You have options at the start presuming you have relatives or siblings, a friend, or even your favorite teacher. I gave a copy of one of my stories to my English teacher once. Teachers want you to succeed and become a bonafide responsible adult with a thriving career so if they see you have talent they will tell you, and likewise admit if something in your work is off. My first beta reader ever was my dad. He helped me self publish my first book and for years read every several pages of a story I never finished to help me and guide me if I was doing good or straying too far. 

If you have the funding for it, I suggest going to Fiverr and looking for someone there. Some need an entire manuscript before accepting your work, others are fine with several chapters and their prices vary by wordcount. If looking for a professional, MAKE SURE they are a professional and check their reviews. Who are the reviewers, and what are they saying? Does this person have any educational background in the area, any degrees, these aren’t necessary but do add credibility and that’s what you need before hiring a professional. 

So finding a beta reader can be intimidating but it is easier than it sounds. Find people who care about you and tell yourself, remind yourself, that you need their help and you have to let go and ask for it for that to happen.

The post HOW TO FIND BETA READERS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR CONFIDENCE appeared first on Author Claytth.

Anyway, when editing your book: the biggest thing you’re looking for (in my opinion) is, “Does it make sense?” An example of this is my favorite character, Chiyo, in my book Agony. She was always meant to be the sensitive character of the group… She wasn’t like the others, she was fearful, couldn’t stand up for herself— but because she was so different from everyone. She gave them an outside perspective and a heart. At least to me, that’s who she is supposed to be— In the first draft, however, that was not the case. Chiyo was basically a toxic girlfriend by complete accident in the first draft. She gaslit Claire, blamed things on her, wouldn’t hear her out, and when she would vent her side of the story: it always sounded like Claire’s didn’t matter. 

Another example is that in the first two drafts, Claire was unnecessarily mean towards her best friend. Somehow, I had created this strange thing between them where Rachel had done something that made Claire permanently pissed off at Rachel and untrusting toward her. I’m not sure how I did that, but these two examples are clear reasons for the mandatory process of editing your book. You need to read through everything you wrote and check if the conversations line up, if the undertone is correct, “Does it make sense?” 

When working with someone else and getting help to edit, I would say: check what they’ve done before to get an idea of what they’ve worked with. I have only ever truly worked with one editor, as the others only helped proofread, so my editor is easy to work with because we know each other. She understands what I’m going for and doesn’t take the wheel, just completely changing things willy-nilly regardless of my vision for the story. She helps find what I’m looking for. So, getting to know your editor (I would say) is essential. Find someone who has experience, see if you can find examples of their work, and then talk to them. Try to explain what your work is about. The more they know about you and what you enjoy doing, the easier it’ll be to get on the same wavelength!

The post Tips For New Authors: Editing Lessons I Learned The Hard Way appeared first on Author Claytth.

This is how I write, but not necessarily how others should. Everyone has their own method, but it’s important to stay flexible and willing to accept change since you may find a better way that suits you more.

Every idea starts with a song. The radio at work, some mysterious tune I hear in the background of a video, a boss theme in a game… That initial beat steals my attention and calls me to listen. Music is my muse! It’s never the same song, but one can sprout multiple ideas. My point is that every book starts with a song, and therefore, when I write: I must either listen to that same one, or something similar.

When I was writing Agony, my playlist consisted of a genre called “Traumacore”— and that may sound disturbing to someone unfamiliar with it, but it’s actually very comforting. The genre is full of music that’s not technically sad, but it feels like it could be. It’s hard to describe. It’s like when I listen to it, I find comfort in this misery. It’s a pain that I’ve accepted, and who I am. That’s not bad, it’s just life, and listening to this playlist made me feel alive and not so alone. These feelings are what I needed to write “Agony”, as Claire is dealing with wanting to live but seeing no other choice but to die. Matching the songs, the tone, and (sometimes) their messages to the book I am writing is mandatory. Sure, I could listen K-Pop while writing a tank battling a convoy of mercenaries in the desert, despite it sounding ludicrous and off genre… but it’s a case-by-case basis, and what could seem like the wrong song for a book may actually be the most important.

So before I sit down to write, it’s crucial to pick an appropriate playlist for my book or the current scene I am writing. Next, I read a little bit of what I have written previously (to get me fully immersed in the world I’m creating), and then I begin to see what comes next. I turn into a drooling, possessed creature just spasming out words onto the page for several hours.

For those of you stuck on the first page— that white, unbreakable wall that stares you down— I do have some advice. Break it. Dominate it. Make it your bitch. That wall doesn’t own you: this is your world, and it needs to take it.

