 | 27 Feb 09 |
I’m deeply enmeshed in my latest book for St. Martin’s, and when I write, I usually plumb deep in the depths of my soul for real emotion. The most important of these emotions, at least as far as I am concern, is fear. Because that is what drives a suspense book at the end.
Even if it is not the subject at hand, I reach into those fears and use them to make my words and dialogue real. So what scares me?
1. Spiders. Terrified. Have to call Chatter Child to kill them, because Dancing Daughter is ALSO terrified.
2. Heights. I have really tried to conquer this one, but put me on a narrow mountain road that drops off, and you’ve got white-knuckled, no-speaking, white-faced entertainment. Should you be entertained by someone else’s terror that is.
3. Telephone calls that start with “Mom, something terrible has happened!” I should note that Chatter Child is of the dramatic persuasion, so I have already had one or more of these types of phone calls, none of which ended up being she had driven the car off a mountain road, had an encounter with a man-eating spider, or ran over some unsuspecting little children (can you say “16″ and “driver’s license”), but when I am trying to tap into the terror mode, this one STILL gets me.
So these three things scare me the most, as well as some events that have happened in my past.
When I was six-years-old, I was held at gunpoint by a man who threatened to kill me, my sister and our two friends if we didn’t take our clothes off. The sound of his rifle as he shot it in the air, to prove how serious he was, has stayed in my memory all these years, and in fact I used it as the opening for WIVES AND SISTERS, although only the “memory” is part of that scene, and the rest is fictional.
The reason I use this method is not because I am a weenie-butt scaredy cat, but because I think to make something REAL, you have to feel it. And to feel it, you have to know it.
Most people LIKE to be scared, hence the immense popularity of scary movies and, let’s be honest, suspense and horror books. We like tension. With tension comes adrenaline, a drug our body manufactures. I obviously share this addiction to adrenaline, because I LOVE suspense fiction. Put me on the edge of my seat, make me unable to put down your book, and I am in for the ride.
Just don’t call me and say, “Mom, something terrible has happened!” That one is a little too scary for me.
But I know I have succeeded in writing a tense, emotion-filled scene if I feel tense and filled with emotion. And to do that, I have to tap in to what I know.
The most recent book I read that had me on the edge of my seat was BLOOD MEMORY by Greg Iles. It started out a little slow, at least for me, but then it picked up, grabbed you by the throat and NEVER let go through the end. And it’s a BIG book. But the terror was VERY real and very palpable in that book.
Now, it’s first person, present tense, and written by a MAN! But it’s first person, present tense and narrated by a woman. So it’s quite a feat. It’s also about repressed memories, a highly controversial subject, which just manages to add to the fear. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s a tense, suspenseful, excellent read.
And I found myself wondering how Iles managed to create so much FEAR and tension. Did he put himself in that state first, or is he just a suspense genius?
I read a Tess Gerritsen book once where there is a “chase” scene of sorts, and the tension is so high, I felt myself actually gripping the pages of the book so tightly that my fingers were white. That’s the kind of tension a suspense books needs.
Which leads me to my questions for you:
1. If you write, how do you make your scenes real? Do you call on your own fears to help you create the tension?
2. As a reader, what really SCARES you in a book?
Natalie R. Collins was born in Logan, Utah and attended the University of Utah. She worked for eleven years at The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah's largest daily newspaper, before leaving to devote more time to her family. During the ensuing years, she wrote five novels. She also worked for the 2001 and 2002 Sundance Film Festivals as an editor. Natalie is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America.
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Natalie, I’ve survived the phone call that came up on caller ID as OHP; the words, “Ma’am, this is Trooper Jones of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Your daughter…” It’s heart stopping. You can’t breathe for fear you’ll miss something important that he’s saying, but the whole time this voice is screaming in your head, “Let her be alive. Let her be alive.” And you pray you aren’t screaming out loud.
