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How Atmosphere, Suspense, and Foreshadowing can make the difference

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I’m a sucker for a scary book. Or a scary scene. Or a particularly chilling snippet of dialogue. Something about it gives me chills of pure delight. When reading we pick up on these notes in a very unconscious way. There are where they’re supposed to be. That is – in the background not unlike the stage props on a Broadway stage. I know I know, when it comes to writing a lot of us learn unconsciously through reading but when you know the mechanics behind what you’re doing it means you get to twist things in new ways instead of relying on all that intuitive learning that lead us to mimic the greats. So, in honor of the season of horror, I want to talk about atmosphere, suspense, and foreshadowing, and how they can make your prose spine-chilling but just too delicious to put down. Let’s look at atmosphere first. This comes across mostly in setting the scene at the beginning of chapters and it’s all about word choice, and consistency. I think it tends to be the most intuitive of
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Challenge: No Clocks or Hourglasses

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I went into this piece under the impression I was making a snowflake but somehow ended up with a spiderweb. It gives me a little sympathy for Jack Skellington. Good thing I learned long ago that creativity tends to grow a bit like a forest. You can try to control every plant in the thicket, but you'll only succeed in giving yourself an impressive headache. In other news, if anyone likes music I've got a neat link for you to click. A good friend of mine makes rhythmic music and he just uploaded a bunch of pretty cool stuff. I definitely recommend checking it out here https://soundcloud.com/cromafor All that aside I present... No Clocks or Hourglasses ‘Herein lies the corridor of memory. Beware all who travel here, for memories have wills of their own.’ This is the message tacked onto the polished stone box that was left at her door sometime in the night. Her name, Luna Gomez, had been printed in small, neat letters at the top-left hand corner of the note. She
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Challenge: The Fey's Gate

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This next story is one I wrote a long time ago, but it's always been one of my favorites. To be honest, I've been struggling a lot with my writing lately. When I sit down to create my mind goes blank and I start to wonder if I've been wrong all these years because I can't always find the passion anymore. For now, I present this page of the past. As for this blog and where I take it next, I'll let you know when I do. Enjoy , The Fey's Gate              When the moon slumbers and only stars light the sky, there’s a magic you can feel in every leaf and dewdrop. From beneath the ground to the tips of the highest trees it dances and swirls at your fingertips. The air is filled with the smell of this magic- fresh like the end of a rainstorm in a mossy forest. The rich soil gives under your bare toes and in every reflective surface, colorful flashes of light dart and weave around you.             You dance and swirl through the star-spangled night, dru
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