How to Give your Writing the Gothic Touch
(or: 13 Ways to Give your Fiction the Gothic Touch)
By Rayne Hall
Gothic
sells. Reader demand and book sales for this genre are growing. From a writer’s
perspective, the best thing about Gothic is that it combines well with other
genres, so you can layer it with the kind of fiction you love to write to
create, for example, Gothic Paranormal Romance, Gothic Urban Fantasy or Gothic
Cosy Mystery.
Here
are thirteen suggestions how you can give your manuscript the Gothic touch.
Choose the ones which suit your plot.
1.
Let the story unfold in a sublime, ‘wild’ location, preferably isolated,
windswept, battered by the elements: a farmhouse on the Yorkshire moors, a
research station in the Antarctic, a castle in the Scottish Highlands, a chalet
in the Swiss Alps.
2.
Put the characters in an old, dilapidated, gloomy building, whether that’s
a private residence, a hotel or a castle. Perhaps it was once a fabulous
mansion, but now only remnants remain of its former glory. Show the cracks in
the façade, peeling paint, faded curtains, frayed carpets, leaking roof. Let
the readers hear the squeal of the unoiled hinges and the creaking of the
wooden stairs.
3.
Isolate the main character. She (or he) has no friends nearby, no one
to turn to for help. Perhaps she’s a stranger in the community, a foreigner in
the country, a new recruit to the job. The location is remote, far away from
public transport, without phone or internet reach.
4.
Give your characters dark secrets. Often, this includes a crime –
already committed, underway or planned. Even the main character carries a guilt
she hides from others.
5.
Motivate your characters with passions and obsessions. Let them be
passionate about whatever they try to do. Is the MC passionate about clearing
her late father’s name, bringing human traffickers to justice or saving the
endangered moorland? Other characters have their passions, too – some of them
benign, others dangerous.
6.
Create plot twists around loyalty and betrayal. Whom does the MC
trust, only to discover that this person betrayed her? Whom does she suspect,
realising belatedly that he is on her side?
7.
A connection exists between the present and the past, or between this
world and the supernatural. This could be through a prophecy, séance, a curse,
a reincarnation or a haunting.
8.
Madness infuses the plot. A character may be criminally insane, or
simply suffering from a mental health problem such as paranoia or schizophrenia
which affects her judgement. Maybe the MC herself is a veteran afflicted with
PTSD, or perhaps the villain is gaslighting her until she believes she is going
insane.
9.
An old book, document or work of art gets discovered, and it contains
a clue which changes the direction of the plot. This could be an old journal, a
treasure map, or a painting of the baron’s real wife.
10. The MC discovers a secret room – perhaps
a concealed passage, a hard-to-access attic, an underground dungeon or the
scientist’s laboratory which she has been forbidden to enter.
11. One of the scenes takes place at dusk.
Show how the setting sun bloodies the horizon or streaks the sky in purple and
pink before darkness descends. Let the readers hear the twilight chorus of the
birds and feel how the temperature drops.
12. Whip up a storm. This could be an icy,
sleet-laden winter wind, a thunderstorm with blinding bolts of lighting, a
hurricane or a squall at sea. Let readers hear the wind whining in the chimney
and rattle the shutters.
13. Let
the novel’s climax unfold against a dramatic backdrop. The house burns, the
cruise ship sinks, the tower collapses, the dam bursts, or a tsunami sweeps the
settlement away,
Have
you already written fiction with Gothic elements? Which of these thirteen suggestions would be
a good fit for the novel you’re currently working on?
Tell
us about it in the comments below.
ABOUT RAYNE HALL
Born and raised in Germany, Rayne Hall has lived in China, Mongolia, Nepal and Britain. Now she resides in a village in Bulgaria, where men perform the annual demon dance, ghosts and sirens beckon, and abandoned decaying houses hold memories of a glorious past.
Her lucky black rescue cat Sulu often accompanies her when she explores spooky derelict buildings. He delights in walking across shattered roof tiles, scratching charred timbers and sniffing at long-abandoned hearths.
Rayne has worked
as an investigative journalist, development aid worker, museum guide, apple
picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, belly dancer, magazine editor,
publishing manager and more, and now writes full time.
She is the author of over 100 books, mostly Dark Fantasy and Gothic Horror, e.g. The Bride’s Curse: Bulgarian Gothic Ghost and Horror Stories. She is also the acclaimed editor of Gothic, Fantasy and Horror anthologies (e.g. Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard), and author of the bestselling Writer’s Craft series for advanced-level writers, including and the bestselling Writer’s Craft series e.g. Writing Gothic Fiction.
Find her on: Website: www.raynehall.com,
Newsletter: https://rayne.substack.com,
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RayneHallAuthor,
Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@Rayne_Hall_Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rayne_hall_author/
19 comments:
Thanks for featuring my post.
Questions, anyone? I'm happy to answer any questions readers may have.
Really interesting stuff Rayne, thank you
I like the isolated setting, the rambling shamble building, the dark secret, and secret places. A good storm gives me shivers, especially at dawn or dusk when the crepuscular critters are out and about.
Great article, Rayne. Thanks.
Thank you so much Rayne for being our guest. As a teenager I was nuts about Victoria Holt and her Gothic Romance. Great Stuff.
I never would've thought of those things as contributing to gothic. Thanks!
Love these "How-to's!"
Especially:
7. A connection exists between the present and the past, or between this world and the supernatural. This could be through a prophecy, séance, a curse, a reincarnation or a haunting.
8. Madness infuses the plot. A character may be criminally insane, or simply suffering from a mental health problem such as paranoia or schizophrenia which affects her judgement. Maybe the MC herself is a veteran afflicted with PTSD, or perhaps the villain is gaslighting her until she believes she is going insane.
9. An old book, document or work of art gets discovered, and it contains a clue which changes the direction of the plot. This could be an old journal, a treasure map, or a painting of the baron’s real wife.
Great tips! <3
These were terrific tips! Thank you!
I've used several of your tips when I write. I find they contribute to building the overall tension in a subtle, but very real, way. Thank you for sharing!
Great tips. Thanks, Rayne.
I like a little madness. Great tips.
It was difficult to choose which tip was most helpful - they all were! Thanks Rayne.
Thank you for this article. I have used some of these (A raging blizard that confines people to the hotel in one novel and a supernatural element with a Native American indian legend that seems to be at play in a murder for another novel). I appreciate the list since I love gothic touches and this will aid me in adding more.
Avery Daniels
www.Avery-Daniels.com
hi here from Elizabeth place .
what a wonderful place you talented people have arranged here dear Friends !
incredibly helpful for simpler people who are desperate to write something but have no clue what and how
thank you for this valuable insightful post !
more blessings and more shower of talent to all of you !
Great tips, Rayne!
I think this would even work with an old abandoned mansion in the southern states of the US. Tall oak trees with moss hanging low, a full moon...
Such a shock to see most of Christie's stories have these same elements. I'm going to watch out for them in other stories now!
I did not know that goth was a growing literary drama. So interesting! Thank you for sharing your writing tips.
I love the idea of layering gothic with other genres. Great overall advice, Rayne!
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