Literary Tips From the Un-Dead
My family and I don't celebrate Halloween. I know. I hear you. . . "Michelle, why are you such a hater?" Because glorifying zombies, witches, and satan just isn't my thing, and honestly, I'd rather eat the Hershey bars myself than hand them out to ungrateful little sugaraholics trick-or-treating at my door.
But I am currently in the middle of reading Dracula -- and I'm loving it.
Incongruent? Could be. Hypocritical? Maybe. Instructive? Bingo! We have a winner. What could I possibly be learning from a nineteenth century horror novel?
Nail Biting Suspense
Author Bram Stoker uses a tool that authors today could learn from. Innuendo. He hints at a lot of things that could happen, but might not. What's really frightening is the not knowing. The reader expects something horrible will happen, but not when or how it will be executed.
A Strong Female Lead
Feminism isn't just a burn-your-bra 60's kind of thing. Stoker wrote Dracula back in 1897 and uses Mina Harker as one of the main characters. She is intelligent and integral to the plot, not just a pretty decoration or love interest.
The Reader is Judge and Jury
The way the story is laid out, via diary entries, letters and newspaper articles, it's really up to the reader to decide which characters are inherently good or bad or just plain stupid. Stoker obviously believed in his readers enough to not spoon-feed them every literary bite, but simply put a steaming plate of story in front of them and allowed them to eat at will.
Blending Reality
Much of Dracula requires the reader to entertain the notion of the supernatural. Stoker accomplishes this by the pacing of his tale, creating a strong relationship up front between the reader and the characters. You want to know what will happen to them. You're on their side. You want the evil creature Dracula to fail.
I'd tell you more, but I'm only half-way through the book. Stay tuned for more un-dead writing tips.