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Different kinds of darkness can be written within a novel. And each kind can bring a certain intensity to your book. One kind of darkness is the bloody kind. This is where a writer writes about murder in a fashion that is descriptive but only as descriptive as the writer wished for the reader to read.

Another kind is psychological, which is where the writer writes intending to play around with the mind of their characters. This is where a writer may write about mental disabilities or create a character that because of their mental state, may do things that are abnormal and morally wrong.

Then you have what I like to call the lighter side of darkness, which I know is quite funny to say. But this is when there is darkness but more subtle, such as loss of a job or a heartbreak. Essentially darkness is just my way of seeing the bad things that can happen in my stories. It is my way of describing the stuff that goes wrong or that is morally wrong that we writers may write about.  How do you see the darkness in writing a story?

Every writer for adult books will write with a certain amount of darkness. What I mean about darkness is the evilness that will come across whether it be with the characters of a situation that the characters go through. There has to be a level of darkness. Darkness is what can urge characters into situations and to learn or solve problems as they go along their stories. Or the darkness of a person can be what traumatizes or creates the problems to be solved for the character. The darkness can even be the main character.

I think to think about the darkness because the darkness is so much a part of our regular lives therefore it is reasonable to want to put it into our stories. Life is not all rainbows and roses, we all experience that little piece of darkness whether it be loss of a job or loved one or if it is encountering some horrible person that will make your life feel like hell. These are all ways we experience darkness in life and that is why I love writing about darkness. We cannot escape the darkness because it is so much a part of our life.

What are your thoughts about darkness?

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I am not just a writer of horror but also for psychological thrillers and horrors anything dark or weird. I like to look at different aspects of an issue and try to write it into my stories. Such as I have an idea for a book that involves the darker side of a person who is scared to leave their home. This is a phobia, agoraphobia, which can be interesting to use in writing. It may not be widely used, but any phobia can be interesting in bringing into a story. It can create a different level within the book that allows a character to either already have fear and see what happens and how what happens affects the person. Or the writer can use the fear as a consequence of what has happened to the person. I find that a writer needs to use every tool accessible to them in order to make weird and interesting stories. As a writer of the weird and darker nature of humanity, I like to use different things to bring out the characters in a way the encourages more fear or weirdness within my book.

What do you use to create the darkness within your book?

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What makes a horror novel? The word horror means something painful that is caused by a frightful shock, something terrifying and revolting. But how does this apply in writing? I like to think I write in many ways horror, but horror is different per person. We all see the horror in different ways because we all are different from what shocks us. This applies to my writing because I have to look at how to project horror in different ways. Take my first book, it is more a psychological horror because it plays around with mind control. As for my techno killer book is plain and simple blood horror. I also have written novels on more a paranormal horror. These are all different ways to project horror in writing, each with its own level of horror and different perspective of what is horror.

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Writing horror or thrillers can be hard at times. Well for me it can be easy and sometimes hard. Because as a writer, you want to bring in something exciting to the reader and sometimes you get writing and then you become stuck between two or more ideas of what could happen. When this happens I like to look at each idea and see which one will fit best or be fun to read. If that still does not help, I like to take a step back, put my writing down for a few days, and then come back to see if I have a better perspective of what I want for my readers.

It has happened at some times that I just cannot choose what direction I want my book to go. Which can be hard for a writer. It does not happen a lot but it has happened once before where I just did not know which way to go with my book. What did I do then? Well, I ended up putting it aside and working on something else. After a year I came back to it and that was when my ideas, only the good ones, came back for my book and I ended up with what I believe, were the best ideas for my book and finished it.

What do you do when you have too many directions you can go for your book?

