No, Ruth. I am not writing a horror novel but believe it or not, a male at 49, I have just begun AWAI's Romance Writing course! If AWAI had a horror writing course, I would have opted for that over Romance. I just love horror - movies and books and I hero-worship Stephen King:)
I live in rural India (an ex-Portuguese colony) where horror and real life are almost the same. Witch craft is still practiced a lot for revenge, for wealth, for detection work, for keeping a boyfriend from wandering off, you name it! And all religions (including the Roman Catholics) have their brand of witch craft. Catholic girls who cross the marrying age of 26, are known to hang the statutues of St. Anthony down deep wells till they get men to marry them!!
My father, an 86-year old dental surgeon (still practicing) and a small-game hunter, came across a so-called witch in a forest at midnight. To him, her glowing eyes were just 'glaucoma' but not to me...
No, I don't think I can use Nick's method for fiction - not because of the method but because fiction seems too daunting a task for me. I write only non fiction (and I fictionalize it a lot:) and always use Nick's method because its the best I have read so far and I have read a lot! What I like best about his method is that you don't have to start researching like mad. And I don't particularly enjoy researching:( I'd rather pay someone to research my topic and then write it in my style. Another thing that appeals to me (or would appeal to any manager) is that he stresses on organizing the project - then you know where you are heading and once you know that, you'll not only get there, but you'll save time.
I have a copy of NewNovelist for fiction but I use it for learning about fiction-writing. When the time comes to write - you guessed it - my great romance novel, I'll probably buy a copy of WritePro. Wish I could create a niche at a spot where historical romance set in the Indo Portuguese era 400 years back, intersects with horror!
Noel