Ringdom Writing Guide

Chapter 13 Escaping Writing Contest---Survival Horror (I)

Hey guys! Ringdom Escaping Writing Contest launched is on fire! 

We have published the writing guides for the contest themes, Battle Royale and Fatal Exploration.  Feel free to check our previous articles. 

Now, let’s move on to the 3rd one, Survival Horror!

Want a $6000 cash prize? Acquaint yourself with Survival Horror themes through 5 questions!

1. What is Survival Horror?

Survival Horror stories usually describe the escape and survival of the main character (MC) as a crisis hits their normal life.

Battle Royal stories generally occur in closed areas, while Fatal Exploration stories usually involve mysterious relics. Compared with these two themes, the keyword for Survival Horror is "Survival." The MC must make all efforts to escape and survive after encountering unexpected crises, such as alien invasion, weird phenomena, serial killings, etc. 

Let's take the plotline of The Cabin in the Woods as an example:

A group of students wants to enjoy their weekend in a remote forest cabin, but they don't know they are the chosen sacrifices. They fall victim to backwoods zombies, while those who caused that manipulate events from an underground facility, taking those events as a game.

In a typical Survival Horror story, the MCs' holiday is ruined by foreign attacks, and survival is the only thing that occupies their minds.

2. How to build a crisis?

There is no limit to the crisis setting. it depends entirely on your imagination.

The cabin in the Woods brought together the well-known monstrous creatures in horror movies.

If you want to highlight the crisis bloodiness, the place setting in Cube Zero and the chilling devices in Saw are good references. 

Suppose you are more interested in realistic themes. In that case, you can create your story referring to No Country for Old Men, giving the MC no choice but escape after he accidentally confronts criminals such as killers and gangsters.

In a word, if your work could send a chill down the reader's spine, but they just can't put it down, congratulations, you got it!

Btw, our previous writing guide for Suspense/Thriller genre has a detailed explanation of crisis construction. If interested, you are welcome to check it for more information~

3. How to design the beginning of a novel?

Designing an opening for a Survival Horror story is not a hard nut to crack.

In Survival Horror novels, what will happen is unknown to both the readers and the MC. 

Authors can start the story with a thrilling plot, skipping detailed background and character introduction. 

For example, Saw enters the story without explaining the background, quickly arousing readers' interests:

The MC wakes up and finds himself in a strange place without knowing why. Suddenly, a mysterious man appears and tells the MC that he must abide by certain rules if he doesn't want to die.

The readers may soon have doubts: Who is the MC? Who is the mysterious man? Why did the mysterious man do such a thing?

Of course, it does not mean that the background of characters, worldview, and other details are meaningless.

As plots unfold, readers will gradually learn about the characters' personalities, backgrounds, and the world setting. On the one hand, character images will be more vivid, and readers will be more immersed in the story. On the other hand, readers won't feel bored or confused, which often happens when too much information is given at once. 

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So that's all for today! The rest guide on the Survival Horror theme will come later lol

We hope today's guide can bring you more inspiration on this theme! 

If you have any ideas, start your writing journey here! We are looking forward to your beautiful stories!