Odd Fictions

Hi there! I would love to! I think I’ll start out with an example with filter words and then cut out the filter words to show you the difference.

For those of you who haven’t seen my post on Filter Words.

Now, for the example:

I felt a hand tap my shoulder as I realized I had made a huge mistake. I knew the consequences would be unsettling, but I had no other choice. I saw the light of my desk lamp bounce off of the officer’s badge before I had even turned around. It seemed like I always found my way into trouble.

It was the first thing off the top of my head, so it’s a bit rough sounding….

Now for without filter words (And a bit of revision):

A hand tapped my shoulder as it dawned on me: I had just made a huge mistake. The consequences would be unsettling if I didn’t get out of this mess, but I had no other choice. The light of my desk lamp bounced off of the officer’s badge. I always found my way into trouble.

By taking out filter words, you get right to the point.

I’d also like to add a few more notes that I didn’t have the chance to post previously.

Some Examples of Filtering:

I heard a noise in the hallway.

She felt embarrassed when she tripped.

I saw a light bouncing through the trees.

I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.

He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.

She remembered dancing at his wedding.

I think people should be kinder to one another.

How can you apply this?

Read your work to see how many of these filtering words you might be leaning on. Microsoft Word has a great Find and Highlight feature that I love to use when I’m editing. See how you can get rid of these filtering words and take your sentences to the next level by making stronger word choices. Take the above examples, and see how they can be reworked.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I heard a noise in the hallway.

DESCRIBE THE SOUND: Heels tapped a staccato rhythm in the hallway.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: She felt embarrassed after she tripped.

DESCRIBE WHAT THE FEELING LOOKS LIKE: Her cheeks flushed and her shoulders hunched after she tripped.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I saw a light bouncing through the trees.

DESCRIBE THE SIGHT: A light bounced through the trees.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.

DESCRIBE THE TASTE: The sour tang of raspberries burst on my tongue.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.

DESCRIBE THE SMELL: His teammate’s BO wafted through the locker room.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: She remembered dancing at his wedding.

DESCRIBE THE MEMORY: She had danced at his wedding.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I think people should be kinder to one another.

DESCRIBE THE THOUGHT: People should be kinder to one another.

See what a difference it makes when you get rid of the filter? It’s simply not necessary to use them. By ditching them, you avoid “telling,” your voice is more active, and your pacing is helped along.

The above list is not comprehensive as there are many examples of filtering words. The idea is to be aware of the concept so that you can recognize instances of it happening in your work. Be aware of where you want to place the energy and power in your sentences. Let your observations flow through your characters with immediacy.

Ok, sorry for the lengthy answer, I know you just wanted an example…. sorry!

Azoth Khem Publishing is inviting writers to submit true psychological-thriller stories for Carnival of Madness, a forthcoming anthology of nightmarish dark horror and fantasy fiction tales.

The anthology will be released in 2017.

Word length: up to 7K words per story.

So even if you’re not super familiar with the series, if you’ve seen anything, you’ve seen this guy:

Pyramid Head.

He’s kind of the big boss of Silent Hill 2, and regardless of how much sense it does or doesn’t (mostly doesn’t) make, he appears throughout the rest of the series and the movies. He’s the biggest, baddest, and most overtly malevolent force in the whole of the Silent Hill universe.

Want to know how he’s first introduced?

Like this.

No cut scene.

No jumpscare.

No swell in the music that sounds like someone either tased the entire string section or pushed a percussion cabinet down the stairs.

You just sort of find him behind an unsettlingly out-of-place set of prison bars.

And he just stands there, impotently staring at you while your radio goes ballistic with static. You’ve never seen him before. You’re not even really sure what he is at this point… just this reddish shape at the edge of your flashlight beam.

This, my friends, is how you do subtle horror. You make the player do the work for you. Because trust me, at this point in the game (which is a few hours in) your imagination is on overdrive, along with your heart rate and blood pressure. 

It remains one of my favorite things about this series. It wasn’t afraid of being oblique and subtle. The creators of Silent Hill understood that horror is probably one of the most voluntary of narrative experiences. You have to suspend the so much belief to get the full experience. 

So they have to seduce you. This is a seduction through and through. A tease of ankle under the hem of a very long skirt. They make you want to see more, even as you’re already white-knuckling the controller. 

Because I’ve written quite a few of these now! Here’s a handy-dandy list for reference (you can also read them all on the “creepypasta” tag of my tumblr!) 

I Think Siri is Trying to Kill Me 

Who’s a Good Boy? 

Sick

Lucid Dreaming

Plush

Who’s There?

Return to Sender

Something Is Not Right in This Building

Pop (nsfw)

Pocket Monsters

Admit you have talent

No, seriously, do it. Say it right now, aloud, in front of your computer. “I am a good writer/artist/musician/singer/whatever.” Just admit it to yourself. Because I swear when you do, your work will become better. You’d be amazed at what you can produce when you feel confident in your abilities.

Stop comparing yourself to other people

“I’ll never be as good of a writer as Hemmingway/Bronte/Rawling!”, “I’ll never sing like Adele/Florence Welch/Joan Jett!”, “I’ll never paint like Picasso/van Goh/O’Keefe!”, “I’ll never draw like Davis/McCracken/MacFarlane!”, “I’ll never play like Hendrix/King/Cooder!”

No. You won’t. You will never, ever be as good as them. And they will never be as good as you. Every artist is unique. You have your own voice just like they had their own voice. Don’t try to be someone else; be you.

Be proud of your work

Wrote a shitty poem? Song? Manuscript? Paint something you didn’t like? Drew something wrong? Who. The hell. Cares? At least you DID something! That’s more than most people can say! You finished a piece of work. Be proud of that accomplishment.

Realize that not everything you do will be great

This ties in with the previous tip. You’re going to do shitty things. It’s part of being an artist. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to create something great every time. Strive for it, sure, it SHOULD be your goal. But realize that sometimes you’re just going to do something that sucks, and then get over it and try to do better the next time.

Be proud of your talent and enjoy it

There is a gateway to hell in my living room. 

My family calls it, “the television,” but I know better. I have seen the things that flicker within it, the terrible sounds it makes. While my family sits on the couch to gaze at it, sometimes eating, sometimes dozing, only I understand the danger that they are in. 

Sometimes they yell at me for barking. 

“Bruno, get down!” They’ll say, “Hush, dog, it’s just the TV.” 

They don’t see the things behind the screen - those shadowy fingers extending from the narrow gap, elongating, curling a long-nailed and bony grasp around the edges of the screen. 

They don’t hear the whispers, below and beneath the level of their shows, taunting in a sibilant hiss: Move closer….just a bit more….we want to see your insides. 

And at night, after they’ve all gone to bed, they don’t see the shadows that twist and ripple across the surface of the television, protruding through the display. They don’t see the monsters that are close, so close, to crawling out and sliding onto the living room floor like giant, deformed, slimy spiders. 

They don’t notice any of these things. 

But I don’t expect them to understand. They are only humans, pleased to be distracted with simple things - fast-moving images, talking pictures, sounds without smells to give them context. They don’t see beyond, into the truth of things.