: Re: How do I write a shriek? I'm trying to write a shriek, something like "AHHHHH!" or "AAAAH!". However, I don't really want to use all caps and repeated letters. Does anyone know any other techniques

Think about how the effect of articulating the shriek against describing it is used with good effect in Harry Potter. If a shriek or an involuntary yell happened to be for something that wasn't truly scary (like a cat licking your toe), then it adds to the fact that both you and the character are likely to be chuckling about the unexpected fright straight afterward.

If, however, your antagonist appears and starts to do horrible things to people, then using an "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!" will undoubtedly soften the message of truly horrifying terror that the reader is meant to experience.

It would work far better for a serious situation to say something like:

The Dark Lord of Wherever rose from the ground, his fingers reaching out and clutching the throat of the person beside him. The woman standing beside him shrieked in horror as her partner died before her eyes.

You can feel this is far more sinister, and the reader will be more likely to be take away the impression you are aiming for.

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: Re: How do I write a shriek? I'm trying to write a shriek, something like "AHHHHH!" or "AAAAH!". However, I don't really want to use all caps and repeated letters. Does anyone know any other techniques

More posts by @Gretchen741

: How much indirection is too much? I'm writing a chapter with a lot of indirection, and I'm wondering if I'm doing too much of it. To be specific, it is the main character remembering an event

: How does one go about describing someone doing Naruto like hand symbols? Like how do I describe if someone is doing symbols with their hands like this? I want to describe specific hand formation

: Are the most successful authors like Stephen King and Jk Rowling all trade-published? I mean are the most famous authors usually trade-published or are there some self-published others that are

: How do I make it clear that someone is going through something, like Obito and not like someone pushed through something? Thereâ€™s a car and itâ€™s going through a fence and I say â€œthe

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