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I thought I tried to end it a long time ago but it came it back at around page 8. My god I've created a monster....
I think it would be appropriate for this thread to reach 13 pages. But I'm all talked out on the matter. Does anyone else want to stoke the fire and getting it raging again?
In my opinion I think that horror probably is the easiest to write. You basically need to add a little bit of something weird to your plot, and just add a bunch of nice deaths with lot's of gore.
I like reading slasher scripts and horror, but I can't stand writing them. They are too easy for me, and I want a challenge. I like drama/thrillers and things such as that because they are always new.
In horror, each idea is new, but it always revolves around either someone killing, someone haunting, or someone stalking.
At first, I thought it was an interesting question and I made several attempts to answer it. But now, this thread is starting to get on my nerves. In the midst of all the analyzing, re-analyzing, and over-analyzing, I don't think enough people considered that maybe people have different reasons for writing horror. For example, some people have said they think writing horror is easy. I don't. Developing characters and building tension takes effort but writing something fresh in a genre that's so worn takes even more. If anything, horror is hard to write. What I'm trying to say is that unless you accept the fact that horror just is popular, no matter how you answer the question, it's going to be a generalization.
To make this thread redundant all we need to do is quickly post 10 more drama screenplays, then drama will be the most popular genre on this site. Does anyone know what the most popular genre is on the short script thread? I don't think it's horror, it seems to be drama. So I ask you, is horror really the most popular genre? Another factor we haven't touched on yet is that Hollywood is going through a cycle of making horrors at the moment, so this would also be a contributing factor for horror being popular. Wait a minute, I think someone has mentioned it in this sea of posts.
Some people have said they think writing horror is easy. If anything, horror is hard to write.
I've let this debate waft over this thread a few times without chiming in, but feel compelled to do so now -- for whatever reason.
A good script -- in any genre -- is very, very difficult to write.
A crappy script -- in any genre -- is still, in fact, kind of hard.
Writing is difficult (if you care about your finished product at all, of course) -- and maybe horror is a little easier than, say, comedy, which is much, much harder than drama (try it and see!) --
but calling horror an "easy" genre reveals a wee bit of naivete regarding the writing process itself.
Well, I didn't exactly mean it like that. Writing is hard, of coarse, but horror is just a tad bit easier than other genres. Comedy really kicks you in the butt because of its difficulty.
I didn't mean it like anyone could write a horror script. I meant it is easier than most genres.
Horror is perceived to be easy because there are is one primary formula: The Menace and dumb people. Translation: Who needs a script?
Cardboard characters as victims. Translation: Who needs actors?
Gore galore. Translation: Dazzle them with B***S***
When the action slows (between the murder and mayhem) Give 'em Sex. Girls with nice bods. More Sex.
Leading Men: No sweat. -- mass murderers, madmen with sharp instruments, indestructable beings with a mask and dead people on a see-flesh diet. Big and ugly beats out suave and dashing.
Horror sells abroad, too. There's an audience for horror, good and bad. Greater rewards.
The dude/dudette who writes Redneck Cannibals at Cross Creek Manor has a better chance of getting his/her awful film made and seen than somebody who writes Ordinary People at Cross Creek Manor -- even if the drama is 10 times better.
And that is exactly why Horror is my genre of choice. Blood-letting and brainshed are perfect foils for brainless drivel. Translation: I only think I have talent.
And then you have people like me who love a good horror movie and wonder why a) the characters acted like idiots throughout the film and b) you never bothered to develop them to the point that I cared that any of them died. This translates to "I dislike your film and will tell my friends on boards like this that it sucked and the prospect of your being hired for another writing gig diminishes.
Emulate the good horror movies, not the bad ones.
Redneck Cannibals at Cross Creek Manor will have a far better chance of being made if we understand the motivation behind the cannibals, the victims have a reason for putting themselves into danger, and we get a through understanding of where they're coming from and where they're going, and actually feel bad when each victim gets...well, in this case...eaten. This of course means that each of the characters, both good and bad, should have that all important back story. Sure, people love the gore, but it's gotta mean something.