THE HORROR GENRE: INTERNAL CONFLICT SCENES

We have picked a subgenre, developed external scenes that affect the story world, antagonist scenes where the hero and evil face off, and interpersonal scenes where friends and foes help and hinder.

Internal Conflict scenes are where the protagonist debates his belief in ghosts or wrestles with his depression over the death of his mother. 

The scientist wonders if he should finally ask his co-researcher out for a date.

He struggles with whatever force is driving him to kill the monster or prove that aliens are out there. 

These scenes are sometimes missing in the horror story, unless it is psychological horror. Personal stakes and character change enrich any story.

Whatever his internal struggle is, it should make solving the overall story problem difficult, if not impossible.

For more information on the Horror genre, visit http://www.horror.org.

For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.

THE HORROR GENRE: INTERPERSONAL SCENES

We've selected a subgenre, created external scenes and antagonist scenes. Now let's take a look at how the friends and foes complicate the situation.

Interpersonal Conflict scenes are where the protagonist consults a priest about banishing the demon. 

He learns from the librarian that all ghosts have unfinished business.

His buddy tells him he is crazy for believing in ghosts in the first place. 

This is usually where they learn the monster’s Achilles heel. 

The hero finds someone to let him into the witch’s castle. 

People will encourage him to stay and fight and some will beg him to flee. 

Some people will act for him or against him.

Next week, we'll finish up with internal conflict scenes.

For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.

THE HORROR GENRE: ANTAGONIST CONFLICT SCENES

You've chosen the subgenre and developed ten scenes dedicated to the impact the evil has on the entire story world.

Antagonist Conflict scenes depend on what kind of antagonist you have chosen. There can be a person or an entity that embodies the horror they are confronting. 

A dire threat like a virus is better if there is someone who wants the virus to run its course. I am reminded of a film that I saw called The Happening. Even though it was directed by one of my favorites, M. Night Shyamalan, the antagonist was a breeze that killed people and wasn’t really menacing enough. There were no clear stakes in the game either. The horror was caused by spores from trees carried on the wind. The deaths were random. Random isn’t as effective as intentional.

In these scenes, the evil and the protagonist face off with each other.

In these scenes, the protagonist comes into contact with the ghost and asks the ghost why it is haunting the house. The evil entity attempts to kill but misses the hero. 

These scenes can also follow the evil entity. 

The antagonist POV is rarely followed in this genre, but if your verbal camera is following the antagonist, this is the place to do it.

The object of horror’s motivation is rarely examined. You see the vampire creeping toward the sleeping girl because you know vampires suck blood. The sea monster slithers down a city street from the manhole and will eat people, because that is what monsters do. The serial killer kills because he must. We rarely follow the swamp monster as he goes about his swampy day. That’s not to say you can’t. If the antagonist is a person or represented by a person, you can follow them in these scenes and explore their agenda.

These scenes are a direct confrontation with the horror that has been unleashed. The verbal camera narrows its focus to the protagonist and the source of the horror facing off or the person or entity enacting their agenda.

Next time, we'll look at interpersonal conflict scenes.

For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.

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THE HORROR STRUCTURE: EXTERNAL CONFLICT SCENES

After picking a subgenre of horror to play with. It is time to put your story idea through its paces to see if you have enough material to turn it into a 400 page book. I put every book idea through this process and if I can't come up with 40 sentences, then I let it percolate a lot longer before I start writing it or decide it doesn't have enough raw material and discard it. You can read more about my process here.

External Conflict scenes follow the effects of the evil on the entire cast or story world.

The intent of these scenes is to scare the pants off of your readers. You have to confine them, torture them with something suspected but just out of sight. The menace has to be believable and constitute a mortal threat to one, some or all. Panic rises. Suspicion shifts.

In these scenes, the protagonist and/or victims are chased down a dark corridor, finds the journal with the ghost’s picture, or searches the library for who used to own the creepy house. They get locked in the cellar by the demon as the house goes up in flames.

In the final external scenes, the threat is removed, unless it is banished to return in the sequel.

List ten scene ideas for how the protagonists and the rest of the cast confront the evil, gain ground, lose, then win (or lose?).

For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.