The easiest way to make MEMORABLE spooky storytelling. (not just tense and moody)🔮

I've been making horror stories for the last few years, and I've researched the mechanics of storytelling as to be honest...it fascinates me.  

Be The Bite Interactive offers narrative consulting to elevate your horror storytelling, so sign up for that here: bio.site/bethebite 

The easiest (and most ancient) format of storytelling is the monomyth. What is it? Why does it exist? Why is it important? If you haven't heard of the monomyth, there's some great resources out there by scholar Joseph Campbell. Basically, there is a recognizable format of storytelling that transcends cultures and ages.

Bottom line is, storytelling is innate to human beings and provides spiritual and meaningful context to our lives. The monomyth, is the structure that moves the story along and has been seen in many ancient myths to modern ones. I'll go into depth into the Monomyth in a later post, for now all you need to know is the basic idea: 

Main character(s) is required to go through meaningful trials, to serve and realise a higher power. Then bring back their newfound knowledge to help others. 

Just by following this structure alone, you will have a better and more memorable story then 80 percent of fiction out there! 

Is the monomyth enough to make a memorable horror story? Sort of. But it doesn't provide much to go by, other than a narrative thread. Therefore my myth formula comes into play. Plug it into your story directly into a strong, sturdy and recognizable work of memorable storytelling. 

The Mythic Method - use the below right away to move your fiction far away from sluggish and boring. 

Moral of the story- the reason the story exists, embedded into the journey of the main character(s). This is vital for memorability, but also for having touching moments with the struggles of the main characters. Ever sat through a film, and thought...but what was the point? By defining your moral, you have a reliable mantra to reflect upon whenever writing big scenes. You can give even trivial or bad ideas a real run for their money IF they align with the moral of the story.

Stakes- these are WHY the characters be involved in anything. Memorable characters should be forced to make choices, and these subsequently have realm altering consequences. Internal stakes drive emotional beats. External stakes drive tension. You need to mix these up to engage the viewer and keep them interested in your characters actions and dialogue. Take a deep dive and think about WHY things happen to your characters, worlds and plot points. 

MOTIFS- are repeating narrative beats, they should textually referenceable, i.e. recognisable iconography. Think robots, zombies or monsters from modern myths. Try modern events/time periods etc, music, movies, themes. Anything can be a motif, but it needs to be reference and relevant to your fiction world. If you have a recurring motif, you have a solid through-line of ever-ending ideas. And these are the things that people nerd out on, include 3-4 main motifs in your story. A great example is Netflix's billion dollar franchise Stranger Things, it has effective motifs. 
These are: -Government conspiracy, D&D monsters/lore, Spielberg/King vibes, 80s movies and era.

This is basic myth-making, overlooked when making general horror. Every story has massive potential, but they all boil down to key concepts. SO why not give these ago, and see if your story starts to feel grander, more meaningful and more exciting. I have even more to the formula and more ideas, but use these straight away for immediate results. Stay tuned!