There’s not a whole lot I’m afraid of in this old world. I’ve faced guns and knives, wild horses, rabid critters… I’ve rappelled sheer cliff faces and crawled through caves. I can write easily about the adrenaline high, but fear? That one stumps me, until I think back to the quiet, pent-up panic of that night three years ago, the weekend of her nineteenth birthday; of driving two hours scared to death she wouldn’t live to see twenty. Walking around what was left of the SUV she rolled; holding her in my arms as she cried and shook, heartbroken because her athletic career was probably over… Those are the emotions I conjure when I have to dip into that well.
And funny thing? I don’t read horror or watch it much. I don’t scare easy. Not any more. A suspense book or thriller that churns my gut is rare indeed and I cherish them, simply for the fact they remind me that I am human after all.
by Silver James February 27th, 2009 at 10:07 amWow, Silver, that had ME choked up, just reading it. And double-wow, all of the stuff you’ve done! (note to self, call Silver during next Bobbie Faye book.
)
by toni mcgee causey February 27th, 2009 at 11:35 amDarlin’, when you’re as old as dirt and didn’t know no better growin’ up…what can I say?
I was a lucky girl. My daddy told me I could be and do anything I thought my britches were big enough to do. I had some mighty big britches back then. Fifty-six years later, there’s not much I haven’t tried at least once, if I had any interest in it.
Call me.
by Silver James February 27th, 2009 at 12:13 pmSilver, WOW. That would certainly work in the emotion department. You got me feeling it! And horror movies don’t scare me. Real LIFE scares me.
by Natalie February 27th, 2009 at 8:27 pmNatalie, sympathies on your daughter getting her driver’s license! That’s a universal fear all parents relate too! Which is how I write fear in my books…it doesn’t have to be something someone actually experience. Eventhough I’m writing paranormal, I try to give my characters issues people can relate too. For instance, Axel Locke is willing to do anyting, including sacrifice his soul, to save the life of his four year old little sister. I think most readers can relate to that–a life of a small child is worth most any sacrifice. And the fear of that child dying? Universal, I think.
And to bring this back around to your point, I have known children who died, and have never forgotten the terrilbe sadness, grief and outrage over the unfairness of it.
Plus–I REALLY hate snakes anywhere near me!
by Jen Lyon February 27th, 2009 at 10:56 amJen, yeah, it really is hard to swallow. Every time she is out, and she calls me, I just wince. Today I saw a car accident, and the driver of the car that got hit was only 16. Luckily there were no serious injuries, but it REALLY hit home. My daughter was in the car with me and I made her call 911 while I ran to both cars to make sure no one was hurt. That set her back a bit.
by Natalie February 27th, 2009 at 8:29 pmI think I tap into some of the crazy awful things that I’ve experienced in order to accurately portray that fear…. being in a truck when someone else is hurtling through a stop light straight for my door, listening to the metal fold around… aware of my then-two-year-old screaming from his car seat… seeing it mangled and thinking at first that the metal bar had punctured through his stomach… racing another child to the ER because he turned out to have meningitis and every single second counted to keep him from being paralyzed or dying… waking up one night with a stranger standing at the foot of my bed…
by Toni McGee Causey February 27th, 2009 at 11:38 amDang, Toni! You’ve been there, done that, and got the tee shirt, too! I could survive just about anything, so long as my child is safe.
by Silver James February 27th, 2009 at 12:17 pmYes, Toni, that is EXACTLY what I do. And you sure have experienced your own terrifying moments. I’ve played the meningitis game, too. Not fun, and one of the most terrifying things that has ever happened to me.
by Natalie February 27th, 2009 at 8:30 pmChelsea Cain wrote a book called Heartsick. I was sitting there gripping pages, yelling at the hero to not get killed. It as soooo intense. That was the scariest book I ever read, oh that and the ‘this is where babies come from’ book. LOL
by Amanda February 27th, 2009 at 11:56 amOh, Amanda, I read that book. It really was.. wrenching. I had such a hard time reading it, and yet I couldn’t put it down! It was quite a debut. LOL on the “babies” comment.
by Natalie February 27th, 2009 at 8:31 pmLet me clarify. I read “Heartsick!” Laughing at the other comment. LOL.
by Natalie February 27th, 2009 at 8:32 pmYes! The call from a child…went through that. The words “it hurts so bad” echoed over and over in my brain while I gripped the phone. She and her friends had wrecked on a deserted road and my pain and panic-stricken daughter couldn’t explain to me exactly where they were. She said they were all bleeding and I could hear the other girls wailing and moaning in the background. By the time I found them the paramedics were there. The first thing I saw as I ran down the road was the car. It was demolished. Bent all over and all the glass had shattered from the windows and windshields. I remember thinking, how can they be alive? Then I saw my daughter and all the blood. It was everywhere. All of them were bleeding. I will never, ever forget those moments. The only one seriously injured was my daughter. Her back was broken in three places. I prayed all night that she would survive…and be able to walk.
