Writing the Horrific
Good news: I finished the first draft of Whisper Lake early this afternoon.
Something I didn't expect was how horrific some scenes and elements would turn out. It's not that I feel I've transcended some threshold of horror writing genius — far from it. And it doesn't bother me in the slightest that Whisper Lake is gory in places. However, the story now hinges on...
(I don't know if it's necessary to leave spoiler space when talking about a script-in-progress. I guess if you don't want to know what happens, don't ready any more of this post.)
...the story now hinges on a severely disturbed character who can control peoples' minds and whose ultimate goal is to procreate. That leads... well, it leads to rape. And rape is something you can write from a pretty detached perspective in an outline ("He rapes her"), but which becomes a much nastier thing when it comes time to describe it — and to do so relatively explicitly and horrifically — in a scene. I obviously haven't written violent pornography, but even action which takes place off screen must be signified somehow. And it's a horror story, so...
I don't know what I'm trying to say here. I guess it's this: It was a little disturbing to write some portions of Whisper Lake, both on the face of it because of what was in the scenes, and also because other people — friends, some of them women — will read this draft, and I don't want them to think I'm vile.
Especially Stacey.
For obvious reasons.
And on that note, have a great weekend!
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