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 Horror/Scary: October 10, 2018 Issue [#9161] |
 This week: Where the Terror Returns Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading   More Newsletters By This Editor    1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions 
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Envision and create a theme that can evolve over time to keep related stories vital. Consider Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series which evolved over years, each story inciting terror, creating images of horror, while focusing on the lives or roles of individual characters who remained connected even when apart.
As above, create characters who will remain vital from one story to the next. All of the characters do not need to return from story to story, as those who do not change will most likely be caught up in the terror, eviscerated or otherwise 'erased' from future tales. Consider again the "Halloween" series, where we don't see Laurie in every film, but when we do, she plays a role that weaves the stories together.
Let the characters evolve, both in their character, demeanor, and age. If the MC engages a figure of horror and is hearly eviscerated in the year 2005, then she must evolve as do the stories, in 2010, 2013, 2018, and so on, both physically and in temperament, knowledge, maturity (or lack thereof).
I believe if a series is planned, plotting is important. The initial story may start as a stream of thought pantser tale of terror, but for a series to work, the MC, whether the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy', needs a reason to return another day, whether to reap more terror or try to keep the horror at bay. Plotting also works to keep a character's essence and characteristics consistent (i.e., she's left handed in one story, then likewise the next; her characteristic shyness affords her the opportunity to listen, and hear, details of the impending horrific action). But again, let the characters evolve, not remain static and fixed in the past, but engage the world as it appears in each story.