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I have been working on my techno killer’s book and I am finding it interesting creating this character. The character is a horrible mentally unstable person. However, the character is also creative and smart. Creating this character was not easy. But I had an idea for a character of evil and mystery, which is why I created this character. When creating an evil character, I have to take into consideration the different mental states that this person could have. It is obvious that a person who likes killing others is not right in their mind but there can be so many reasons why they are like this. I like to create a backstory in my mind that allows me to understand where my character comes from and what kind of responses the character may have as a result of their backstory. Creating a killer is not for everyone, that is for sure. But in any kind of character whether evil or not, we should take the time to create a backstory even if we do not use it in the story we are writing in order to write the character the best. It is just something that I do. How do you create your characters?

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Creating a character, I feel it is an art skill. Because all writers have their method of creating their characters and each method is creative and unique to our personality as a writer. I love the process of creating a character. I find it fun because you never know where this character will go or if the character will change. Choosing what kind of character within the story that you are creating makes the story go in certain directions. If I create a strong character, well in certain situations they will act in certain ways, such as they will not coward away from danger. They will want to find a way out of problems. Such as a character that is weak may coward and think there is no way out of a problem. This makes a difference in how the story is written.

There are many different things to consider when creating a story. As a writer sometimes we go through a lengthy process and sometimes we can just write and the story and characters come to us. I do think any method that works for you, then it is the best method for you. For me creating my characters is part of my process of creating my stories. And I think in the end when we writers get started on a story, having fun while we are creating is one of the most important parts of the writing process.

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As a writer, I like mystery when it comes to my characters. Because sometimes it is better to have a bit of mystery than to know all about the character. Although this would also depend on what kind of book you are writing to what kind of character you wish to portray. Mystery is good for some characters but not all and this is the same to kinds of books you are writing. So when I get to writing, I often look at how much if any mystery I want for my characters.

Take my short stories I have written, my main character, the killer, is a complete mystery, which I do on purpose because it gives a better sense of dread in my story. I like to think that when writing thrillers or horror books, mysterious characters can create more fear or scare for the reader. But this is not always the case. It really depends on how you want your book to turn out and the feeling behind your book.

I would love to hear how you create fear within the reader through your characters.

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When I am writing, one thing I like to do is figure out the mental status of my characters. I like to look at who they are their weaknesses and strengths and how the situation can affect their mental status. The mental status of the character I like it to be relatable as well as something real. I also like looking at how someone’s mental status can affect their behavior.

How do I look at their mental status? Well after I know what the situation is I look at all possible outcomes of how a person could react. An example is if a person was raped, what are the possible reaction to this event. What are the after-effects in the person’s behavior? Once I have this question answered, I look at who my character is and make a decision on what kind of outcome I want, which relates to the character’s behavior. I do not like creating a reaction that does not fit my character. I find it important that the mental status of the character fits what they would do. Such as you would not have a depressive person go into a situation being opposite to being depressive. That would not fit the mental status of the character.

What do you do when building a character?

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When I am deciding on my characters and what kind of character I want in my book, I like to look at their weaknesses and strengths. This is not a lengthy process, I just take a quick look at how I want my character to be which relates to their weaknesses and strengths. Once I know how my character is going to be, once I know their weaknesses and strengths, I can then process in relating this in their behavior. Such as a person who has a weakness with anger, will be quick to react and possibly cause more issues.

For example in one of my short stories, I wrote: “Fuck you,” one guy said to the mystery voice. “When I get out of here, I’ll come for you and see how you like it.”

“You should not aggravate the guy. He clearly is insane, and who knows what he will do to us if you make him angry,” another guy told him.

“I don’t care if I get him angry. This lunatic has no reason to do this to us,” the first guy said.

As if the second guy predicted it, the wall behind them began to move, pushing them forward towards the trap. Now they had no choice but to go through the traps.

This is a prime example of how the weakness for anger or a character quick to anger could react and therefore the outcome is a reaction to what the character is like. I love looking at my characters at how I wish them to be like and that relates to their actions. It is a bit of cause and effect. So looking at what your character’s weaknesses and strengths allow you to look at how you want your character to be like and how they will react. It helps me built the right kind of character that I desire for my story.

How do you create your character?

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