How To Write Your Own Gothic Novel

So you’ve decided to write a Gothic novel!  After years of heaving after Heathcliff and devouring volumes full of villains, you’ve decided to slip through the secret door to the wonderful world of overwrought romances.  But where to begin?  Never fear!  How to Write Your Own Gothic Novel is here!

Following Aristotle’s Poetics, we’ll take a look the six elements of storytelling:

• Plot
• Character
• Thought (Philosophy)
• Language/Music (Style)
• Spectacle

Plot

Gothic novels more or less have one main theme: Damsel Meets Distress.  Of course, you can spice this up through adding in some mystery, or romance, or betrayal, revenge, really intense geneology, etc.—but all of this is window dressing.  Perfectly horrid, deliciously sinister window dressing that will set your Gothic novel apart from others—but the most important element is the distressing damsel!

Characters

Naturally, this means that there are really only three characters that your Gothic novel needs:

The Damsel

It takes a certain type of girl to be curious enough to get into scrapes, but not quite spunky enough to get out of them.  The ability to faint on cue, the ownership of at least one flimsy negligée, and a penchant for putting herself in harm’s way are a definite plus!

The Hero

Every heroine deserves a hero: preferably one who is dashing, passionately chaste, and a pretty piece of man-flesh.  Intelligence is not a prerequisite, although he must be observant enough to know when to rescue the girl.  If he’s titled, with a multi-syllabic name, and a tendency to speak in a strangled tenor voice, you’ve got your man!

The Villain

Although sneering moustaches may be passé, the villain is really the entirety of the plot.  He (it’s usually a he) may be merely dastardly and two-dimensional—think Darth Vader before The Empire Strikes Back—although he can have the ability to repent.  He is almost always terribly sexy.  Think of the Phantom of the Opera.  He’s not necessarily good, but he’s very interesting!

Note: You can have a male protagonist, but in these cases, the Plot becomes the Fall of Man, and the protagonist never gets the girl.  Think Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dorian Gray, and of course Frankenstein!

Note the Second: A recent development in Gothic novels is that the Villain and the Hero are the same.  Think Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre (and before you argue, remember his wife!), or even *shudder* Edward from Twilight.  In these cases, however, the ‘Villain’ is merely sinister.  And fantastic at brooding.

Additional Characters

Three people do a very short novel make, and so you may consider adding other characters to round out your story:

(Travelling) Companions

Since most Gothic novels take place Elsewhere, the heroine may journey to the place of her eventual imprisonment with a Confidante, a Matron, or a Relation.

The Confidante is often also a woman, whose story may either mirror the heroine’s own (except with more immediate and probably ruinous consequences) or who may exist solely as a literary ear.  She may also be in cahoots with the Villain, and plotting the Damsel’s distress from the beginning.

The Matron—or occasionally, the Guardian—is a family friend, close acquaintance, or total stranger whose sole purpose is to give good, if frumpy advice at the beginning of the plot, and then to reiterate it amidst much fussing by the end of the plot.  Very rarely is this character in danger, mostly because if she met the Villain, she’d lecture him to death, and then criticize the condition of his cravat.

Relations are sometimes rare in Gothic novels, (although not as rare as they are in Fairy Tales!), since the novel would be very short if our heroine had concerned people looking out for her!  However, cousins for the Damsel to visit, absentee parents or guardians, or brothers making their fortunes on the bounding main are more than welcome.  So long as they stay out of the way of the plot.  However, if a Relation sticks around, then we can be assured that they’re almost invariably a really, really nasty Villain.

Servants

Since it’s entirely likely that you’ll set your Gothic novel among the upper class and in an older time period, you have the wide range of servants at your disposal.  Some popular types are the All-Knowing Housekeeper/Butler, the Plucky Maid, the Faithful Retainer, the Representative(s) of the Minion’s Guild, and the Unintelligible Wonder.

The All-Knowing Housekeeper/Butler, the chief(s) of all the servants, not only holds the key to all the pantries, s/he also holds the key to all the mysteries.  The ability to speak ominously but enigmatically is a must, since this character often provides the tour of the Villain’s home and therefore provides nearly all the clues.  This character is also completely biased and probably should not be trusted.

The Plucky Maid is the lower-class version of the Confidante.  However, since she is of baser birth, she can be employed as a spy or ally of the Damsel.  Like the other servants, however, she appears to be under some sort of oath not to spill all the beans to the correct authorities.  (Guild laws these days!)

