writing the paranormal novel

862019 Writing The Paranormal Novel

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriting-the-paranormal-novel 115

steven harper

w r i t i n g t h e

p a r a n o r m a l

novel

TECHNIQUES AND EXERCISES

FOR WEAVING SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS

INTO YOUR STORY





Te Nature of the Paranormal 3

that makes these novels into science 1047297ction instead of say adventure or

romance or gothic

Paranormal novels work the same way You need some element of

magic or the supernatural thatrsquos so deeply integral to the story that the en-

tire novel would collapse if you removed it ry removing the supernatural

element from Dracula and see how far you get Te book has a romance

but without the vampire count to move things along author Bram Stoker

would have no story On the other hand if your protagonistrsquos werewolf

boyfriend could just as easily be a muscular guy who loses his temper once

a month right around the time he needs a haircut you arenrsquot writing a

paranormal novel yoursquore probably writing a romance with supernatural

trappingsmdashand your readers will see right through it

People have been telling supernatural stories from the beginning of

human civilization Such stories form the basis of every mythology that

ever existed Tese tales explain how the world came to exist why we

have earthquakes who stole 1047297re from the gods where people go when

they die or anything else that needed explaining Other supernatural

stories spin grand adventures of bold heroes Odysseus and Gilgamesh

and Lemminkaumlinen and Aladdin And it wasnrsquot just the stories them-

selves that enduredmdashthe concepts remained as well Who doesnrsquot want

to be swept away from this dull mundane world to a wondrous magi-

cal land Who hasnrsquot fantasized about 1047297nding a magical object of great

power and having fun with it Who hasnrsquot fervently wished for the per-

fect magical lover to tell us wersquore irresistible Tese and other supernat-

ural concepts have hung on for generations for one reason Teyrsquore fun

to think about

what do paranormal novelsdo for us

Supernatural stories feed the human desire for escape We can pretendwersquore riding that magic carpet making those three wishes or swinging that

sword because we know (deep sigh) itrsquos never going to happen for real



4 Writing the Paranormal Novel

Te idea of uncovering the supernatural in your own yard is irre-

sistible Supernatural stories originally took place Long Ago and Far

Away Tis lent the stories a certain amount ofmdashbelieve it or notmdashreal-

ism In a time when the average person never traveled more than four or

1047297ve miles from home it was easier to suspend disbelief if the story took

place halfway around the globe Anything can happen in a place yoursquove

never heard of But eventually humans invented mass communication

Te world shrank and the universe Out Tere became less mystical As

a result storytellers started slipping supernatural elements into their

own backyards Bram Stoker horri1047297edmdashand fascinatedmdashthe Victori-

ans when he brought a Long Ago and Far Away vampire into modern

London (More on that in chapter two) Stoker wasnrsquot the 1047297rst to bring

an ancient monster into a modern setting but he was the most famous

and many many authors imitated him

In supernatural stories you donrsquot need to look Long Ago or even Far

Away to 1047297nd adventure You can stroll down the sidewalk or wander off

the back porch Te contrast of the unknown magical with the well-worn

mundane provides the charm Winged horses and 1047298ying carpets are fun

sure but when most people spend their time stuck in automobile traffi c

a 1047298ying car sounds a lot more interesting Heck maybe you the reader

will 1047297nd one next

On that note I should let you know that this book will focus mostly

on writing novels set primarily in our world either past or present oron novels that use characters from our world who travel to supernatu-

ral places Although itrsquos a supernatural genre wersquoll only be making brief

detours into high fantasy If you want to write novels about armored

warriors or powerful sorcerers who 1047297ght fantastic creatures in a society

that never intersects with our own you might want to check out Orson

Scott Cardrsquos How to Write Science Fiction amp Fantasy also from Writerrsquos

Digest BooksMeanwhile wersquore going to look at the chance to use the paranormal

to shake up the ordinary worldmdashor an ordinary story



P A R T I I I

c a s t i n g

t h e

w o r d s

p h o t o g r a p h copy A

a r r e R i n n e i S t o c k p h o t o c o m




along the way to the 1047297nal ending Each book should have its own satisy-

ing resolution o some goal or con1047298ict so the reader doesnrsquot eel too strung

