NaNo Prep, Tips, and Tricks!

Hey, everyone! It’s Thursday, Friday, because yesterday my 4thewords app ate all of my words on this blog (my fault, not the sites) and that means that it’s time for another tips and tricks Blog for NaNoWriMo! Is everyone excited? It’s less than a week away now, and I’m honestly starting to get extremely antsy for it. As usual, I have a thousand ideas racing around in my head, and I’ve been tempted to completely throw out what I thought I was going to work on to plot something all new. That’s actually where my tip is going to come from today.

Follow your muse.

No, I’m not talking about only writing when your muse feels like it, because she’s in a flowing white gown and the lighting is just right, and the moonlight is poetic enough that maybe, maybe, if you ply her with chocolate and sweets and coffee she’ll come out so you can play.

I don’t believe in letting the muse be quite so in control, to be quite honest. So, before I dive into the tip that I actually meant to give you, I guess I’m going to give you another one. You can’t only write when you feel like it – especially for NaNo.

You’re working on a novel – you’re working on something that’s clearly important to you. Your writing is clearly important to you. If someone really loves sports and wants to excel, they practice. Even when they don’t want to. If someone really loves music and they want to excel, they practice. Even when they don’t want to. 

If you really love writing, you should practice. Even when you don’t want to.

Are you getting where I’m going with this? I’m not saying that you have to write all of the time – I’m just saying that if it is something that is important to you… it’s probably something that you should put effort into practicing. And if it’s something that you want to do professionally? It’s really, really something that you should put a daily effort into. Yeah, the professionals don’t have to write all day every day… but you know what? They had to practice to get to where they are. They had to figure out how to hone and perfect their craft, and they’re still learning as they go.

So, that’s my little piece of advice that I actually didn’t mean to give in this blog. Treat your writing with the same respect as you would anything else that you want to get good at – yeah, it is something that is based on your creativity; take your muse hostage though. Tie that bitch up and stuff it into the closet, and only feed it after it has given you what you want, mkay?

In all seriousness, don’t wait around for some magical being to strike you with creativity. Don’t only write when you feel like it. Write even when you don’t – write when you don’t think that you can write. Eventually, even though it seems like it was hard at first, it will become a habit, and it will become something that you can do, even on those terrible days when you don’t feel like it. You’ll do it because you can, because you practiced, and because writing every day is something that is a part of you.

Okay… I’ve completely derailed from the actual reason that I was writing this blog. You know how I just told you to put your muse in a hostage situation…? Well… uh… you do still need to follow it though. What I mean by that is that you should pay attention to what your brain is interested in, and what you want to do for your writing project. I’ve had a lot of people in my writing group this year who have already talked to or approached the subject of the fact that they aren’t sure what they want to write this year. They had an idea that they developed at the beginning of October.

The problem with coming up with an idea at the beginning of October when you’re a creative person is that your brain has a lot of trouble settling on just that one idea. So you plot, you plan, you get pictures, you make playlists… and you find that you still have two weeks until NaNo begins and a million ideas kind of nagging at the back of your mind.

Yeah, I actually had that happen to me last year. I had my novel idea all set out – RipTide was going to be about post-apocalyptic mermaid things. (Yeah, bad explanation, but the explanation isn’t what this blog is actually about.)

Half way through doing my 31 Horror Prompts for October, I came up with this story about a boy whose mother sold her soul, and his soul, in order to get pregnant and be able to keep a baby. The whole fate of Heaven and Hell rested on his shoulders, and I wrote this really awesome scene about an angel who didn’t look anything less than a monster.

Oopse. I didn’t mean it – I really didn’t… but somehow, that one scene that was only a few thousand words ended up starting a novel idea that I couldn’t shake. I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to write it. I couldn’t stop my mind from developing a plot… so, instead of freaking out, instead of spending all of November wishing that I’d worked on Angelblade instead of RipTide… I made a decision.

I worked on both.

Sometimes, you  have to follow your muse. I’ve told this to everyone who has asked me advice on this particular subject.

