Well it’s already the first week of the month and so that means
it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Group (IWSG) post! IWSG
is a monthly blog hop that occurs every first Wednesday of the month
where we writers talk about the challenges in writing and how to
resolve them. Each month the blog hop offers an optional
question for us to answer, in which I have opted to answer this
month’s. The question is “Of all the genres you read and write,
which is your favorite to write in and why?” My answer: horror and
sci fi. As for the why: I’ve
been a longtime lover of the unknown which science fiction and horror
expresses.
Horror and sci fi
appealed to me most ever since I was a kid, almost since I learned to
walk! I guess you can say I got into those genres because several
members of my family were sci fi and/or horror fans, especially on my
mom’s side (though my mom herself wasn’t a fan) but my dad also
watched a lot of the two genres. I got hooked to sci fi early with
television series such as Lost In Space (the original) and the
Japanese series Ultra-Man.
A little later I got into Star Trek. And, growing up in the
70s, I experienced the new phenomenon of the very first Star Wars
film, (now subtitled A New Hope) which enhanced my love for
science fiction even more.
I got hooked on
horror through TV horror hosted movies that haunted the television
sets in my family. Starting when I was around five, my dad and my
uncles on my mom’s side let me watch with them movies hosted by a
television horror host local to our Sacramento region, the late Bob
Wilkins. Hosts such as him, would screen a horror or science fiction
film on television each Saturday night, like what the
nationally-known Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) would do with her Movie
Macabre in the 1980s. During the commercial break, they would
discuss the movie as well as other movies of the horror and sci fi
genres. Then in grammar school my teachers would every now and then
read us scary stories of the supernatural written for young readers.
That got me reading supernatural horror. And super hero and horror
comics also got me started on my speculative literary journey of
life.
My interest in
horror and sci fi, in addition to other types of fantasy, has also
been due to myself as someone who has always liked discovering things
beyond the ordinary. I’ve always gotten easily bored with mundane,
everyday lifestyles. The unknown and unusual--no matter how dark or
mysterious, no matter how fearful--have always fascinated me. My
Catholic boyhood also played a part in this when I would read or hear
about mystical events of the Bible or claims of apparitions of the
Virgin Mary and angels. And, because I’ve always had that
inclination towards the mysterious and unexplained, I’ve been most
interested in writing science fiction and supernatural horror--two
genres that explore what often cannot be explained or that human
beings know very little about.
 |
| Credit: Pixabay.com |
Now how did I get
into writing in these genres rather than just reading them? I guess
my fantasising up my own worlds that I would act out with my brothers
and friends in free form rpg for our time
(before the term “rpg” was popularly coined), was not enough for
momentary acting out. Ever since I was six, I loved drawing out
scenes of horror and sci fi. But by 5th grade, when I
learned more about story construction in class, I started trying my
hand at writing in those genres. Eventually, in high school, I wanted
to write screenplays for science fiction films and so had a big
desire to work for Hollywood. But when I learned how corrupt Tinsel
Town is, I decided to stick with writing prose fiction. (That’s not
too say I won’t use my writing skills in the indie film sector,
though.)
As
a person who has grown up on entertainment that expresses the unknown
and our fascination and fear of it, I can almost write in nothing
but the genres of horror and
sci fi. However,
I have
written in others
such as non-fiction covering
computer technology. That’s
probably because so much computer technology started as science
fiction which has also overlapped with horror.
IWSG was founded by author Alex Cavanaugh. This month’s IWSG
co-hosts are Diane Burton, Kim Lajevardi, Sylvia Ney, Sarah Foster,
Jennifer Hawes, and Madeline Mora-Summonte. Thanks to Alex and all
the co-hosts for organising June’s IWSG!
Until next time . . .
Steven, I got into horror, sci fi, and fantasy much as you did. I started to write what I wanted to read, and here I am today. :-) Thanks for visiting my blog tonight
ReplyDeleteSpeculative genres are so awesome and there's infinite room for the imagination to work with. It's a pleasure visiting get your blog. Thanks for visiting mine!
DeleteBoth do carry elements of the unknown. And we humans want to know!
ReplyDeleteI bet you like movies like Alien and Event Horizon that mix both genres.
Definitely! Alien is a favourite of mine and I haven't seen Event Horizon but have heard good things about it. That's one I have to check out!
DeleteI love not knowing how to explain things! I think that's why I enjoy fantasy and msyteries.
ReplyDeleteIf everything was solved in the universe, if there was a known answer to everything life would be a total drag! And so because life is still full of mysteries that's why we have such fun genres such as mystery, fantasy and sci fi. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI like all speculative fiction although gore or extreme violence I try to avoid, but I read wide too. Happy IWSG!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I try to avoid the extreme violence and extreme gore myself. The only time I'll include graphic violence or gore is if my story and the events within it call for it. I don't do gore/violence exploitation. And yes, it's very important to read as widely as you can which I also try to do. It enhances us as writers.
Delete