Be Unique
My Advice To New Horror Writers
During my latest AMA (Ask Me Anything) on TikTok Live, one of the questions that came up the most was what advice I would give to new writers. My answer? Do you. Find the things that make you unique or special and put that in your writing. Topics you are passionate about or have unique in-depth knowledge of, unique experiences that you have had, the things you hate, the things you love, the things that terrify you, disgust you, anger you, or bring you joy. Put that in your writing. DO NOT TRY TO COPY YOUR FAVORITE WRITERS!!!
Readers don’t want to read imitations of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz or even Aron Beauregard, Judith Sonnet or Kris Triana. Why would they when they can just read them? You need to cultivate what’s unique about you. Why should you tell this story and not someone else? What do you bring to it that no one who hasn’t lived your life could? If you can’t answer that, don’t write it. Write something else.
I hate reading generic horror books (especially generic Extreme Horror Books) that could have been written by anyone. That tells me the author isn’t trying. If you are just trying to write something grosser or more gory than the last book you read, or are just repeating the same old tropes — don’t. You might as well just let AI write it if you aren’t going to put your heart and soul into it.
I have a book that has been floating around in my head for well over a year. I even commissioned the cover for it already. But I haven’t written a single word of it yet. Why? Because I haven’t come up with a unique angle on it yet. I haven’t figured out how to write it in a way that expresses my unique perspective on the world, incorporates my lived experiences, beliefs, and opinions, and addresses my own individual fears and anxieties. How could I possibly make readers afraid if I haven’t isolated what terrifies me about it, what freaks me out, grosses me out, or makes me angry or sad? A horror author’s job is to horrify the reader, starting with the very first reader — them.
So, keep reading. Keep Writing. Keep honing your craft. It’s even okay to try imitating the style of writers you admire, but don’t publish that. Wait until you have found your own unique voice, when you have identified a story that begs for you to write it, that could not be written by anyone else, and write that. You are special. You are unique. No one like you has ever existed before or will ever exist again. Your writing should reflect that.