along In other words each book in a series needs to have its own story

that gets resolved even i that story is part o a larger arc o reer to Harry

Potter again the 1047297rst six books in the series ends with Harry deeating an

antagonist o some kind and wrapping up a major story even though the

ultimate goal o deeating Lord Voldemort remains unresolved Te reader

is anticipating the next book yet still eels satis1047297ed with the current one

So how do you make sure the reader eels satis1047297ed with the plot o the

current book Letrsquos zoom inward a little and take a look

the rule of three

Te number three rules Seriously How many paranormal stories can you

name in which stuff comes in threes You knowmdashthree wishes three bears

Red Riding Hood notices three things about the wol and so on And as

I noted above paranormal books ofen come in sets o three In act letrsquos

do a quick exercise about this

EXERCISE

On a piece of scrap paper list all the instances of sets of three you

can think of from myths fairy tales and other stories in sixty sec-

onds Go

SCORING

0ndash3 You need to read three more books of myths and fairy tales

4ndash9 Yoursquove threed up some time for reading

10+ Threedom is yours

Even now that the exercise is over more trios are probably occurring toyou Tey keep showing up the more you think about them Terersquos a rea-

son or this Humans like stories that come in threes Itrsquos a natural rhythm



Tinking Big and Small Arc Plot and Subplot 149

Te 1047297rst event tells you whatrsquos going to happen or creates an event Te

second event sets a pattern Te third event breaks the pattern and re-

solves the problem

Possibly no paranormal story illustrates this better than the German

version o ldquoCinderellardquo (Te American version has been shortened consid-

erably and made nicey-nicey) In the story we have three girlsmdashtwo step-

sisters and Cinderella Te 1047297rst stepsister is cruel (this is the event) the

second stepsister is cruel (set the pattern) and Cinderella is nice (breaks

the pattern) Te king announces three balls Cinderella is orced to sneak

out to go to the 1047297rst one (event) She sneaks out to the second (pattern)

She leaves her golden shoe behind at the third (break) When the prince

arrives at Cinderellarsquos house with the golden shoe the 1047297rst stepsister tries

it on but itrsquos too small so she cuts off her toes to make it 1047297t but the prince

discovers the ruse and reuses to marry her (event) Te second stepsister

tries on the shoe and cuts off her heel to make it 1047297t but the prince reuses

to marry her as well (pattern) Cinderella tries on the shoe and it 1047297ts so

the prince marries her (break)

Adding another stepsister to the mix would overburden the story By

the third oot-chopping incident the reader would be thinking ldquoOkay we

get it we get itrdquo Removing one o the stepsisters wouldnrsquot work eithermdashthe

events wouldnrsquot build very ar and the story would be cut too short so to

speak Tree is ofen Just Right Goldilocks certainly thought so too

In any case this is why so many 1047297ctional events come in threes It sim-

ply makes or 1047297ne storytelling Not every set o events needs to come in

threes o course but itrsquos a good pattern to keep in mind both when yoursquore

looking at the overall book and when yoursquore looking at individual scenes

plot

I you back up and look rom a distance the plot structure or a novel

looks like a smooth mountain with one side shorter than the other (Ris-ing action climax and alling action incidentally come as a set o three)

Once you get closer however you can see that the structure is a little more




complicated Itrsquos actually a ractal pattern a bunch o little mountains that

orm the slope o the main mountain climbing steadily upward toward the

peak In other words there are con1047298icts within con1047298icts climaxes within

climaxes and resolutions within resolutions We can take the structure

rom big to small

at the novel level

Every plot starts off with a main character who has a problem called a con-

1047298ict It has to be a major con1047298ict Minor con1047298ictsmdashpaper tigersmdasharenrsquot

enough to hang a novel on And since yoursquore reading this book itrsquos going

to be a supernatural con1047298ict I the characterrsquos diffi culty has nothing to

do with the paranormal yoursquove pushed the supernatural elements into

the background and you arenrsquot writing a paranormal novel You should

always be able to sum up the protagonistrsquos con1047298ict in a single sentence

that uses action verbs

A girl from Kansas accidentally lands in a magical country and

has to figure out how to get back home (The Wonderful Wizard of

Oz by Frank L Baum)

A young man in the New World uncovers a magical conspiracy to

destroy the colonies and must choose between his Loyalist fianceacutee

and his own growing powers of witchcraft (The Patriot Witch by

CC Finlay)

A high school teenager moves to a new town where she unex-

pectedly falls in love with a teenaged boy who turns out to be a

vampire (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer)

ake note o the prominent supernatural elements in all three o the

above examples

Being able to create this active sentence grants you two advantagesIt ensures your plot has ocus and it gives you a quick way to sum up your

book to an editor or agent who asks ldquoWhatrsquos your book aboutrdquo




EXERCISE

Sum up your novelrsquos plot in a single sentence that uses action verbs

Be sure to mention both the characterrsquos conflict and the supernatu-

ral element or elements

Now that yoursquove established your protagonistrsquos con1047298ict yoursquore going to