In other words, just start writing. Tell yourself that whatever you put down isn’t the beginning. It’s not the first chapter, and it’s not permanent. That first page of Agony was, indeed, agonizing! I could not figure out how to start the book, and in fact, I didn’t find out what the start of the book was until the second draft. I SKIPPED the beginning and went straight to the part where Claire arrives at the ghost town. I knew I needed a beginning, but wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be… so I decided to reevaluate upon completion, and I knew that when I had finished: my awesome beta reader would tell me what was missing. Yes, a beta reader— Never write without one. I had two!
My first draft of Agony was trash. A little peek of what the first draft was like is that the ghost (Zelde, in the bar scene towards the middle of the book) was a secret secondary antagonist, and the creature was her drummer boyfriend.

So in summary, find a method that works for you… and find a beta reader to help you fill in the blanks. Everything you write can be edited or replaced. Nothing is permanent, so don’t feel scared putting something terrible on the page. Because if it’s bad, then you now know what ISN’T going in the book!

May Your Pen Never Run Dry,

Clay Tarlton-Hensley

The post My Writing Process: What Works for Me appeared first on Author Claytth.

Horror has always been the genre people use to express their problems, the negative emotions they deal with, or to shed light on tough subjects. In a way, horror has always felt more real than other genres. When I browse for horror films or books: I always picture myself as if looking for an interesting documentary, one that has something special to say. This isn’t always the case, as 90% of what I find is (in my opinion) “gutter trash”… but now and then, I find a movie that actually hits that spot I want to itch.

But my writing draws inspiration from other forms of media, too, such as video games. Once again, I’m gonna talk about Silent Hill 2— a big inspiration for Agony. This game was incredible from my very first play-through, and somehow I got the “Maria” ending for my first run (without knowing there were alternate endings). This may sound impossible, given how difficult that ending is to achieve on purpose— I know— but I think the reason I got it was because of who I was during that time in my life. I was a very lonely teenager. A hopeless romantic chasing the perfect girlfriend, the idealized partner. To get that ending in SH2 is essentially doing the same thing. James (the MC of SH2) has to ignore any and every artifact of his sick wife, Mary (who died), and chase after Maria. Maria is his idealized version of Mary. James accepted his sins… and his reward for that was Maria. Years later, when I played the remake: I assumed I would effortlessly get the same ending on my first try. However, I got the “Leave” ending. I was floored, shocked, and confused! I had never seen that ending before. As a kid, I either got “In Water” or “Maria”— but now, in my thirties: I finally got “Leave”, the easiest ending to get! I would like to think it means I have grown as a person… but it could just be the easiest ending to get.

I explained all that because SH2 is a horror game— an incredibly emotional, thought-provoking horror game about real issues. Hence why I write horror. There is so much to be said within the genre of horror that feels out of place in others! There can be this grand comedy of trying to reclaim a great treasure and all the hilarious highjinks that go with it. But then the comedy stops just long enough to develop a more serious tone for a moment of reflection… before the fun begins again and stays until the end. To me, that is a childish way of talking about something serious! The true meaning and the weight of that serious moment are easily forgotten, evaporating in the laughs afterwards. The “action” genre holds a lot of great, thought-provoking moments as well… but that’s not why people gravitate towards that genre—  so it’s never the core experience. With horror books: the entire experience is everything you try to ignore, and it chases you relentlessly until you face it. You expect bad things to happen in horror! For example: you may enter willingly into an uncomfortable talk about your addiction, that you can’t control yourself anymore, and the fact that you need help. In horror, this would be a pièce de résistance scene. Or you may enter the lion’s den knowing the danger, so you’re only mildly surprised when your ex bursts out of its chest whilst yelling “You need to wake up; it’s been three years!”. A grand reveal coupled with some good-old-fashioned metaphorical gore! 

I do plan to write other genres, I’m just starting with horror as it’s my go-to when I want to relax with a bowl of popcorn or a cup of coffee.

Horror Enthusiast At Heart,

Clay Tarlton-Hensley

The post Why I Write Horror Stories appeared first on Author Claytth.

Writing a book is difficult; everyone knows that. However, that difficulty falls within a completely different scope for those who do write than for those who don’t. I’ve known (and still know) many who wanted to write and had amazing ideas, but never got to start their journey. My Uncle Carl led a rich and incredible life that only he will ever know. I have fragments of what he said happened to him in ‘Nam, his incredible encounters and memories of his time in Key West— but the world will never know what truly happened to him before he passed away from cancer. He wanted to write a book; however, too many obstacles prevented him from doing so. I thought he could overcome them (or at least, I could help)… but life got in the way.

Years later, I met an elderly woman through my sister. We were helping her get rid of a few things in her house. While there, I sensed she was like me: a creative person with a burning passion. We talked about how she wanted to write a book, but like many others, she was stuck in the plotting phase. She needed to know every detail before starting. A month-or-so after, she passed away. Another tragic loss for this world! To never know what words she could have shared, who she might have inspired, or helped… It’s a true tragedy.

