Marcus Kliewer: Write for Five Minutes a Day
Marcus Kliewer is a writer and stop-motion animator. His debut novel We Used to Live Here began life as a serialized short story on Reddit, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award on the NoSleep forum (18 million members). Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it was acquired by Simon & Schuster in the US for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel. He lives in Vancouver, Canada. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Marcus Kliewer
Photo by Brian Van Wyk
In this interview, Marcus discusses the unsettling question he was asked that led to his debut novel, We Used to Live Here, his advice for other writers, and more!
Name: Marcus Kliewer
Literary agent: Liz Parker (Verve)
Book title: We Used to Live Here
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books
Release date: June 18, 2024
Genre/category: Horror, Psychological Thriller
Elevator pitch: Eve Palmer, people-pleaser to a fault, lets a seemingly harmless family into her new home after the father claims to have grown up there. But of course, the “15-minute” nostalgia tour quickly turns into an ever-escalating horror show.
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What prompted you to write this book?
When I was a kid, we visited a house my parents used to live in. The new owner asked my parents if they had “ever experienced anything strange here.” There was more than a hint of reluctance in the question, which deeply unsettled me. Up until that moment, most adults telling “ghost stories” always seemed excited to share, but this guy looked embarrassed, ashamed even. It felt like he was reaching out to my parents for some kind of external validation.
That seed of a memory lodged itself into my psyche until, over two decades later, it inspired We Used to Live Here.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
We Used to Live Here has gone through many iterations. Initially, I wrote it as a one-part (much darker) story on the horror subreddit r/Nosleep. Due to overwhelming interest in the world and its characters, I expanded it into a four-part series, which Netflix bought the screen rights to. After that, a separate book deal resulted in this novel version. Between all three versions, it’s been nearly a three-year process.
In some ways, the story structure and characters have dramatically evolved, but the foundation has always remained: Eve Palmer allows a peculiar family into her home and soon comes to regret it.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
The biggest shock was getting blurbs from well-established authors. It’s still surreal to have anyone reading my work, let alone writers I’ve looked up to for years. When the first quotes came in from Alma Katsu and Nick Cutter, I literally had to sit down.
With this being my debut novel, the entire process has been quite the learning experience. I’d say learning to schedule my time and focus on writing has been the biggest thing. I come from a 9-5 job background, so it’s both a blessing and a curse to suddenly have so much freedom. If I get too rigid with my schedule, it stifles creativity, it I get too flexible, I never get anything done. It’s a balance I’m still figuring out.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Adapting a short series into a full-blown novel was much harder than expected. I’m always looking for things to cut and ways to crank up the pacing. But in this book, I had to lengthen and expand, all the while trying to maintain the tension of the original story. It felt like dismantling a finished car, only to rebuild it into a double-decker bus.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Some readers might learn a lesson about the dangers of people-pleasing, especially if they grew up in a hyper-religious environment and/or live with anxiety. As an anxiety-ridden, recovering people-pleaser myself, I found it quite therapeutic to write. But ultimately, I’m trying to tell a scary story—if people feel uneasy while reading it, I’ve succeeded.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Write for five minutes a day, at least four days a week. (It’s amazing how often a five-minute session can turn into 30 minutes, or 60…) If you can’t think of anything to write, find a book or a screenplay or any written work you love, and copy it word for word, typing as fast as you can with no regard for errors. Nothing has improved my craft more than this.
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