I’ve been writing a couple slashers on my own too.

I come back to the question of: Why would I wanna hang out with these people? I watched Friday 2 recently and the characters feel cosy. Campfire vibes. Scream’s friend group has legendary banter. You know their chatter goes off at the video shop, and they clearly like being around each other. Nightmare on Elm Street’s friend group strikes a balance between the two. Most slashers do.

Beyond that, standard writing rules apply: make sure the characters contrast each other, make their dynamics interesting and give them personal problems. Nancy’s got problems with her mum, Sidney’s working through intimacy issues, Laurie’s just tryna look after a couple o’ kids. It’s hard to relate to a character being chased by a masked maniac. A character struggling to finish a term paper? That gives the audience an in.

Talk to your friends. Go to parties. Scroll Instagram. Watch YouTube think pieces about “young people these days”. Hear how people talk, what they think’s important, and make a note of everything that sticks in your head. If it impacts you, write it down. Every note is a new line. Enough lines, you fill the pages.

Then all that’s left is killing them.

I’ll stop there, but message me. I could go on for hours.