What do I do if I have two projects that I really want to work on?

Work on both. I promise, your mind will usually sort things out for you. I did about 15,000 words on Angelblade, and about 80,000 on RipTide. My mind figured out what project it really wanted to focus on… but by not putting myself into a box and only letting myself go the conventional route of one book, I didn’t have regrets, and I didn’t stop RipTide half way through November because I was so frustrated with the fact that I didn’t just write Angelblade instead.

So, yeah, that’s my NaNo Tip for you today – listen to your muse, and follow it… but don’t let it dictate when you write. Your muse is there to give you ideas, and it’s there to gentle urge you along… but you are a writer, and you don’t need your muse to write. You can do it just fine all on your own.

With NaNo only a few short days away, I hope that everyone is prepared! I’m probably going to do daily update/tip blogs come November, and then in December, we will get back to our regularly scheduled blogging program. I’m really glad that you guys are enjoying these tips and tricks, and if there’s anything that you wanted me to talk about, just leave it in the comments below. I promise, I’ll do my best to help you through whatever it is that you need help with.

So, until… not next tip. There won’t be another Tips in October. Guys… NaNo starts this coming Tuesday. So, the next NaNo blog you get from me will be my Day One Update.

That’s pretty damn exciting.

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

NaNo Prep, Tips, and Tricks!

Hey, everyone! I’m here with another Tip for you in preparation for NaNoWriMo! It’s going to be here before we know it, so we’re all doing those last minute searches for everything that we can that will help us to defeat the monster that we’re about to engage! Actually, that was 2 years ago, right? Slaying dragons. This year we’re… blasting off?

Are we defeating aliens?

I don’t know. It doesn’t matter… the point is, we’re so close to NaNo that we’re all scrambling for those last minute tips and tricks that will help us to accomplish our goals.

I’m going to give you some advice that comes from someone who has participated in NaNo multiple times. It’s some of the best advice that I can give:

Plan on getting ahead.

Seriously – the first week, you’re going to be more energized than any other week that you’re doing NaNo. Your story is going to be fresh, you’re going to be extremely hyped… you’re going to be on this cloud of, “Wow, I’m an author, I am writing a book and I’m amazing.”

Come week two, you’re going to be tired, your fingers will hurt… your body will be wondering why there’s so much blood in its caffeine stream. By week three, you’re going to have done that cardinal rule that you shouldn’t do and look at what you wrote. Lamenting will happen, you’ll wonder why you’re even doing this! And then the last expanse of NaNo will get here, and you’ll get re-energized, re-excited. You’ll realize that you’re writing a novel that you’re almost finished with! You’ll charge through that last little bit like a pro… and you’ll finish NaNo with Pride!

But, let’s get back to that first week. That first week is really where you set the stage – you’re going to be tempted to have bad days, more than likely… so the best thing that you can do is prepare to get ahead. Set your goals higher in week one – it doesn’t have to be by much, but setting them to something more than just the 1,667 while you have all of that extra energy and excitement is really a great thing to do.

For myself, I try to have a 10k first day. It sounds extreme, but it honestly isn’t. If you have good friends, or an internet writing group (check on joining my Discord in my signature if you don’t <3), you can do sprints all day. You don’t realize how much you’re writing until you’ve done 5 or 6 sprints, and you’re already well past your word goal for the day and you still have energy.

I, personally, start writing at midnight and try to at least make my wordgoal of 1,667 before I go to bed. That way, when I wake up the next day and start writing, everything is new and fresh, but I’m really adding extra on. If I can manage that 10k first day, it gives me so much wiggle room. It gives me a chance to breath… and a chance during week 2 and 3 blues to have those days where I can’t write as much as I would want to.

Ride that first week energy, and ride it as hard and as far as you can. have 2k days instead of 1,667 days. Hell, have 3k days, or 5k days! Do as much as you can, and know that you’re getting ahead on your novel.