Thank God, she did survive and she walks just fine. She has lots of back pain but she’s ALIVE! A couple of days after the accident, while I was still at the hospital with my daughter, some of the fathers went to the car to gather personal effects. One father could see something under the front passenger seat (where my daughter was sitting when the accident occurred) but the frame and floor of the car were jammed up against the bottom of the seat. It had literally shoved the seat into the top of the car (this is why my daughter’s back was broken). You see, when the car left the highway at a rate of speed estimated to be 80 to 80 mph, it landed at an angle on an embankment and the front passenger section of the vehicle hit the ground first, absorbing the majority of the impact.
This father kept tugging until he freed the item that was wedged between the car’s floor/frame and my daughter’s seat. It was her Bible. It sat between her and the encroaching danger like a shield and I will bear witness to this day that this is the reason she is alive and can walk.
Thank God all the girls were wearing their seatbelts or this terrible event would have ended far, far worse. And I will forever be grateful that God was watching out for my baby that night. To this day, even as I write this, I choke up and tears spill down my cheeks.
So, yes, I call upon moments like that when I want to scare myself! Life provides way too much inspiration at times!
by Debra Webb February 27th, 2009 at 2:18 pmWow! Deb, that just gave me chills. What a story. Bless that Bible!
by Natalie February 27th, 2009 at 8:33 pmMy God, Deb, that made me choke up, just reading that. I’m so glad your daughter is here and walking–what an absolute blessing.
by Toni McGee Causey February 27th, 2009 at 10:42 pmAbsolutely, Natalie!
by Debra Webb February 28th, 2009 at 8:55 amVery much a blessing, Toni!
by Debra Webb February 28th, 2009 at 8:56 amI’ve come up with an abhorance of blood and violence in movies of late (read last 20 years – oh gosh you know I am accepting old age when I accept 20 years as being “of late) ergo I don’t tend to read or watch shock horror or crime.
While Jen stole my thunder on snakes, I’ve come up with a new fear. The terror of something happening to my grandson. It makes my heart stop just thinking about it.
by Cele March 1st, 2009 at 10:20 amNat great post, and everyone’s responses! Debra I went through a very similar experience with my oldest son when he was 12. He was in a terrible car accident and taken to trauma. I still don’t remember how i got to the hospital. But i remember the fear and despair. thank god he was ok.
by Karin Tabke March 1st, 2009 at 11:43 amI am lucky. The worst I’ve had to face, other than the 3 am phone call from my mom that my grandmother had died, was my daughter having major surgery when she was two. And my other daughter being born in duress and not breathing (but that was brief, thank God.)
I’m scared of a lot of things, and they’re odd. I hate spiders, but I’ve gotten better about them. My son refuses to kill them or any other critters, but he’ll remove them from the house for me. (And fast–All I have to say is, “If someone doesn’t get this spider/millipede/grasshopper out of the house in sixty seconds, it’s dead!”)
I’m scared of things that haven’t happened, like being forced to make a choice between saving two of my children. I’m not scared of bridges, but I used to have to drive over one to visit my mom with the American River below. If I went in with two kids, how could I save both? I know, it’s an awful thought, but my imagination is far scarier than anything I’ve faced.
I have a fear of drowning or my kids drowning, though I can swim well. I don’t believe in past lives, but I am intensely paranoid about swimming pools and I don’t know why. I’m thinking I saw something at a young age and it imprinted on me in some way.
I hate snakes, but I don’t know if it’s fear as much as loathing.
by Allison Brennan March 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm