33. 4 Tips for Writing Cosmic Horror

Writing Cosmic Horror

 

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In today's episode, we're talking about cosmic horror. 

 

What is it? 

 

It is a sub genre of horror fiction that really emphasizes the unknown or the unknowable.

 

It's the cosmic horror of elements outside of us, outside of our humanity.

 

It makes us question our humanity, existential dread the fragility of our own humanity. 

 

It's essentially like we're facing a monster. That's pretty much incomprehensible.

 

Cosmic horror is also known as Lovecraftian horror. So if you're familiar with HP Lovecraft, his type of writing is the cosmic horror type of writing. 

Can I write good cosmic horror? 

 

Remember that it doesn't have to be, quote/unquote good. 

 

It has to be entertaining. 

 

Don't pressure yourself with a thought of it needing to be good.

 

It's taking a step back and trying to describe something that's not describable. 

 

So keep that in mind.

Recently we had “Bird Box” with Sandra Bullock. That was a really good example of cosmic horror. And why is that? Because we never actually see what this thing is.

4 Tips for Writing Cosmic Horror

 

Not to describe the entity

 

Have it in your mind, it could totally be like really fleshed out in your head, but try not to actually go into the depths of writing , Like the detailed limbs hair, et cetera. It's totally cool if you have that picture, but for your reader, keep it a mystery and describe them in a way that's challenging so that you're leaving them hanging.

Tangible Monster

This is a real thing. It might be abstract but there is something that the main character is facing.  The bigger question is something outside of humanity, but meanwhile, there is a very real monster for your protag to face.

 

Use the senses

 

Write out that first draft of what you think it looks like, but then start taking out the actual details and use your senses instead. So rely on what the thing smells like, what it sounds like, what it feels like if a character actually gets a chance to feel the thing, maybe it's sleeping or something.So use your senses instead of painting pictures. That is going to really heighten the sense for the reader. And that's really important .Remember that when we paint the picture, we can't really relate to it. So keep that in mind.

 

Consider the main character wisely

 

So we have a great advantage as authors to choose what point of view you're going to have and who is going to be our protagonist. You can have multiple points of view. You can have switching points of view. Totally cool!. But when you're getting into the scary, the nitty gritty, like vital points of story, conflict or information, use your characters as tools because it can look different. So when you actually dive into your work and after you write your first draft or during your first draft, if you feel like, this is going to be really terrifying from this specific person's point of view, then use it.

 

So I hope that helps . Remember that some of these tips also can work in other genres.So you all keep that in mind and we are so excited for your writing!

 

Another thing that I found out recently is that you can enter small writing contests in the reedsy.com website ( https://reedsy.com/ ). I'm not affiliated with them in any way but I came across the resource and if you guys want some more motivation, this can work great. I guess they hold sporadic writing contests. So if you want to check that out, I’d tell you  it's a pretty cool resource for you guys. 

 

I'm looking forward to hearing what you write. Remember that your work, and even if it's scary or it's romantic, it's still your work and it deserves to be out in the world.

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