How to Write a Horror Story, Writing Horror

In this episode of the Writer's Digest Podcast, Heather Graham shares: Why writers need editors and editors need writers, tips to carve out time for your writing in your already busy life, the benefits of writing groups, and more.

Well-timed coincidences can catapult a story forward, but a poorly planned one can bring your readers to a dead stop. Use these 7 strategies to harness the power of this storytelling tool while steering clear of common missteps.

The horror tropes you often see in movies can be fun, but they can also be totally ludicrous. If you're looking to add a comedic edge to your horror fiction, try bending these common tropes.

Given the popularity and depictions of "paranormal and supernatural phenomena" in movies and TV, one of the world's foremost scientific experts on writing paranormal and supernatural phenomena explains how his expertise assists writers and filmmakers.

Learning magic taught Michael Kardos several important lessons about performance and technique that have served him well when writing suspense.

How does a writer create a character unlike themselves and give it a living, breathing personality? I’ll walk through these six steps that worked for me--and perhaps they’ll work for you.

The following is a brief rundown of the three most common POVs and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Here are a few things I learned along the way to writing a novel between stints as a copywriter.

American Horror Story, an anthology series, is the perfect television show to analyze for the best concepts to use in writing horror. Here are 6 keys to writing stories that will scare readers.

Monsters are more than just things that bite. Bestselling author Philip Athans explores a few basic assumptions about monsters, with examples from the classic Stephen King novella “The Mist.”

When I wanted to write an essay about my difficult relationship with my brother I had to figure out a way to make it interesting to other people so I turned to these 10 elements to keep the story rolling.

What exactly is the difference between behaviors, habits, mannerisms, and quirks? Read on to learn the subtle (yet important) differences between them and how to apply them to your characters.

Understand why and how to break these 7 common rules about writing dialogue, and you’ll write more effective, nuanced and engaging character conversations.

Start your revision by addressing these five biggest fiction writing mistakes, and you'll immediately change your story for the better.

You can doom your debut novel from the start with these 7 (tongue-in-cheek) strategies for flailing, and failing—or, you can do just the opposite.

Whether you're writing your first novel or are struggling with completing a second one (or more), sometimes you need some help focusing and figuring out how to reach your goal. Use these 9 tricks to help you go from first sentence all the way to completed novel.

Writing sports-themed action scenes provides an opportunity for an author to engage the passions of three different readers: enthusiasts, well versed in the particular sport featured; others unfamiliar with the specifics of this sport, yet athletes nevertheless; and non-athletes not involved with sports in anyway.