The Faithful Retainer usually follows around the Hero and helpfully points out important things like: “Werewolf!”  He often has a multitude of tricks and abilities on his CV, such as knowledge of how to tie or untie an impossible knot, happening to carry an array of stakes and silver bullets, and the ability to somehow not upstage the hero.

The Representative(s) of the Minion’s Guild always work for the Villain.  Although not necessarily evil themselves, they are often not-quite-human, or prematurely arthritic, or hunchbacked, or hideously disfigured, or stitched together from something else.  They’re exactly like the Faithful Retainer, except they work for the other side…and can be easily swayed to help out the Damsel.

The Unintelligible Wonder mostly exists to show off the author’s ability to write dialect.  Often a servant who works out-of-doors or on the fringes of the plot, this character is more than happy to tell everything s/he knows about the mysteries of the place—except that almost no one can understand a thing s/he says.  As a consequence, most people think s/he’s irascible.

Thought—or a Digreſon about the Origins of Gothic Novels

Now you’re all set to write your Gothic novel, right?  Not quite!  You’ve got “Who” and the “What happens” but what we need now is the “Why.”  Why do you want to write a Gothic novel?  What idea do you want to explore?  And why is the Gothic form the best style in which to explore that idea?

It may be helpful at this point to take a step back and learn a little bit about the origins of the Gothic novel.  Most scholars agree that the first Gothic novel was The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, in 1764.  In it, he was attempting to mix the old romances (think the stories of chivalry like Spencer’s Faerie Queene) which were largely fantastic, with the new romances which would eventually become the realism triumphed by such authors as Jane Austen.

Intellectually, then, the origins of the Gothic novel were an attempt to update the still relatively new form of the novel with the Enlightenment worship of reason.  Hence, almost every Gothic novel includes many reasonable explanations for the extraordinary events that occur.  (This was pioneered by Radcliffe, and ruined by Leroux.)  However, emotionally, the Gothic novel is in some wise a rebellion against the worship of reason, since the characters are universally subject to their unrestrained passions.

This tug between polite and reasonable society, and the desire to “run mad as often as you choose [but do not faint],” is the central tension in many Gothic novels.  It’s that tug in the heroine to let herself be overcome by the sexy but forbidden (or incestual, or just plain creepy) fruit of the Villain, and the noble, if slightly less sexy, hand of the Hero.

So what are some common themes that fit well into the Gothic style?

• Innocence vs. experience
• Society vs. barbarism
• Virtue vs. vice
• Sense vs. sensibility

You get the general idea.

One further Digreſion

There’s an old adage that the only things you should never discuss are politics and religion.  That’s only half-true in a Gothic novel.  State politics aren’t of much interest, but you should absolutely include religion!  Catholicism is the choice for most Gothic novels—probably because it has the most tangible stuff (all those statues and sacramentals make great props!), but also because many of the Gothic novelists came from a society which violently distrusted Catholicism and yet was fascinated by it as well.  The author’s personal beliefs are not meant to be hidden in the Gothic novel.  Hence, we have:

• The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lucas, published in 1796, which chronicles the violent fall of a once-holy priest, amidst rape and incest and murder and a bevy of evil nuns.  The book continues the English prejudice against Spanish Catholics in particular, although it also concludes that the good should be rewarded (even if they don’t survive), while the evil should be punished.  Extensively.
• The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, published in 1794, bases much of its action around the mystery of the black veil, which is revealed to be a memento mori, which was a Catholic devotional image urging the viewer to remember that they will die, and so they should consider their actions now.  Since Radcliffe is writing from a gentrified Anglicanism, a few centuries removed from the immediate conflict of the Tudors’ religious upheavals, she is intrigued by these sacramentals, but sees them as nothing more than plot points.
• I Promessi Spousi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro M            anzoni, published in 1827, while considered an historical (and not Gothic) novel, nevertheless includes many of the same elements as a Gothic novel, including the abduction of a young girl from an abbey by a Villain known only as The Unnamed.  The difference here is that Catholicism is an intrinsic part of the fabric—which means that the novel includes wretched priests as well as saintly ones—and that the Unnamed, one of literature’s Biggest Bads, ultimately repents his actions at the end.

So, whatever your beliefs are, the Gothic novel welcomes them!  Just don’t talk politics.  We don’t care.