And remember, when you’re having those second and third week blues… you’re doing something amazing. You are creating and entire world with just your mind. You’re doing something that so many people can’t do, and you’re an astounding individual for it. Just keep on keeping on, and know that you can always come to my blog to hear words of encouragement, because I belive in you. I really do. You’ve got this.

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

31 Horror Prompts – Response #20

Okay everyone! I know I meant to get these out yesterday, but I am getting to it today. I apologize for the enormous story influx that is going to happen. Let’s get started with Prompt #20!

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Morgue

The morgue was colder than he remembered – he’d been in it a dozen times before, keeping his eyes half closed, averting his gaze from the bodies that laid out on the cool steel tables. He didn’t want to look death in the face, and he didn’t want to realize that half of them were already decayed.

Television had given people a misconstrued idea about the state of bodies when they came to the coroner’s office. So often, they were in perfect, pristine order. So often, people found them before they’d even had a chance to fall apart, to bloat, to rot.

He knew better – he’d known better since before he could remember. He’d been in the morgue when he was a young thing, with his father. They lived atop it… and the business was thriving. There was no amount of people who weren’t ready to go to their grave, their tomb. There was an endless amount of people milling around each and every day who were preparing themselves for death. They didn’t realize it, but they certainly were ticking time bombs. Every human body was simply waiting for death – whether it was in their sleep of old age, or full of gore and pain… it was coming for everyone.

Sometimes he wondered why he walked through the morgue – sometimes, he wasn’t sure why he willingly gave himself nightmares. The darkness didn’t conceal the smell that spilled through the chilled air, and nothing could still the haunting sensation of walking amongst so many dead bodies.

There were times when he thought that he could hear them breathing.

Still, he did it – he walked with no real purpose, other than to immerse himself in their presence. They meant nothing to him – they were just a feast for worms, people that he didn’t know… but he felt the need to be around them.

He felt the need to look at them, to know that they were cold, and there.

A small, shuddering sigh escaped him – his eyes lifted when he came to the end of the room. Metal table after metal table was lined up. It had been a busy day for his father – a car pile up on the highway had brought fresh bodies to the chilled room; it smelled metallic, like blood. It smelled like death and pain, and he knew that the smell would linger for a few days. Even though all of their blood had been removed, even though the traces of it had been washed away… it would still linger.

It was a permanent thing in the chilled air, and it was a scent that sometimes caught in the vents and wafted into the house above the morgue.

His eyes spilled over the rows of metal – over the bodies that sat atop of them. Some were unscathed – they’d died of necks snapping or some other, internal issue.

There were others though that were in pieces. He could see them, laid out neat, like someone might play with a dollie that they’d ripped apart. It was hard to tell where the whole person had been, sometimes.

His back pressed against the cold wall, and another small, shuddering sigh escaped him. He was here – like he always seemed to be. He was here, and it didn’t make things any better. He held up his hands, ethereal, ghostly.

He held up his hands that hadn’t been in corporeal form for a decade. His father’s hair was white, but he still looked like the teen that he’d been when he’d fallen ill. His father had tried, but in the end… he’d come to this room, too. In the end, he knew that everyone ended up in the Morgue.

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So, uh, that was randomly dark, and I super apologize. Still, I wonder if the son of a mortician would end up haunting the morgue, instead of somewhere else. It’s interesting to think about, and it’s certainly something that I may end up touching on later. As with a ton of my stories, it’s something that I’m probably going to revisit. That’s the beauty of doing writing prompts, though – so often, you think that you’re just going to write a tiny story, and you end up writing something huge that turns into a short story, a novella… even a novel.

I’ve had it happen multiple times, myself.

I’d love to hear about when it’s happened with you guys as well. Writing is such a beautiful and amazing thing, and it can take us on so many paths. NaNoWriMo is soon approaching, and I know that not everyone has their novel idea – if you don’t have it yet, feel free to use anything that you get from these prompts and expand upon it.

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

NaNo Preps, Tips, and Tricks!

It’s time for another tip blog for NaNo, and I do realize that I’m going to end up posting some of the same tips that I posted last year… but that was last year, and this is this year… and honestly, I go through the same prep process with new things added to it every year. So.

For today’s tip, I’m going to tell you something that I know I’ve told you before, but I find it so important that I don’t mind telling you again. The National Novel Writing Month website actually tells you this as well.

Make yourself a cover!

I don’t care if it’s really good, if you go into the Artisan forums and ask someone to make it for you, or if you just go to a free domain photo site and make something in paint. The point is, people who have covers have a might higher percentage of winning than people who don’t. I don’t get the exact science behind it, or the reason… but I really do find it to be true.

(Above is a cover that I made myself for my novel in 2014)

A Cover, at least for me, means that I have a vision of my project. It means that when I’m looking at it, I can imagine what it will look like when it’s put into an actual novel format. I’m not saying that the cover that you make is going to be the cover that you keep – if you’re pursuing traditional publishing, I’m pretty sure that you won’t even get a say in what that cover is when you first publish. But for now, and for your mind? It’s going to be there for you. You’re going to see it as a book, not just as that thing that you’re trying to throw together in a month as best you can.

For me, I try to always use public domain photos, or something that is free to use. I don’t like using people’s pictures without their permission. The place where I made my covers (yes, you heard me right, plural) for this year is publicdomainpictures.net. Everything there is public domain, so it’s been pretty fun. I wouldn’t, of course, self-publish anything without doing further research… but for the intents and purposes of making a cover that I can use for NaNoWriMo? It’s a great site. There are quite a few places where you can get free to use photos if you do a google search – any one of those is a wonderful place to start, if you’re going to make your cover yourself!

Once you’ve found a picture that you like, it’s extremely easy to take it to a place like Lunapic, or even your own windows programs if you prefer. Add some text, including your name and a title. The great thing about it is this – you don’t have to feel like you’re tied in to the title that you choose. If you decide to change it later, this isn’t a professional cover. This isn’t something that you paid a ton fo money for… this is a cover that you made. This is just something that you did to give your mind a visual of what your book coudl look like.

Nothing is set in stone, except for the fact that you have the determination to turn your story into a novel!

So, that’s all that I have for tips today. If you guys want, i can do a blog on how I made my book covers! I’d love to share. Other than that, keep in mind that NaNo is in about 2 weeks now. Get your outline pounded out, get your prep-prepped! It’s going to be time to go on a pretty rad adventure soon!

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

31 Days of Horror Prompts for October (#18)

Hey, everyone! It’s Day 18 of October, so it’s time for the 18th Prompt in my 31 Horror Prompts for October. I’m going to do something a little broad spectrum here. Instead of giving you a prompt so to speak, I’m going to give you a topic. I want to see what kind of emotion and reaction one word can elicit. So, this is a one word prompt, and I’m excited for it.

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Prompt #18

One Word Prompt: Death

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And there we are. Are you going to write about Death as an individual, are you going to write about the death of a character? There are so many directions in which you could take this, and I’m honestly just really excited to see exactly what it is that you do. I think that sometimes as writers, one word inspiration prompts can be interesting – it gives us a chance to see how every writer can view the word differently. It’s something that you can do with your NaNo Novel as well. If you’re stuck, pick a word, and settle your scene around it.

Anyway, I’ll hop away to get my actual NaNo prep Blog written up!

Make sure if you reply that you link back to my blog, so that I can see it!

I’m going to make a list of all of the responses at the end of the month, so we can have a big compilation of horror stories, for anyone who is really in the Halloween mood and wants to get their fix.

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

31 Horror Prompts – Response #17

First of all, hello everyone! It’s the 18th of October! We’re cruising right through the month, and right through these writing prompts. I have to say that I’ve really been enjoying them, and I especially love a good photo prompt. I didn’t realize that the picture that I selected for Day 17’s writing prompt was going to be so inspiring to me, but it was! Without any delay, here is my response!

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Cold as Stone

It was weeping, but no sound came from its chest. The statue was something that had always drawn her to the cemetery. Maybe it was strange that the statue had enraptured her to such an extent – she didn’t know the man who the woman cried for, though his portrait was on the grave where she knelt. Kayla didn’t know anything about the body six feet beneath her, but she knew that the silent figure of a woman mourning so heavily for the man that she loved was compelling – she knew that she had come back to this exact spot int he cemetery multiple times, without real reason.

She was settled next to the grave, with her back to the hair and her head twisted up to look at the figure whose face was hidden with hands. Kayla couldn’t help but to imagine that it was a beautiful face though – something that was full of solemn and silent grace and beauty. Something that was deserving of forever being immortalized in a statue.

She wondered, had the man had the statue commissioned before his death? There was no wife laid to rest beside him, though it was clear that any woman who knew him would have died years and year ago… so, where had the woman come from?

Was it someone from his past? Kayla couldn’t believe that it was simply a statue that he’d asked to be made without any influence. She could see the soft curve of her jawline, and the way that her hair fell this way and that, so that she was sure it would be lovely, had the woman been there and standing in front of her. She bit her lower lip, bringing her fingers down to her sketchpad.

It had been fresh when she’d come to the graveyard for inspiration – now, it was filled with dozens and dozens of renderings of a face that she couldn’t see… and none of them seemed good enough, none of them seemed as though they’d caught the beauty that hid just behind a veil of mourning and sorrow.

She wasn’t sure that she was going to be able to leave until she got the face right – the chill crisp of winter was coming, biting at her fingers and making her wear a heavy coat that inhibited her movements but left her warm enough to crouch at the edge of the grave with her sketchpad and furious fingers that never seemed to be able to get it just right.

Her eyes twisted upward again, and a soft and impatient sound escaped her lips. She always had to leave before the light faded – she couldn’t draw in the dark, and the graveyard didn’t have lights in this section. The area that she was in was old – older graves, an older time, when people had brought lanterns to light their way in the night. She’d decided that tonight was going to be the last night. She had to leave for school again soon, and she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving the statue before she’d gotten the face right. She could have taken a photo, but it wouldn’t have held the same impact. It wouldn’t have meant the same thing, and she knew it.

That was why she’d brought a lantern – she could have had a flashlight, but it seemed as though it wouldn’t have held the same soft glow. She needed the setting naturally, and she couldn’t help but to wonder if someone else had stood, crouched beside the grave with the soft light of a lantern playing on the pale, cracked surface of the marble that made up the statue.

She wondered if the woman was even more beautiful by the light of the lantern, when the moonlight was kissing against the pale stone and giving her a nearly angelic appearance.

Kayla was going to get to find out soon, because she only had about fifteen minutes until sunset, and she knew without finishing it that the face that she was drawing now wasn’t right, either. It was too angular, too harsh. They eyes weren’t soft enough – the lips weren’t full enough. She couldn’t explain it. She didn’t understand what kind of siren song kept bringing her back to this grave, to the statute… but whatever that song was, it wasn’t going to let her go until she’d completed her task.

And it wasn’t giving her any detail or clue as to how to do that, other than to let her know that she was doing it wrong.

Again.

Still, she finished out the lines of her sketch, sharp jaw, high cheekbones.

Imperious eyes that seemed to be judging her for the fact that she wasn’t doing it right.

She was caught up in those eyes that she’d drawn for a moment, almost too lifelike… and for just a moment, she thought that she’d at least gotten that look right, which only made her shiver more to think that the woman who was so beautiful and so full of heartbreaking mourning could be judging her so harshly for being incapable of getting her drawing correct.

“I’m sorry.” She murmured the words softly, and then flipped the patch to a clean sheet in her sketchbook.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to start drawing yet, though. The sun was setting in streaks of crimson that stole away the last of the day’s warmth and left her exposed fingers nearly numb – it cast shadows along the tall monoliths that shot up from the reaches of the cemetery. Kayla’s eyes weren’t for those shadows, but instead for the blank piece of paper in front of her. One thing that she knew she had right was the shape of her face – oval, soft. She could see it through the fingers that covered her countenance.

