Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-25132251-20140801160050/@comment-25148755-20140802044313

Teen goes crazy and starts killing people = JtK formula, so yeah, this falls into that category.

Now, I am not a particular fan of JtK. I could go into detail but basically it is written rather poorly, infested with gaping plot holes, and for me was honestly not all that enjoyable to read. Unfortunately it is also insanely popular so it's not going away any time soon, nor are its many derivatives.

This story is just...bland. The one thing that made it sort of interesting to me was at the very beginning regarding Vanessa talking to the shadows. But then you went and immediately abandoned that thread and turned this into just another rote story that basically goes like this: 1.) Something weird is happening 2.) I'm getting homicidal urges 3.) I killed someone; it was great! 4.) This just in: Vanilla serial killer still at large.

There are two things you can do to make a good story. a: come up with a unique idea that has never been done before (this is incredibly hard to do and even harder to do well) or b: take a tried and true archetype, put your spin on it, and make it your own (which is easier.)  In this case, you chose b., but you really did nothing to make it stand out from the rest.