Horror as a Creative Process
The horror of creating
Last call for submissions to Drexel’s Paper Dragon Lit Magazine. We are currently open for submissions through October 15, 2025, for Volume 10!
Now, onto the horror.
I like to think of the creative process for writing as a horror story. The horror genre functions on the promise of character error + impossible circumstances (the supernatural, the curses, someone with an axe) = not always a happy ending. I would watch the Saw movies or The Descent cursing the characters for not seeing how they shouldn’t be in an abandoned barn at midnight with a killer on the loose.
But is the creative process any different for writers any different than horror-themed?
A writer’s first obstacle is to define their process. Did the panic just set in? We’re not in Act III yet. We’re at the beginning. Do you write a story around a scene? Do you write from beginning to end? Are you a diehard outliner or are you pro-spontaneity?
No matter where the “start” is, a writer is too invested to realize the impending conflict. The hurdle of tackling the daunting blank page and the eighty-to-one hundred thousand words needed to fill those pages. The conflict rises at forty thousand words and—gasp—there’s bloodshed. The plot is the first victim. Self-doubt settles in. The story entangles for days, sometimes weeks, until writer’s block becomes a red heron, leading away from a problem-solving trail. The focus becomes what is not working instead of what might. The horror becomes more real that feeling that maybe you shouldn’t be writing in the first place.
Yet, the writer returns, opening the door armed with a laptop and a dose of determination there is a point of pushing through. And there is. Writers don’t always know a story’s twists and flops, moves ahead and the villainous “delete” key. The isolation of writing makes us vulnerable to anxiety, thriving in fear the end isn’t possible. The validation, the imagined cover, won’t be a reality. The threat of quitting is high right along with rejection. I would argue the real horror is not trying. It’s sitting on the ski lift in freezing conditions (Frozen) and not attempting to survive.
How do you survive this creative bloodbath?
Focus is key to the process during an era of distractions. Writing time is a fragile character in the creative process often up against personal and family commitments, social media, and, well, life. Reject isolation. When was the last time you connected with other writers?
Combat the fragility of writing time by setting goals, weekly word counts, saying no to an activity. Brainstorming, reading other stories, bounce ideas off a friend for when something isn’t working. Ask yourself why you took the leap to write in the first place. If you demand to understand on a microscopic level the motivation of a character, why would you not do the same for yourself? The strongest tool a writer has for cultivating their process is to remember why you started in the first place.
So, why do you write?
What tools do you rely on to keep yourself writing?
Emily Duvall
Drexel Paper Dragon Newsletter Director
Love this!