Andrew MacKay (2017)

Hitchcock is a massive influence for me. He was once asked "how do I make this conversation more interesting?" A dull scene between two people. And he replied "will you let me put a bomb under the table?"

Or something to that effect.

The story stands true. It's never the explosion that scares us. it's the build up. I find it to be 100% true. The same can be said of "the monster" in horror. take Jaws, for example. You don't see the beast till the end of the movie. If you see the monster early on, you get used to it and your brain and psyche has some time to deal with it. This is the reason a lot of horror nowadays doesn't work.

EDIT: Favourite sandwich. Bacon, lettuce and tomato. CHeese is a close 2nd.

What a coincidence! So do I!
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533125/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_9
I used to be a teacher, but I tossed in the towel to become a full time writer. My first book, In Their Shoes: The Teacher is my kind of expunging of the profession. You might get a kick out of it.

You should also check out Roger Corman and especially Larry Cohen, as well. Both those filmmakers use the Hitchcock example and take it way further.

Please keep the questions coming! Love this!

To me, the fact that it pulls no punches in any area. There are no boundaries and everything (and I do mean everything) is fair game. I think an author can get away with it when the context is of broken dreams, nightmares and a damaged brain. You'll see what I mean if/when you Pure Dark.

Yes. I'm actually going to use that for my upcoming zombie trilogy later in the year "Splatterpunk". Seems about accurate to me lol

Although hardcore horror is, essentially, boundaryless. Limitless. As I said, everything's fair game.

Hi SuperHarrison! Wow, that's a lot of detail. Some of it is interesting and other parts less so. Don't forget, I write comedy, thriller and horror - so sci-fi/dystopian etc isn't really my forte.

Fear not, though, the basic rules are all the same!

I think two things are very important. If you adhere to them, you may find the clue on how to start it.

1: Make sure there are rules. The idea of a true paradise, to me, sound really boring lol. Anyway, establish the rules. If anything can happen at anytime to anyone for any reason then there's something wrong. Your audience will just get bored.

Imagine watching a baseball game where there are no rules. You get the picture. So, for example, this "device" he discovers. Maybe give it a disadvantage? Like, you can't use it on a Tuesday. I dunno.

2: Once you've sorted #1, you're half way to finding your starting point. My advice is this. Start with your main character and show him/her DO something (action) to demonstrate their character. So, if he is a good guy, show him rescuing a cat from a tree. Obviously don't do THAT exact example lol. That can be your first couple of pages. For a bit of tension, throw a challenge in his way. Say the tree trunk is about to break and there's no way he can climb up, so he invents a cool way of solving this particular issue.

In just one action, you show the good guy is A: nice, and B: resourceful.

Really good writing does two things:
1: Pushes the story forward
2: Pushes the character's journey along.
If you can do both at the same time - well done - you're a great writer!

I hope this helps!

Please keep the questions coming! I love talking with you guys!!

No problem SuperHarrison! I would strongly suggest you check out a book on writing called "Story" by Robert McKee. It'll change your writing life - for the better. I hope I've been of help!

Great questions.

1: (First book) Writing the first draft took 10 days. Editing, about a week with my editor and another couple days to refine.

2: You'd have thought the dialogue would be the easiest part. In a screenplay, for example, dialogue is WAY easier than description. For me, I think, the hardest part is trying to elucidate precisely what I am meant to convey. Sometimes you end up writing something a bit different. For example, "Darren walked into the barn. He knew his friend had a gun and he felt apprehensive. Would he kill him or not?" might come out as "Darren walked into the barn clutching his weapon. His friend was certain to attack him, but Darren was poised to strike first". I dunno why this happens, but it does. A good writer can write around problems like that. I enjoy writing dialogue the most, I think. I think it's a particular strong point. Maybe if you read some of my work you could let me know?

3: Writer's block. I never, ever, ever, ever get writer's block. I actually get the opposite. I write too much. Never stuck for something to write.

4: Weirdest thing I've ever done for writing? You mean the weirdest thing I've written? Hmm, in my latest book Pure Dark Vol 2, which is an anthology of short stories, there's a story called "Spunx". it's about a little girl's cat who's struck by a homophobic meteorite and is bitten by a rat. She turns into a very homphobic cat-monster with the voice of Alan Rickman, tries to fuck the father of the family and takes hostages in order to get a ransom demand for cheese. That's pretty weird. (It's also horrifying and somewhat funny, too!)

I hope I answered your questions okay! Please, keep them coming!

1: I realised from a very early age I wanted to tell stories. I think I knew I was a writer when I was about 11 years old. A teacher gave us half of a story to complete. I went absolutely crazy with it!

2: Initially I wanted to create stories that were designed to shock, or get a reaction from the audience. That developed very quickly into satire. Satire is great because you can use any genre for it. Like a satirical horror (i.e. Pure Dark) or crime (Versus).

3: No, I've never been turned down by a publisher. The reason is simple - I never approached them! I'm a self published author. I'll always take a risk on myself ;)

4: You get paid monthly based on the royalties you've earned for the two months prior.

5: When I'm writing, in the middle of a first draft of a book, I'll be writing for anywhere between 4-8 hours. When I'm not writing, I'm usually daydreaming and smoking and drinking coffee lol or marketing and researching.

Hope this helps!

CloudSky - you are NOT alone. I know a lot of writers who know the beginning, but struggle with ending their story.

My advice is this. Just for the moment, forget the beginning and think about THE best way to end your story. The best resolution for your character. It could be something as silly as a location.

For exaple, in Pure Dark Vol 1 - I knew I wanted it to end in a laboratory with technicians working on serious test tubes and stuff. I didn't quite know how to end it, but the location got me started. Then, I knew I wanted all the characters to come back. I just sort of closed my eyes and played out the movie in my mind.

Try to think of your end like you're watching a movie.

For me, doing this pieces it all together. "Oh yes, he could chainsaw that character!" and "Oh, I love the idea of a virus getting into the cubicle!"

Never underestimate the power of just daydreaming. And do NOT be afraid to daydream "wrong". Go to a place where you won't be distracted. Maybe play some music. Put your characters at the end in a location that's f**kin' COOL. I promise... you'll get that ending very quickly!

Once you have the end, I guarantee that the middle will fall out of the sky and onto your lap.

Good luck with it! :)

By far the best piece of advice I could give is this - just start writing. Also, be aware of your own expectations. The very first thing you ever write won't be brilliant. But that's sort of the point, so you may as well just jump that hurdle. You get better with each book.

I would write a short story first, maybe between 5-10k words, and throw it out there. Your family and friends will probably fluff you and tell you it's great. Try using the Wattpad service (Google it) and put it up for all to see. Get some feedback on it.

If you're serious about this, and I am sure you are, read Robert McKee's "Story". That's a great start.

Hope this helps!

You're welcome!