A Ghost Story for January!
“He scudded past the golden maple and the bay tree, and there they all were in the summer- house which was home. And he took a flying leap up the steps and was among them.
It was there that Calloway found him next morning. He must indeed have run up the winding path like a boy, for the new-laid gravel was spurned at long intervals by the toe prints of his shoes.”
( Pirates, by EF Benson).
1) Note down at least one of your favourite ghost stories and remind yourself of the reason for the ghost’s presence. Think about the ingredients that make for a successful ghost story: atmosphere, setting, the ghost’s motivation, the twist.
- All good ghost stories involve at least one highly motivated ghost and lots of atmosphere. Our favourite ghost stories manipulate our anticipation and unnerve us with their distinctive qualities and troubling ways.
- Think about the way the writer manipulates the narrative to destabilise the equilibrium of both protagonist and reader.
- Sometimes writers play around with the interchangeable relationship between the living and the dead and remind us that the living can be as spectral as the past. The ghost and the protagonist exist in an uneasy relationship, in a progressively uneasy place.
Here are a few writers talking about the popularity and function of ghost stories. Do you find their thoughts interesting?
- Ghost stories ..Tell us about things that lie hidden within all of us, and which lurk outside all around us…(Susan Hill)
- We are all ghosts. We all carry inside us, people who came before us.(Liam Callahan)
- Always, there has been something personal about ghost stories. ( Robert Dunbar)
- Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within.(Shirley Jackson)
- The narrator, I think, must succeed in frightening himself before he can think of frightening his reader.( EF Benson)
- It is always Christmas Eve in a ghost story.( Jerome K Jerome)
- We need ghost stories because we, in fact, are ghosts.( Stephen King)
Preparation task.
2). Before we start your story think of something you or your protagonist fear. Make a note. And consider the tone of your story. Will it be serious, comic, innocent, grim, sympathetic, curious, a mixture?
3) If you already know who your ghost might be, then make a note of their character and a brief biography. You can change your mind! Set rules, limitations on your ghost’s powers.
Writing Task.
For two minutes introduce your protagonist in a setting with your chosen atmosphere. Make your character do something in this setting. Ordinary is good as it can become extraordinary.
(Then as prompted, respond to each question for a minute or so developing your story ideas….)
- Why?
- And?
- And?
- So?
- And?
- But?
- So?
- But?
Now review what you have written.
Change or add to your writing.
Can you recognise any theme you wish to pursue?
