Revamp
By Beck Sherman
By Beck Sherman
Genre: Horror
ISBN: 9780985732707
ASIN: B007Q4LK9I
Number
of pages: approx. 439
Word
Count: approx. 162,024
Description:
FOR
THREE DAYS, IT WAS DARK.
News reporters scrambled. This was the biggest story to come along in weeks.
They called it a blackout.
The last one was in New York City in 2003, but this one was different, special, because the grids in six major cities across the country had been fried, kaput, see-you-next-Sunday. Everyone with some jurisdiction blamed each other, and when there was no one left to blame, terrorism rode in on its gallant steed.
It was the media’s fault. They were so busy stuffing fanatical Muslims with a penchant for Allah and decapitations down the American citizen’s throat, that they never saw it coming. I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on them.
They were partially right.
It was terror after all, but a whole new kind. And when the lights came back on, things had changed.
The dark had brought us visitors.
Book
Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA6GEtgc0yY
Write What You Don’t Know
As you read this, the phrase “write what you know” is being
uttered from the lips of some writing instructor somewhere. Billy Crystal said
it in Throw Momma from the Train. Pick up any writing book and it’s in there,
like some cruel, wagging finger, “Better make sure to write what you know.” This
makes you panic a bit—sweat starts to pool under the collar, because what do
you know, really? And you’d like to write a novel about space aliens that sleep
in smelly, old shoes and dance the Macarena right before they suck your brains
out through a bendy straw. Your nerves start to level: okay, you’ve never met a
space alien, but you are slightly familiar with smelly, old shoes (thanks,
Dad), you’ve danced the Macarena before (it was a very long time ago, but it’s
just a bunch of arm flailing, right?), bendy straws (check!), but brains? What
do they taste like? You’ve never eaten brains before. Where in the world do
they still eat brains? You will go there. You will eat brains too. You will
record the taste in a small notebook. You will be able to write what you know (sigh
of relief).
Maybe the above scenario is a slight exaggeration, but I
have recently become a convert to the mantra Write What You Don’t Know, and
here’s why:
1. Writing what you know is too safe. Stick your head out,
see what’s on the other side. Your head might get chopped off, but you’ll have
one hell of a story to tell from beyond the grave.
2. Your writing may become repetitive. If all you know is
how to make deviled eggs, sure your first story might be good, but if the main
character in your next book has a knack for making deviled eggs too, you could
be in trouble.
3. Writing is about taking risks, if not for yourself, then
for your reader.
4. By researching something, you’re learning something new
and you can write about it with a fresh eye, from a fresh angle.
5. Your writing (especially if you’re a horror/suspense
writer) is meant to catapult the reader into the fucking air. If you’re
rehashing your daily routine on the page, your reader is getting dragged along,
too. Poor reader.
There are exceptions, of course. If you’re a super, suave
spy and Espionage is your middle name—WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. And hi, you’ve got a
cool job. Another exception, a lot of writers have their books set in the same
locale (Stephen King and Maine) and that works. It can become your thing, and
readers, especially your neighbors, will appreciate that. My point is, don’t
shy away from writing about something because you don’t know anything about it.
Set time aside to research. Don’t put limits on the story you want to tell.
Dive in.
Because it’s not just your future readers’ adventure, it’s
yours too.
Author
Bio:
Beck
Sherman was born and raised in Massachusetts, studied undergrad at Syracuse
University, has a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of
Westminster, London, and when not writing, enjoys exploring abandoned insane
asylums and photo-documenting the things that go bump in the night, when
they’re kind enough to pose.
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