't remember now whether I was a character in the dream, or only sitting on the sidelines and watching it all unfold, but I do remember thinking how amazing it would be as a story. I was keeping a sketch diary at the time and, over the following days, the sketches were all filled with scenes from that dream, eager to preserve the images so I could recreate them in my new book. Of course, I couldn't believe no one had come up with it before, so I looked around for anything which was remotely like it. Surely my subconscious could not have imagined such a story. But no, my imagination really was working overtime while I slept!
Five years down the line, and I am so grateful of that sketch book and all the notes I scribbled down. It's true that the plot developed out of the one I had dreamt, but its core remains true to the tale my mind told me.
Clemency laughs at me for the quantity of dream sequences I have in my writing - and I certainly do have quite a few - but looking at how inspiring they have been in my own life, why wouldn't I?!
Top Tip: Find a notebook and keep it beside your bed. You can jot down the occasional story idea which comes to you in a dream, or you could even have a go at keeping a dream diary. Your next story idea could be waiting there in your subconscious!
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