Reprinted from Green Man Review.
What makes Horror Isn’t A Four-Letter Word stand out amongst a plethora of similar books aimed at aspiring writers is that Warner avoids many of the more esoteric questions, such as whether one needs an agent, and instead focuses on the kind of writing nuts and bolts which help writers hone their craft.
This collection of essays, originally appearing as a series of online articles for HorrorWorld, discusses such diverse aspects of writing as improving dialogue, using local settings and horror for inspiration, the connection between fairy tales and horror, and Warner’s own brush with a group of “book doctors” early in his career.
Warner also writes about the importance of doing research, and shares some of the things he has learned about doing research for his own books, including schizophrenia and police procedures.
Warner’s prose style is clear and humorous, and he uses lots of examples, as when he uses the television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to illuminate how plot works and the appeal of providing truly addictive plot arcs which keep the readers caring about what happens next.
It’s always a pleasure to read a well-written book on the subject of how fiction works, and Warner comes across as a writer with whom one might actually enjoy talking about writing. Warner is not one of those pretentious writers who makes things sound more complicated than they are, and he is not too proud to mention other writers and their books on writing or to illustrate a point by mentioning his own mistakes. In addition to the practical points about writing itself, he offers realistic advice on how writers can promote their work through various activities such as creating a Web site and finding opportunities for public speaking (his story about how he was conned into speaking to his future mother-in-law’s grade school class was a humorous take on his own advice about how a speaker should suit his speech to his audience).
Horror Isn’t A Four-Letter Word is a fine introduction to writing even for those who may not be fans of horror specifically, and I expect that it will remain one of those works I will be dipping into when I want a clear and concise quote regarding some aspect of writing.
(Guide Dog Books, 2008)
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