Kayla had to put the sketch book down for a moment to light the lantern that she’d brought with her, just as the last vestiges of the sunset faded away, leaving her in the darkness. It only took a moment, and then she lifted her eyes to the statue in front of her.

She dropped the match in her fingers to the ground, and she would have screamed, had her breath not been stolen away; those fingers that had always curled across the statues face had moved; slightly, but they’d moved.

Cold, marble eyes stared at her now, and she found herself completely enraptured. She didn’t look down to see if the match had set flame to the grass or snuffed out. She didn’t look to set the lantern down – she was caught in that blank stare, and the sound of stone shifting as the fingers moved again.

They pulled completely away from the face, and she felt tears spring into her eyes; it was as beautiful as she’d imagined. Soft, full lips curved into a slow smile, and narrow brows arched in elegance and amusement. The white of her eyes bled slowly to color, crumbled away and left behind shocking stains of bright green that was more like fox-fire than any hue she’d ever seen before. Those full lips turned from colorless to crimson, a red brighter than any natural lip color…

And that hair, that marbled hair that she’d imagined falling in elegant curls over and over again spilled from its twisted stone bun into waves of darkness that spilled over slender shoulders and half covered full breasts that rose and fell with an intake of breath.

It was impossible, it was completely and utterly impossible, but the statue before her stood from its crouched position – grace and elegance… and a ferocity that Kayla hadn’t expected. Her knees felt weak, and her body collapsed beneath her, so that she fell to the grass. The match burned against her knee, scalding through her leggings and searing her skin before her weight put it out.

Above her, the woman that had been stone and was now flesh smiled a smile that revealed teeth slightly sharper than they should have been.

“I was wondering when you’d linger after dark.” Her voice was just as impossibly beautiful as she was, and Kayla was reminded of a siren; she was sure that the tones that she heard could lure a man into the depths of the ocean. It drew her face up, made her jaw slack. Her fingers were numb, or she would have reached out to touch the woman before her.Her pale skin shone like the moonlight, and she stepped from the platform until she was standing directly in front of her. She bent down, picking up the fallen sketchbook and carefully dusting away the dirt that had stained the blank page.

“You were always so close to capturing my face – so close, but never just right. I have to say, I’m impressed.” The tone wasn’t condescending, but instead filled with piqued interest, like an art collector who had seen a piece that they wanted. Only, she was no longer looking at the sketchbook, but at Kayla’s upturned face.

“I…” She couldn’t summon words. She couldn’t summon coherency. The impossibility of what was happening before her was a pounding thing in the back of her mind, but the fact that the woman in front of her was so beautiful was more overwhelming than even that fact.

“Stand up, Kayla. We have all night,” a pale, slender hand shot out, extending to Kayla as she knelt on the ground. Those impossibly green eyes were sparkling with something – it told Kayla that reaching out and taking those pale, elegant fingers would change everything… it told her that if she turned and ran, she could go back to whatever life she’d had before.

But she couldn’t.

Her hand shot out, and she had a moment to realize that the woman’s skin was as cold as stone… and then the siren smiled, and Kayla was lost.

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So, there it is. Honestly, this is yet another one of those things that I’m probably going to carry on into a longer story. I feel like I’m writing about some gargoyle that is much different than everyone perceived them to be. A Gargoyle-Siren.

Yeah.

That’s kind of what happened.

If I hadn’t already settled on my novel for NaNoWriMo, I might change my plot to this… but I’m going to stick with my Sci-Fi that I have going. I hope. I think. But I do love me some sexy supernatural goodness.

Anyway, I’d love to hear if any of you responded to this particular writing prompt! Make sure to link back to me!

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

31 Days of Horror Prompts for October (#17)

Hey, everyone! It’s time for Day 17’s writing prompt in my 31 Horror Prompts for October! I’ve been doing quite a few different things, so I thought I’d go ahead and hop onto something completely different this time. I’m going to feature another photo by the very talented Garett’s Photography (used with his permission)! Photo prompts can be a ton of fun.

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There we go! The photo sets the scene, but it’s up to you to tell the real story behind it. We can all look at a picture and see something different – some say that it will tell a thousand words. Tell me, what are your thousand words?

If you end up responding to this prompt, make sure to link back to both myself and Garett!

I’m going to make a list of all of the responses at the end of the month, so we can have a big compilation of horror stories, for anyone who is really in the Halloween mood and wants to get their fix.

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

31 Horror Prompts – Response #16

It’s time for Day 16’s writing prompt! This time, I just linked some music and said to go crazy and have fun with it. I do enjoy some free form writing every now and then, given without any kind of influence or say. So, I’ll go ahead and get posted what I wrote!

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The Chill

It’s dark and there is a chill spilling through the air. The night is crisp with it, almost cold enough to steal your breath away. Almost cold enough that you don’t want to step outside. But you do anyway because that dark sky is calling you, the stars scattered like a thousand lights caught in a dark web. It calls to you like a lover from some distant dream, writing letters in prose that you can’t quite grasp, in a language that has long since been forgotten, but that you still somehow understand.

You go out into the darkness because you don’t have a choice. The beating of your heart, the thundering in your chest is too much to ignore. It’s too much to say no to – you have to see that dark sky, and you have to know what’s calling you. You go out because you must, and because you feel like you’ll suffocate without that cold air hitting your lungs.

It’s dark when you’re outside, though – so dark that you can’t see anything but the stars. The moon is black, vanished from the sky like it’s hiding its face from what you’re about to do. After all, those who seek the darkness, those who are called by the faint whispers of the stars are never out for innocent purposes.

You’re doing something nefarious.

You’re doing something that will make a change.

You’re doing something that could paint the sky red if you do it enough.

You want to give those stars a litany in the form of a scream – not your scream, of course… but the scream of another. The night is cold, and the air is crisp… and you set to the streets in search of your next victim.

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And there we are! It was a bit shorter, but that’s all right. It’s more about that perspective, about that sensation of the darkness outside calling you so fervently that you can’t help but to answer. We’ve all had urges to leave what we were doing and escape to the outside world, but so often we stamp those urges down.

Maybe that’s because if we listened, we’d end up doing something nefarious as well?

So, that’s all that I have for this writing prompt. Stay tuned, because I’m going to post the next blog with today’s writing prompt shortly after this one! If you replied to this or any of the other writing prompts that I’m posting for the month, make sure to link back to me! I want to get everything compiled together and put into a master post, so that anyone looking for some good Halloween stories can find them and enjoy!

With NaNoWriMo getting so close, it’s worth it to take any chance at practicing that you can get. I’d actually love to see this interpreted in different fashions – I’d love to see some poetry in relation to these prompts that I’m giving. Just let me know what you end up doing!

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

31 Horror Prompts – Response #15

Hey, all! It’s time for Prompt #15 in the 31 Horror Prompts for October series that I have going on here. I do love these list prompts, because it lets you figure the story out for yourself, even though they’re all going to have the same elements. I sat back and thought for a minute as I was writing it as to how interesting it would be to publish a collection of ten stories written by ten different people, but with these words as the common denominator. There would be similarities, and even if people tried to tell the same story… it would all be different. Just think about how interesting and intriguing that would be to read.

I know I’d be interested in picking it up.

Anyway, before I go off on a contemplative tangent, let me go ahead and get to showing you guys the prompt. I enjoyed writing it!

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The Hunger

The trees could only provide so much cover, and she knew it. There was a burning sensation along her skin, a knowledge that something was going to happen soon – someone was going to make a mistake, and the hunt would begin. It was never a thing that simply started – you had to wait for the right moment, for the right second. You couldn’t simply pounce with no reason, you couldn’t run and hope that you’d simply get your way.

You had to watch – you had to wait.

