The Process of Story Creation
K. Trap Jones
Every writer has their own unique way of constructing a story. Some outline while others do not. Some constantly rewrite chapters as they go, whereas some do one draft. For me, I have a very unusual method to the madness where I have to conjure up the ending before a write down a single word. In other words, I flow through the entire unwritten story within my mind with the hopes of coming to a logical ending. If I can’t get to the ending, then I don’t write the story. I have a whole notebook of lonely ideas eagerly waiting for an ending. Once I have the ending in mind, I can create twists and turns along the way which will make sense to the plot. I have always used this method whether I am writing a novel or a short story.
The whole mental process takes about two weeks. After that, I let the idea loose and begin writing, knowing exactly where I want it to end and how I’m going to get there. Once the story is written, I let it sit for a few days before reading through it once for basic editing. I know fellow writers who come up with ideas as they write and it works just fine for them. For some reason, I cannot do that. Maybe I have a fear of spending a ton of time writing a story only to get to the end and not know how to complete it.
With One Bad Fur Day, I knew I wanted to add a lot of twists. I really wanted to capture the unpredictability of the animal population within the characters and interactions I was creating. The story takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the many habitats of the Louisiana bayous where environmental characteristics play a huge part in the whole concept of the story. The atmosphere becomes another character and I strived to use heavy descriptors in order to get the point across the reader. I actually created a map in order to keep myself on track as to where Sid the Sheriff was traveling next in his quest to gather clues about his missing wife, Sally.
I grew up watching the television show, Tales from the Crypt. Each show was only thirty minutes long, but the episodes were jam packed with twists which totally kept the viewer off guard. With everything I write, I want to grant the reader just that. I love being shocked; I love not knowing where a book or movie is going. Even better, I love being wrong in my guess of how a story ends. For me, it makes a fun ride just like the sudden drops and turns of a roller coaster.
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One Bad Fur Day
K. Trap Jones
Call it odd, call it off-beat, call it fantasy; but don’t think for a moment that One Bad Fur Day is anything other than a suspense driven horror ride that blurs the lines between harsh reality and brutal imagery…
As Hurricane Katrina barrels through the Louisiana bayous, the animal population is forced to deal with the tumultuous upheaval of their world. Sheriff Sid and his wife are caught completely off-guard by the natural disaster unfolding around them as they battle not only the turbulent winds and flooding waters, but heinous acts committed by other creatures inhabiting the backwaters. Following a brutal assault on his wife, Sid is forced to fight off voodoo-priestess snakes, a junkyard raccoon, deceitful badgers, and a band of roving power-hungry alligators. While clinging to his tenuous hold as sheriff, Sid must find a way to recapture what is rightfully his and exact his revenge.
- Trap Jones does a fantastic job of pairing the genuine horror of a natural disaster with a story of deceit, betrayal and vengeance that pulls you in and forces the reader to identify with Sid as he journeys through the darkest reaches of the bayous, facing deadly encounters, on One Bad Fur Day!
One Bad Fur Day is available at:
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Barnes & Noble (Print & eBook)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – K. Trap Jones is an author of horror novels and over 50 short stories. With inspiration from Dante Alighieri and Edgar Allan Poe, he has a temptation towards narrative folklore, classic literary works and obscure segments within society.
His novel THE SINNER (Blood Bound Books) won the 2010 Royal Palm Literary Award. His splatterpunk novella, THE DRUNKEN EXORCIST has been released by Necro Publications. His narrative horror short story collection, THE CROSSROADS is available from Hazardous Press.
He is also a member of the Horror Writer’s Association and can be found lurking around Tampa, Florida.
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