James+Donnelly

__** Unfamiliar Genre Project Proposal **__

//__Name:__ Spooky Story for kids//

//__Why Interested:__//
 * Ever since I was a little kid, I have always enjoyed spooky or scary stories. There is a certain rush I used to get when I read something out of the Goosebumps series. I loved that feeling and it has always been a dream of mine to try to create a scary story of my own, but I have always been too intimidated by the idea. When the idea of this project came up, I tried to think of genres I was interested in, but was always afraid of failing at it so I never tried it. When I saw this on the Unfamiliar Genres list download, it jumped out at me. I am more comfortable in my writing that I am willing to tackle this genre and see if it is something I am capable of writing.

//__What you know about the genre__//
 * This genre has many sub-genres in it. I could go with the haunted house angle, or one about vampires, or one about being lost in the woods while a maniac with an ax is hunting people down. Spooky stories were my favorite to read when I was younger so I am very familiar with this genre. However, I am not familiar on how I would go about writing this specific type of story. This is a challenge that I look forward to, but I am also very nervous about it.

//Dear James:// Such stories are always age-driven, so you need to target your audience. Decide if this is for younger kids (8-11), teens (12-16), or adults. I would say that Goosebumps is for the younger (8-11) set, but I haven't read them, to be honest. Good descriptive skills are needed for this genre.

Bill

__**Annotated Bibliography**__

La Salla, Nicholas. "How to Write a Scary Story: An Easy and Fun Way to Start Freaking Out Your Halloween Parties." [] accessed 2/7/2011. This article was written as a guide for parents to write scary stories for their children and their friends for Halloween parties. However, I found it very useful on the advuce it gave on writing to a younger audience. Not to include too much violence or gore, and to make this story only frightening for the moment, but not too scary that it will stay with the child and give them nightmares. La Salla also says that these stories are good ways for children to learn lessons about putting themselves in bad situations. He gives examples of stories in which the character ends up in a scary situation because they allowed themselves to be put in it. I found this article to be appropriate with what I am writing on.

"A Few Thoughts on the Horror Genre." [|http://web.utk.edu/~wrobinso/590_lec_horror.html] accessed 2/7/2011. This is a very useful guide to the horror genre as a whole. Even though some of this material I would never use for my age group, this glossary of horror gave me some great ideas for some potential stories. For example, H.P. Lovecraft is quoted on this page, saying, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." This is something great to think about as I am writing. The unknown is a very scary thing and that is something I could capitalize on in my story. I also like how it gives definitons to some aspects of horror that I did not know of, but can be useful to my story.

van Belkom, Edo. "So who Wants to be a Horror Writer?" [] accessed 2/7/2011 Although this article does not have to do with the direct style of horror which I am writing about, it still gives very encouraging advice on the writing process as a whole, not just what to write. Basically, van Belkom is telling the potential writers of horror to continously be reading and writing and not to be discouraged if we have some work rejected. It is refreshing to hear words of encouragement and hope when I need them the most and can help me get through a block I may be going through.

__**How to Write a Scary Story for Kids**__

There are many factors that come into play when a writer is trying to successfully write a scary story for kids that are in elementary school. When writing a scary story to an audience of children, violence, blood, and gore should be kept to a minimum. Sure, a little bit of blood and violence will spice up the story and maybe peak their interest a little bit, but we don't want to disturb a child with gory details of a gruesome death. If we as writers, cause children to have nightmares instead of them being entertained by a spooky, but fun experience, we have failed in this style.

The characters of these types of stories are also very important as well. The protagonist, or the good guy, needs to be relatable to the children. It might not be a bad idea to have the protagonist be around the same age as the audience the story is targeted towards. It would put the children in the same shoes as the protagonist, which could make the story even more scary. The antagonist, or the bad guy, needs to be someone who the children can relate to also, but in a fearful way. This villain needs to be someone who the children can rally against and have no choice but to cheer for the protagonist. Even though the protagonist is the person everyone cheers for, the antagonist is the character that really makes the story entertaining and thrilling all the way through.

To start off this story, two things should occur that pulls the reader into it. First, something needs to grab their attention. Whether it be something mysterious or exhilarating, it needs to be something that leaves the children hungry for answers. They need to read on to find out what is happening. Also, give the reader a sense of what kind of setting this is. Get the imaginitive juices flowing so they can visualize this world. Stories are always better when the reader can escape into the world of the story. It is usually a good idea to introduce the main character, the protagonist, and tell about them. Maybe give some hints at what's going on, but never give too much. Don't develop too much of the story at the beginning. If details are left in the dark, it may draw the reader further into the story, still searching for answers.

Once we're into the main portion of the story, then the details can start coming out slowly. As our protagonist develops, we start to find out what type of horrors are in his life. This is where the antagonist can be introduced. Details are everything, especially with children, so when describing the antagonist, it is a good idea not to make him/her too appealing to them. The children should not like this villain and in turn, start cheering on the protagonist even more. We need to make sure that we keep including some exciting parts to our story all throughout so none of the children get bored. We must keep their interest in the story all the way up to the end, where the real fun begins.

Everyone loves the end of a story because that is where everything comes together and finally gets resolved. Scary stories for children are no different, as they will need closure and more than likely a happy-ending in order to thoroughly enjoy the story. As with every story, there needs to be a climax where the tension is so intense that the kids are just hoping that the story ends soon. In these types of stories, I believe good must triumph over evil in every case, even though in the horror genre, it does not always happen that way. I believe the children may be a little too disturbed at the prospect of evil triumphing over good. With the story ending happily, it will give the children the closure they need to think that this is just story and nothing in these particular stories can actually hurt them. Most importantly, if the children walk away entertained, then we, as writers, have succeeded.

//Dear James: I have to admit this sounded like writing any story, not just the horror story. I also think the short genre you are writing does not have time to introduce characters and setting, but will weave them directly into the plot. Sp action should drive both character and setting.// //I don't want to contradict your sources, but sometimes we assume we are experts from our reading, but we need to read the exact kind of thing we wish to create.//

//Bill//