Posted inInstigation

Announcing the Instigation Showcase

Announcing the Instigation Showcase! From now on, anyone who publishes a response to a prompt or is inspired to write something specifically in response to Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side or the Instigation department on this weblog will be listed on the new Showcase page dedicated to helping broaden your audience. Over the years, I've received numerous emails from writers who produced new work based on the prompts in The Goreletter, and I'm happy to have finally figured out a way to showcase your work. Share your links to work (whether on a blog or in a book)…
March 15, 2013Posted inInstigation
Posted inInstigation

Twisted Prompts for Sicko Writers (31)

Begin with a Woman... + Begin with a woman...defiantly shaking a phantom (or prosthetic) arm at the heavens. + Begin with a woman...requesting plastic surgery to make her something LESS (beautiful, endowed, perfect, etc). + Begin with a woman...who reads more than she should into her 'time of the month.' + Begin with a woman...discovering something alive in the meat drawer. + Begin with a woman...in love with a man BECAUSE he survived her murder attempt. + Begin with a woman...applying mascara to a corpse. + Begin with a woman...alienated by the newborn creature in her arms. + Begin with…
December 30, 2012Posted inInstigation
Posted inInstigation

Every Horror Writer’s Nightmare

This image from Futurama (found on the wonderful TvTropes.com) cracks me up, but it also encapsulates every horror writer's dilemma: escaping the conventions and the dominant trappings of the genre. This is one of the reasons why I continue to publish the Instigation series of "dark prompts for sicko writers," even if my tongue is sometimes in my cheek. But here's a few for you now, inspired by this comic: + Imagine what lies beyond the side of the frame. What is chasing the creatures? Or where are the characters being chased to? + Take a page from King: Write…
July 24, 2012Posted inInstigation1 Comment