Language/Music

Let’s get into the fun elements that set a Gothic novel apart from other forms.  By “language” or “music” I mean the style of the writing.  There are quite a few tropes you can sneak in here.  I’ll list a few:

Gothic novels are quite welcoming of different forms, including:

• Epistolary novels, which as I wrote you before, my dearest confidante, are told through journals and letters, rather like that pallid gentleman—a Romanian Count of some sort, I believe—who complimented the curve of my neck while I danced with him last night at the Viscount de L—’s ball.  He was wearing the most flowing black opera cape, and…
• First person personal is a form I find daunting, since I’m given to understand that it reveals the most about the speaker’s mind.  However, as I am not an heroine, but only a lonely governess travelling to my new position at Blackthorne Hall, I have some surety that I shall fare well!  After all, I have been told that the previous applicant married the Lord of that Manor, and he—most obliged—gave her the run of his attics.
• Third person omniscient, which is perhaps the most common of all forms, allows this author to comment on the action of the moment—such as the danger Catherine was shortly to encounter when she stepped through the suddenly opened door—or to take a moment to speak to you directly, dear readers, about the necessity of Catherine’s otherwise foolhardy choice!

• Digressions!  This has been a noble staple of any piece of writing, from Herodotus’ History, which actually requires a map in order to keep his digressions from his digressions from his digressions in order, to Billy Budd by Herman Melville, Chapter 27 of which is titled “A Digression,” which is at least better advertising than Victor Hugo who tries to slip in entire VOLUMES worth of digressions about Parisian slang, Parisian sewer systems, and the history behind the Battle of Waterloo into his Les Misérables.  (Yes, he goes on for several chapters about the sewers.  But he’s third person omniscient.  He can.)

So, if a thought strikes you…digress away!  Like how awesome is it that they’re making mini-sized ice cream cones now?  Absolutely awesome.  Only you end up eating more than if it were a regularly sized one, because you think that since they’re smaller and have fewer calories, those calories don’t add up.  Speaking of which, I totally need a mini ice cream cone.

• Wherein We Learn that Chapter Titles May Be Both Descriptive, Amusing, and Longer Than the Chapter Itself.

• For when the west wind puffs and blows

In streams of very purple prose

The Poems that I might compose

I’ll make my readers read.

And should they of their worth complain

And beg on bended knees, “Refrain!

Nor torture us with verse again!”

I will their begging heed.

• Pseudonyms!  Wrote the Duchess of Malfi.

• Attribution: While travelling through the Cotswolds, I happened upon a quaint bookshop full of ancient volumes.  In perusing these, hoping to find a forgotten folio or even a bad quarto, I happened upon this narrative, written by some religious sister—whose name, obscured in the moment she took up the veil, remains now forever a mystery.  Finding myself intrigued by her tale of shockingly mundane breakfasts, I have endeavoured to translate the work, and present it now to you, dear reader, for the edification of those who have always wanted to creep beyond the convent walls and learn more about their brunches.

• Travelogue: Similar to the Digreſions, the Travelogue is a staple of not only the Gothic novel but other forms of the early novel as well.  When one considers that novels were the primary source of entertainment within the home, it is little wonder that authors (who were paid by the word) would slip a little Discovery Channel into their works, with little to no complaint from their readership.  From this, one might consider that the travelogue was much like browsing the web or watching the Amazing Race for a night, before being returned to one’s regularly scheduled story.  It’s also a great way to write off taxes.

Spectacle

At last we arrive at all those outrageous “extras” that one can only get away with in a Gothic novel.  I speak, of course of:

Conclusion

So what are you waiting for?  Get thee to your nearest balcony, dressed in the flimsiest gown you can muster, and get your Gothic on!  Happy distressing, Damsels!  May all your Heroes be hunks, and all your Villains easily vanquished!

Addendum

Oh…wait.  You wanted to write a Gothic novel parody?  No problem!  Everything above applies, just expand the Gothic elements to their logical absurdity (more thunderstorms! more trapdoors!) or reverse something (fainting heroes!  useless villains!).  Happy writing!

*****

Emily C. A. Snyder has been inventing stories since she was old enough to babble, and writing them down since she was old enough to dictate. A prolific writer, Snyder is the author of Austenesque  “Nachtsturm Castle” and “Letters of Love & Deception” available from Girlebooks.com, as well as the author of The Twelve Kingdoms series from Arx Publishing, LLC (arxpub.com).  In addition to novels, Snyder enjoys writing plays, such as “Wallace’s Will” available from from Playscripts, Inc. (playscripts.com).  When not writing, Emily can most often be seen teaching or directing Shakespeare. And when not doing that, chances are she’s driving aimlessly in her car, singing at the top of her lungs. For more information, please visit her website http://www.christianfantasy.net/emilycasnyder or http://www.youtube.com/gaudete.