spend three or our hundred pages showing us all the interesting adven-

tures he has trying to solve it And yoursquore going to make it diffi cult or

him In act yoursquore going to make him walk over metaphorical hot coals

and broken glass to 1047297nd the solution to his con1047298ict Characters need to

earn their happy endings (those who are getting one) or itrsquos not worth the

effort to read about them Tis idea is personi1047297ed in Pinocchio by Carlo

Collodi (Te book a very paranormal novel is quite different rom the

Disney movie o the same name Pinocchio squishes the talking cricket

in chapter our or one thing) Pinocchio wants to become a real boy but

he has to earn that position and he goes through some pretty awul times

to do it including being turned into a donkey and getting swallowed by

a mile-long shark During this journey he sees other people suffer and

learns empathy or others In the end he gives all his hard-earned money

to the hospital where the blue-haired airy has allen ill and hurries back

to his basket-making job to earn more or her at which point hersquos prov-

en hersquos changed rom a sel1047297sh marionette into a kind person and he be-

comes a real boy Te blue-haired airy always had the power to turn Pin-

occhio into a real boy but that ending wouldnrsquot have been at all satisying

because Pinocchio wouldnrsquot have earned it Your characters need to earn

their endings as well Te more they work and suffer the more satisying

the ending will be

Tis means that when you start plotting your book Greg the Pro-

tagonist canrsquot head out to solve his problem and then immediately do soYou need to throw roadblocks in his way and orce him to work around or

through them Terersquos a general pattern to this




1 Greg has a con1047298ict

2 Greg tries to solve the con1047298ict and ails

3 Greg tries to solve the con1047298ict a second time and ails again Te

con1047298ict gets worse

4 Greg tries to solve the con1047298ict a third time and puts everything

he has into this ultimate last-ditch solution

5 Greg succeeds (happy ending) or ails orever (tragic ending)

You may have noticed that this pattern comes as a set o three alsomdashGreg

tries to solve his con1047298ict twice and the third time is when he 1047297nally breaks

the pattern and wins through or ails orever

When yoursquore looking at the overall plot or a novel this pattern be-

comes very broad so be aware o it or your own book to keep the story

rom wandering In Pinocchio the pattern runs like this

1 Pinocchio wants to become a real boy (Con1047298ict)

2 Pinocchio tries to earn humanity by going to school and learn-ing but al lows the Fox and Cat to sidetrack him (He ails)

3 Pinocchio wanders the world looking or other ways to become

a real boy but he only becomes less human loses his ather Ge-

ppetto and learns his behavior has made the blue-haired airy

ill (Con1047298ict grows worse)

4 Pinocchio impoverishes himsel to pay the blue-haired airyrsquos

medical bills and rushes back to work to earn more money or

her (Last-ditch solution)

5 Pinocchiorsquos compassion has made him into a real boy (Happy

ending)

Yoursquoll notice that number 3 above is actually longer and more compli-

catedmdashit takes up most o the book in act and encompasses dozens o

scenes But wersquore looking at the plot rom a distanceTis pattern also appears in Christopher Moorersquos A Dirty Job (Warn-

ing Te analysis gives away part o the ending)




1 Charlie Asher a shy single ather discovers hersquos become the new

Death but doesnrsquot know anything about his position (Con1047298ict)

2 Charlie tries to learn how to be Death but canrsquot 1047297gure out how it

works because someone else takes the instruction book (He ails)

3 Charlie tracks down the book and learns how to be Death but in the

process he attracts the notice o several ancient gods o death who

want to destroy him and his daughter (Con1047298ict grows worse)

4 Charlie overcomes his shyness and aces down the orces o dark-

ness with his daughter at his side and gives his liemdashsort omdashso

she can live (Happy endingmdashmostly)

You should be able to create similar steps or your own novel Now letrsquos

zoom in a little closer and look at the novel plot in its smaller pieces

rising action

Te upside o the plot mountain starts low and rises higher to meet the climaxand we introduce the paranormal along the way Itrsquos divided into pieces

the hook

Yoursquore in a bookstore just browsing A title catches your eye Idly you lif

it rom the shel and read the back cover Looks interesting You 1047298ip to

the 1047297rst page and start reading Huh Not bad You set it back on the shel

with a mental note to get it laterAnother title gets your attention Back cover also seems interesting

