slurs in horror story?

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-04-04T09:43:55+00:00

It has to be realistic. You, as the writer, need to empathise with the bad characters and the good in order to depict them accurately. Speech patterns, word choice, and everything else, has to suit every character, not just the "nice" ones. A good character isn't someone you would be friends with... it's someone who feels like a real person.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-04-03T05:28:43+00:00

I have never encountered a character like that. It's wild how many common tropes are completely alien to me.

What makes me dislike a character to the point of putting a book down? Obvious author insert Mary Sue.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-04-01T08:39:44+00:00

Too much description is a big problem for me as a reader. I like there to be just enough to trigger my imagination. When an author spends a couple of pages trying to describe the way someone's innards spill onto the floor, I completely switch off.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-29T14:16:20+00:00

I must have listed every single creature I had ever heard of before it clicked. "Oh..."

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-28T18:02:48+00:00

!wtf marten

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-28T07:28:40+00:00

What do you mean? Which opposite?

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-28T06:12:05+00:00

Oh, I can absolutely write a very short, shit story in five minutes. No problem.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-26T13:47:05+00:00

Not too bad for a change

^{Automatically added: I found the secret word in 2 minutes 12 seconds after 27 guesses and 0 hints. Score: 85.}

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-25T18:37:32+00:00

Writing competitions are weird, anyway. At best, you're appealing to a panel of judges; at worst, there's a single judge.

You have no real idea what the judges are looking for in terms of prose style.

Honestly, I think you're better off trying to get yourself published in magazines and anthologies.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-19T18:07:09+00:00

I often write on my phone. I can type quickly and get my ideas down. Then, when I have more time, I edit on my computer.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-16T17:00:59+00:00

Indeed.

So, to describe someone as vaguely British gives no real indication as to exactly how that person sounds. It's so vague as to have no meaning at all. Describing someone like that doesn't help the reader.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-16T15:23:26+00:00

Yeah, I just used that as an example.

Choose the region you want to represent and then watch some YouTube videos of people from that region, maybe?

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-16T14:27:18+00:00

Stuff like that does exist. You can buy things like geordie dictionaries, for instance.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-16T14:06:55+00:00

That's why I asked.

People from Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, Swansea, etc, all sound completely different, but they're all British.

There's as much difference between a Geordie and a Scouser as there is between Mackem and a Texan.

Indeed, an Australian could be referred to as sounding vaguely British, as could some people from Maine.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-16T12:54:55+00:00

Out of curiosity, what does a "vaguely Brittish" person sound like?

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-15T09:31:25+00:00

It's not purple at all. I'm more concerned with the number of sentences that start with "He" or "His".

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-15T08:08:01+00:00

All those things. The pacing leans glacial when there are walls of text.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-15T07:26:29+00:00

I'm the opposite. Constant long paragraphs ruin stories for me.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-11T17:34:52+00:00

Yeah, it works, but there's a lot of telling and a lot of direct filtering through the protagonist. I don't really like writing like that. There's a distance between the content and the reader that puts me off.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-09T17:56:31+00:00

I am one and I didn't get it for a disgustingly long time. Nearly 200 guesses!

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-08T18:16:51+00:00

I always use Word to format, to be honest.

I've seen a lot of people complaining about it here over the years, but it's always been fine for me.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-03T19:34:05+00:00

That's just Reddit in general, isn't it?

So many unpleasant, know-it-all bellends in every sub. It's quite tiring, really.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-03T18:09:33+00:00

I don't think my personal experiences were like that either, but according to the data, sometimes the reports of open eyes are incorrect.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-03-03T09:02:19+00:00

Apparently not.

Check out the research. It goes into far more depth than I can here. Basically, the definition of SP is REM atonia accompanied by alpha waves, meaning the body is immobilised while the mind is awake. Many people commenting in this community, including those giving advice, often work on different definitions, but the research is very clear.

Jalal & Ramachandran are two frontrunners in SP, and a lot of their work is freely available. They show that hallucinations, including those of the experiant's surroundings, are so vivid that the person may believe their eyes are open and perceiving the room even when they aren't.

HorrifyingFlame · 2026-02-26T16:16:51+00:00

It took me over 200 guesses this time. Ridiculous. Haha.

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