Those are two people who always stay with me when I think of my writing. I needed to write this book, and what’s more: I needed to publish it and share it with as many people as I could. Agony is just the beginning; it was always meant to be only the beginning. However, it was written as a one-off. Just in case destiny decided I, too, couldn’t share my dreams with everyone.

I wrote this book in a year (all drafts included), but I had planned everything for much longer than that. Originally, Agony had been written in 1st person/present tense. Anyone who writes (or avid book readers) might recognize that’s not a popular style… and for very good reason! It feels alien, despite the fact that it’s exactly how we live. I wanted to write it this way because I felt it was the best way for people to experience Claire’s struggle with depression. Everything would be in the moment, and all her thoughts were on every page. However, once I got to the third draft, I said, “Nah, I’m good.”

The biggest problem for me with the first two drafts was describing, well, everything. I do not like 1st person POV stories, I REALLY don’t like them. They feel limiting to me in the scope of how a story can be told. Ironic, then, that I thought it was the best way to tell her story. So once I got to the third draft, I rewrote all of Claire’s scenes because she was the only character with a 1st person POV. Everyone else was in 3rd.

Experienced writers would say that right there was also a problem, but I— ever the nonconformist— felt I could do what others couldn’t (or wouldn’t).

Anyway, that was the biggest hurdle I had to get over in writing the book. As for publishing, well, it’s gonna be a bit before I have an answer for that. What I can say is this: If you want to write, then just do it.

Get over yourself. Find whatever is stopping you and fight back. If you don’t have time, make time. If you need to plot everything out first, then at least write something— anything! I guarantee you will find more answers to your problems by actually writing than just thinking about it. In fact, I find more problems on top of the ones I already have just by writing… BUT, those same fresh problems provide answers for the old ones. Just as in everything else, you need to practice.

Don’t let your dreams wither away with you! Share them, please, so that the world can be a better place.

Yours in Inking and Thinking,

Clay Tarlton-Hensley

The post The Messy, Scary, and Amazing Journey of Publishing My First Book appeared first on Author Claytth.

I wrote this book to help people, and I wanted to create characters that were diverse. I wanted everyone to feel different and struggle with something only they could understand, but couldn’t deal with alone. Claire obviously suffers from Clinical Depression. Chiyo suffers from guilt and shame from homophobic parents, Amo’s muscle dysmorphia, and Rachel (who chose the burden of leadership).

All of these people face a horrifying evil monster that knows them better than themselves and can use their trauma against them. The monster is a mirror, and in that sense: they never fight it, but always themself. When fighting our demons, we know our weakness, we know what hurts, but we don’t always know what can help us. This is why Claire and her friends stand a real chance when entering that ghost town: they have each other. The bravest thing they do is to face themselves, and then ask for help because they know they can’t win without it.

Since I was a kid, I have been a fan of Silent Hill. This book draws a lot of obvious inspiration from that franchise, but one thing that I love the most— besides its deep psychological horrors— is a boss fight in Silent Hill 3. Near the end of the game: you are on a carousel elevator, and Heather faces a dark shadow version of herself. Now, Heather is not who she thinks she is. This shadow is not just a spooky “Oh, I’m you but evil!”. It really IS her, another version of her. This fight is about facing her inner demon and conquering it. Heather is blessed in this way, as we can never have that opportunity. The takeaway I gained from that boss fight is what I wanted to bring to this book and others: a real face-off with what lies beneath these characters, and whether they fold under pressure and submit to their agony… Or if they find the courage to ask for help and fight back. 

Circling back to my “struggle with something only they could understand” point, not everyone understands all the different emotional problems people have. Some people are blessed not to have anxiety or depression, and I’ve heard them say they can’t understand what that’s like for those who do. This was a major reason I wrote Agony, and why every character is so diverse. If you’ve never lost someone close to you, then you can’t truly understand what that feels like. Likewise, if you’ve never finished a mile run race, you can’t understand the joy that person could feel. Those are unique to them; our problems and triumphs are our own. By joining these characters, I (hopefully) could accurately convey what it’s like to be them. The guilt of having to give up what you love to appease those who think of themselves; the shame of wanting what you’re told is wrong; the alienation of oneself within their own body and how that affects their life. The agonizing emptiness of depression. Real people go through these problems, and I thought it was important for people who don’t to possibly find a way to understand by reading Agony. So, the next time you try to help a friend who is suffering: you won’t sound like a broken record you heard from someone else or like you didn’t know what they were talking about

Eternal Fan of Silent Hill,

Clay Tarlton-Hensley

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