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Copied from Rich Ristow's Liberate Teh Writers Thread (didn't know there was already another topic on hand):

Rich Ristow wrote:
I would like to issue a challenge to anybody who adheres to some sort writing dogma/theory about writing fiction or even the nature of genre fiction. This challenge especially goes out to people who believe in "hating" their readers.



I'd accept your challenge, Mr. Ristow, and I'll act well-behaved so as not to get this thread of yours locked, but what sort of dogma or theory did you have in mind? The last time I was offered such a challenge was in a literary criticism class back in my school days, and I can't remember if it was over Tennessee Williams or Faulkner; age kills the memory, but I know it was one of the two.

Me, personally, I don't hate the reader. My audience mostly comprises of the little guys (your friends know these people as the Hobbyists and Amateurs). And rather than hate them, I respect them and do all that I can for them. I thank them in any little which way I can because they purchase my wares or something with a ware of mine in it. And yes, sometimes for the genre itself, too; believe me, it saddens me more than you know that there must be war or "side-choosing".

Are you talking about what I (me, as I see you referred to "Ilk" above) think should be true horror for the masses, Mr. Ristow?

Horror, in my opinion, is a combination of many things. It's entertainment, yes! But it's also the things we identify with around us. Things we experience in real life and see every day. Did you know that since I became a parent my genre stories seem to focus more on child psychology, parenthood/parenting, adoption issues, child rearing, and other family-based issues prevalent to a story's progression? Only they take place in science fiction, fantasy, or horror environments. I also write about addiction (alcohol, tobacco, drugs), because I have friends close to me who have suffered from substance abuse or similar, more frightening ordeals. And I have such wonderful gay and lesbian friends. They inspire me so much, that I occasionally try my hand at gay or lesbian fiction for them.

When I was younger, a friend of mine was in a gang and got shot in the face coming home late at night in the Bronx... Scary, so for a brief stint my stories focused on violence/teenagers who kill. I've had steamy romances before I hit my thirties and finally settled down, and I'd make the characteristics of my exs those of my protagonists and antagonists. Economics, Politics, and Religion - aspects of it which piss me off or sends a positive message; this, TOO, can sometimes be found in my fiction.

A true writer doesn't just write... he or she OBSERVES, ANALYZES, ABSORBS and DIGESTS every little thing around him. Whether it be the ladybug on the flower (you come home and write a story about giant ladybugs taking over the earth), or the homeless wineo down the street (you write a horrific story about a man who once had it all only to lose it to a doppleganger).

There's two story ideas right there.

So yes, I do write for entertainment purposes. And yes, I grew up inspired by the whole Star Wars, Freddy Krueger, and 1980's Marvel comic book generation. But there is usually a little part of me or something I perceived or experienced in those 300 odd stories. So much that, in the end, 12 years of stories, over 600 characters I like best will eventually be connected into one universe. Sort of like a Stephen Moffatt or Russell T. Davies script... In the end, they will all connect. And you have to hope that such a connection clicks with the reader. Universes aren't easy, of course, they are the hardest animal of all in fiction writing.

But you always give something a try. You never know if you'll like something until you've given it a taste. Whether it be a short story or two, or three, or four, or a single chapter, or two, or three, or four.

That's my two cents on it, and well, how I do it.

Best,

Lawrence

On a side note, one of the best horror novels besides practically everything by Matheson, that I read was actually a mainstream romance novel. Message in a Bottle. Though it was full of loving and depressive moments, it ended in tragedy.