  Horror/Scary
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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"At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour. No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night." -H. P. Lovecraft
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Encouraging Words
Yesterday I received another rejection letter. Suddenly my mouth was as dry as salt. My heart hammered in my ears. I stood with my fists clenched - my nails digging into my soft palms. A vein pulsed in the center of my forehead, and my eyes were shiny with unshed tears.
And then I heard the voices.
They echoed in my mind - oddly pale and a ghostly shade of gray. Sometimes they are good...comforting and kind. Sometimes they pick me up, pat me on the back, and cheer me toward the finish line.
“To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.” -Charles Caleb Colton
How do you pick yourself up when you receive a rejection letter that pounds you flat like a smithy’s hammer - grins at you with that sick yellow grin of a starving wolf? How do you continue? What makes you write again when huge boulders lay everywhere in your path like skulls, eggs, or giant teeth.
“Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world.” -Tom Clancy
The Dark Ones are there too. Their hideous voices of doubt whispering. They tell me I have never taken any formal writing classes—never went to college—that I’m a long-time-ago high school graduate that barely made it through the twelfth grade. What the heck do you know about writing? Who are you to tell anybody how to be a better writer?
And then the Others speak…
“Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you—as if you haven't been told a million times already—that writing is harder. Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching." -Harlan Ellison
I’ve never attempted to write a novel. I don’t know why…scared maybe - the fear that lies just beneath the skin, carmelizing your courage. I like writing short stories. They're like newly created lifeforms that sputter into exsistence for but a brief moment, and then die. I feel comfortable writing them, honing my skills—learning.
“You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.” -Larry Niven
I love to write. I love it so much that I read everything I can about it. But some days I just wish I knew more—wish my grammar and punctuation were better, or that I wasn't such a rookie.
“Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.” -George Bernard Shaw
"What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure." -Samuel Johnson
And I learn. I learn from reviews, comments, and by reading other people’s work. I absorb as much as I can and try to get better. I’m hard on myself—critical of everything I write. But I keep practicing: searching for the right word—the best sentence—the perfect story. I’ll keep writing until I am satisfied—and I am never satisfied.
“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.” -E. B. White
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.” -Richard Bach
“I write for the same reason I breathe -- because if I didn't, I would die.” -Isaac Asimov
I rejoice when I read a good creative sentence—and I’m thrilled by something said in a completely different way. Predictable storylines bore me…they bore everybody. I want to be thrilled—glued to the page! And I want to write that way.
“Usually, when people get to the end of a chapter, they close the book and go to sleep. I deliberately write my books so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she must turn one more page. When people tell me I've kept them up all night, I feel like I've succeeded!” -Sidney Sheldon
"There are two kinds of writer: those that make you think, and those that make you wonder." -Brian Aldiss
"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon." -E.L. Doctorow
I’m no different than any other writer. But I am steadfast, resolved, and I will not be denied. I will keep at it until I get it right—noticed as someone who has something to offer—something to say—published.
And then…
I’ll start all over again.
“The act of writing bears something in common with the act of love. The writer, at this most productive moment, just flows. He gives of that which is uniquely himself, he makes himself naked. Recording his nakedness in the written word. Herein lies some of the terror which frequently freezes a writer.” -Sidney M. Jourard
I was fretting too much over that opening sentence. I worked on it scrupulously, thinking that if I could only get the first sentence right, the rest of the book would come easy. That was a big mistake. Weeks went by with my staring at blank paper and getting nowhere. One day I decided to just start writing in the style of the Dick and Jane first grade readers. Simple little words, without bothering about style or polish—just to get the story on paper. I started writing, “There is a little town on a hill called Santa Vittoria. It is in Italy. The people in the town grow grapes and make wine. One day, not too long ago..." and so on. It worked fine. Soon I was writing like mad all day long. The pages began to pile up and I felt better. -Robert Crichton
Don’t let rejection get you down. Listen to the voices in your head…you’ll hear them say...
Until next time,
billwilcox
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Horror On Demand
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| | Possession (18+)
In an asylum for the criminally insane, a young orderly discovers true possession...
#1028269 by W.D.Wilcox |
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Feedback Frenzy
Melissa is fashionably late! 
Submitted Comment:
Hello W.D. What a thought! There's so many times when I'm thinking something and I can picture it in my head. What's scary to me is that I can picture it!Either way, the mind is going to think what it's going to think, whether it be during waking hours and during sleeping hours. This story was thought up during sleeping hours.
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Starr* Rathburn
Submitted Comment:
Hi--Please consider my item for use in one of the upcoming Horror/Scary newsletters. I started it to try to give more exposure to the "dark" writers on this site, and it seems to be doing OK for a relatively unknown item. It'd be nice to have a little push into the dark world of the H/S newsletter!Thanks!Starr*
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Anthony Alexander
Submitted Comment:
Hey, I read some of your picks, and so I thought you'd like to read my story. I'd like to get some publicity for my story, and truly think I have a knack, so I'd be very grateful if you gave it a chance.| | | Invalid Item
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#1068814 by Not Available. |
maylee
Submitted Comment:
Thanks WD for including my piece "Woody". Also, thanks for the suggestions to tighten up the ending. It feels a lot better to me.I also loved the other horror stories you included in this newsletter, including yours. By the way...I still think you are one scary dude!
schipperke
Submitted Comment:
Many times I would rather read than write. Trying to find time for both can be challenging!
dmack
Submitted Comment:
Hello W.D., This is another fine newsletter. I think I started writing for many of the reasons you've listed. I keep going because I love to tells stories and I love the reactions I get from the people who read them.I loved the exerpt from your story and want to read the whole thing. Plese let me know when you post it. People say that snakes are as scared of us as we are of them. Yeah, Right!
zwisis
Submitted Comment:
Good advice - keeping a notebook nearby and writing stuff down really does work. Gives writers and their muses a lot of material for stories.
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Horror/Scary: March 22, 2006 Issue [#936]
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