It was something that crept and bubbled beneath the skin, until it was nearly overflowing, nearly too much to bare. It was a living, breathing animal of its own right, curling and aching at the bones, until it escaped in a growl, answered by a shriek.

Until a mistake was made, and the hunt could begin.

It was more than simply stalking a creature – it was hunting, it was predator to prey, and the sensation of it poured through her and completely overwhelmed her. Her skin ached – she wanted to slip it. The moon was calling her, and it was telling her that it was time to come to her true form. Her eyes closed, her body shuddered, and she spilled forward into the clearing, tearing at her body as she did so.

Sharp claws ripped at her flesh, but it wasn’t bleeding. It came away in thick shreds, wet and sticky with fluid, revealing patches of fur that fluffed in the cool night air to a pitch black. She ripped, and ripped again, until she came down on all fours, and there were only patches of the pale charade hanging to her frame, patches of the mask that she wore in order to blend in with the humans.

Patches that fell away and left a massive creature in its wake – her true form. Her true self.

Humanity had fallen to the wayside and left behind the wolf.

The scent of fear was sharp and sweet in her nostrils, leading her in a straight line that was just as clear to her as her vision in the dark. The form in front of her scuttled, ran like a wounded thing. It whimpered and cried out, and she recognized its cry as words.

As a plea.

As a call to a God who wouldn’t listen, and who couldn’t save them.

She was quick in her movement, quicker still to set her teeth into pale flesh, much like the mask that she’d worn only a few moments ago. She recognized the pale flesh somewhere in the back of her mind; she recognized the face twisted in terror as one that had smiled warmly at her, had told her that it loved her.

She recognized it, but it didn’t matter. The trap had been laid. The hunger was deep and all-encompassing… and she was a slave to it, a lover to it.

Crimson tasted like copper, and a howl rang through the night.

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There we go! I’m honestly really pleased with how this turned out, and I have to say that I might write more from this perspective. It might be interesting for me to take it into first person, though I do try to branch out to third when I can.

Regardless, I hope that you guys enjoyed it! NaNoWriMo is so close now, and it’s so important to start gearing yourself into getting practice for it. That’s part of the reason that I adore doing these prompts so much, and why I will continue to post them every single day for all of October – get your practice in. If you end up doing the prompts, make sure to let me know. At the end of the month, I’m going to do a Masterpost with the prompt highlights, and I really want to involve everyone who is doing these.

That’s all that I have for now though, stay tuned, because I’ll get Prompt #16 posted up very shortly. I can’t wait to see what it brings!

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!

 

31 Days of Horror Prompts for October (#15)

Hey! Okay, this is my last blog to get properly caught up! And I have to say, it’s been pretty fun. This should actually push me over 3,000 words for the day, so that is a pretty nice accomplishment. It’s good to get into the practice of writing a lot of words, because I really like to write more than the required 1667 for NaNo. My motivation for the month is to finish my novel. I haven’t finished a novel at 50k words since I was a teenager.

Anyway, let’s get straight to the prompt. It’s Day 15 in the Horror Prompts for October, and I thought that we’d have another fun list to play with today. I really enjoy them myself – it gives you a loose idea without really filling in the blanks.

I adore seeing how everyone manages to do that all on their own.

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Prompt #15

Animal, Hunting, Stalked, Trap, Mistake, Tree, Bleeding, Shriek, Growl, Pounce

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So, there we go. This should give us a good scene in the woods – whether you’re the hunter or the hunted is up to what you want to write. I can’t wait to see it.

Make sure if you end up doing any of my prompts that you tell me. I’m going to make a list of all of the responses at the end of the month, so we can have a big compilation of horror stories, for anyone who is really in the Halloween mood and wants to get their fix.

Until next time guys!!! Keep reading and writing, and keep being absolutely awesome!
Author Amanda McCormick

Twitter | Patreon | NaNo Page | Tumblr | Blog Masterpost | My Writing Group

My Discord Group (click to join) is starting to rev up for NaNoWriMo! If you want some help with plotting and a group to stay steady with after, feel free to click and join!