You read the 1047297rst page And then the second Yoursquore sprinting halway

down the third when you remember the dentist appointment yoursquove been

avoiding A moment later yoursquove paid or the book and are looking or-

ward to reading more o it in the dentistrsquos waiting room

What was the difference between the two books Te second had a

stronger hookTe hook or opening scene needs to grab readers rom the 1047297rst

sentence and not let them stop reading You do this by showing the



Destruction and Creation 257

attend conferences

and conventionsI 1047297nances and location al low go to literary events Writers conerences

abound in this country and theyrsquore easy to 1047297nd thanks to the Internet

And any given weekend therersquos a antasyscience 1047297ction convention taking

place somewhere in the United States Since yoursquore writing a paranormal

novel yoursquod be a natural attendee Such conventions (or cons) are easy to

1047297nd online Some cons are big some are small Some are great or mak-

ing proessional contacts and some are only good or socializing How-ever showing your name and ace among the people who have the greatest

chance o buying your book is always a good idea

I yoursquove never attended a con beore donrsquot worrymdashantasy and sci-

ence 1047297ction ans are generally very welcoming toward newcomers and

many cons even hold a little orientation meeting or 1047297rst-timers Find

one and go

learn public speakingPublic speaking terri1047297es a number o people but being an effective speaker

is a valuable skill or any writer Once your book comes out yoursquoll want to

talk about it and itrsquos much better i you can manage to be interesting and

engaging when you go about this Local libraries schools book clubs and

other venues are ofen interested in having local authors come to speak or

them and some o them pay rather nicely Conventions and conerenceswant speakers as well Some only give ree admission to the event and

others pay an honorarium Quite a number o writers make some decent

pocket change as speakers in act and good speakers are in high demand

Most speaking events will let you hold a signing aferward which lets you

get your book out there

join a professional organizationA number o proessional organizations exist to help writers urther their

careers Tey exchange inormation about markets editors and agents




hold conventions give awards help with publicity or even assist with le-

gal issues Dues are ofen nominal Since contact people and addresses

change I donrsquot want to list exact inormation here but these organiza-

tions are easy to 1047297nd online Not all o them require proessional sales or

membership either

he Romance Writers o America accepts writers o all stripes

but mostly exists or writers o romance including paranormal ro-

mance hose who write paranormal mysteries should look into the

Mystery Writers o America he Horror Writers Association helps

writers o horror he Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers o Amer-

ica looks out or writers o any kind o paranormal iction and their

Writer Beware program has exposed a number o crooked publishers

editors and agents

join a writersrsquo groupWritersrsquo groups or critique groups exist to help members improve their

writing Te basic ormat is that members usually exchange their work (ei-

ther by handing copies around or by reading them aloud) and then every-

one gives polite comments o the ldquoI liked thisrdquo and the ldquoI think this part

needs improvementrdquo variety Some groups take place online and others

meet ace-to-ace A good writersrsquo group gives you both an audience and

eedback and can give you a readerrsquos perspective on your writingmdashvery

helpul i yoursquove read your own work so many times itrsquos become diffi cultto see mistakes Itrsquoll also get you used to accepting criticism

You can 1047297nd ace-to-ace writersrsquo groups by checking out your local

community college or university local bookstores or even local newspa-

pers that post notices about such things You can also try starting your

own group by posting notices yoursel

Te main thing to remember about being in a writersrsquo group is that

it needs to help you improve your writing I your writing isnrsquot gettingany better (that is it isnrsquot getting any closer to publication) look or an-

other group




keep writing

It may seem obvious but some new writers orget it When Book One is1047297nished move on to Book wo and then Book Tree

the final wordsNever give up never quit

Persist

And one day your book will be done Just like magic









romance or gothic
























to think about







































P A R T I I I

c a s t i n g

t h e

w o r d s
















the rule of three






EXERCISE



onds Go

SCORING











solves the problem
























plot











rom big to small

at the novel level











Oz by Frank L Baum)




CC Finlay)





above examples






EXERCISE

























the ending will be






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist







































P A R T I I I

c a s t i n g

t h e

w o r d s
















the rule of three






EXERCISE



onds Go

SCORING











solves the problem
























plot











rom big to small

at the novel level











Oz by Frank L Baum)




CC Finlay)





above examples






EXERCISE

























the ending will be






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist

















the rule of three






EXERCISE



onds Go

SCORING











solves the problem
























plot











rom big to small

at the novel level











Oz by Frank L Baum)




CC Finlay)





above examples






EXERCISE

























the ending will be






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist









solves the problem
























plot











rom big to small

at the novel level











Oz by Frank L Baum)




CC Finlay)





above examples






EXERCISE

























the ending will be






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist











rom big to small

at the novel level











Oz by Frank L Baum)




CC Finlay)





above examples






EXERCISE

























the ending will be






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist







EXERCISE

























the ending will be






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist






























ending)




















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist



















rising action


the hook















attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist







attend conferences












one and go




















membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist











membership either








editors and agents















other group




keep writing



Persist







keep writing



Persist




writing the paranormal novel

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