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Jun 8, 2017 · A really effective ghost story rests solidly within the purview of the stuff of real life, the grounding details of everyday routines. Henry James, who liked to speak of “the terrors of the cheerful country home,” said that a good ghost story must be “connected at a hundred points with the common objects of life.”.
- Choose Your Scare Level
- Know Your Lore
- Play with Setting
- Think Atmosphere
- Be Visual
- Research Your Audience Expectations
- Conclusion
- Purchase The Ghost’s Call
Sure, you’re writing a story with ghosts in. But does it needto be scary? Obviously the concept of ghosts is, in itself, scary. But there are plenty of successful books out there that contain ghosts which aren’t scary, such as Robyn Peterman’s Good to the Last Death series. There are also lots of films and TV shows that have done non-scary ghosts, ...
You need to know your ghost lore and be consistent with it. It really helps to have it written down somewhere safe so that you can’t forget it. 1. How does your ghost appear? 2. Whendo they appear? 3. What do they look like? 4. How do they cross over? 5. Where do they go? It’s up to you how close you want to base your writing on existing ghost lore...
There are lots of settings which are common in ghost stories, from haunted houses to ghost ships. How could you play with those settings? Consider how ghosts interact with their surroundings. How easy is it for them to be corporeal and move objects? Does it change based on where they are? I’ve read some books/watched some shows where ghosts can’t d...
Atmosphereis really important in a ghost story. You want people to feel the tension, and that requires a certain writing style. This was something new to me, but my poetrybackground helped. Poetry is all about evoking a certain feeling in someone using language, which is exactly what you need to bring atmosphere to life. If you’re like me, and your...
To bring your atmosphere to life, you want to be as visual in your description as possible. Stuart MacBride does this brilliantly in his first Logan McRae book, Cold Granite. While it isn’t a ghost story, his crime is the perfect balance of plot, characters, and description. The description brings the characters, world, and plot to life in a way th...
Who are you writing your ghost story for? Fantasy readers? Mystery readers? Young adult readers? Children? The genre, subgenres, and audience of your book should play a big part in how you bring your book to life. The Ghost’s Callis a ghostly version of paranormal women’s fiction, which means it has a forty-something divorcee as a main character, a...
There are lots of elements to consider when writing a ghost story, but, when it comes down to it, the key elements are similar to writing any fantasy story. The most important thing you need is consistency. When you forget your own ghost lore, you can dig yourself into a hole and emerge with fewer fans and more negative reviews. You want your lore ...
My first fantasy novel, The Ghost’s Call, is out a week TODAY! It’s available to preorder now from the following retailers: 1. Apple Books 2. Amazon UK 3. Amazon US 4. Kobo 5. Other retailers
- A family moves into an old Victorian home, discovering a small child's drawings predicting the future.
- On Halloween night, a group of friends explores a haunted house, finding clues to a true crime.
- A young girl starts writing a story, but her characters, dead people from the town’s past, start appearing in her room at night.
- The ghost ship that harbors the lost souls of sailors appears every full moon near a small town. A young boy decides to venture out and meet them.
Nov 14, 2023 · Writer and The Ghost Story Book Club podcast host Adam Z. Robinson shares his top tips for structuring a page-turning ghost story.
- To write a story first, you must decide who your ghost is. This may sound simple, but who your ghost is will determine a lot about your ghost story in terms of characterization, world-building, and plot.
- Think about what your ghost wants. To be a ghost is to be a person who can’t or won’t move on to whatever comes after death. The writer’s question then becomes why the ghost in their story is still attached to the living world.
- Explore what your ghost can do. How physical are your ghosts? Can they move things around three-dimensional space or manipulate electricity? Can they be seen by anyone, or can they only manifest around psychic mediums?
- Ask yourself if your ghost is friendly or malevolent. Personally, I can never think of ghosts as frightening just because they are dead. After all, they were ordinary human beings before they passed away.
Jan 29, 2012 · Writing a good ghost story is hard, but when your readers say they can no longer walk down dark hallways and complain of trouble sleeping, that feeling is totally worth it! To sum up, here are the main things to keep in mind when writing a ghost story: Use the unknown to turn your readers’ imagination against them
Oct 29, 2020 · Ten top tips for writing a spooky story for Halloween. 1. Decide on a mood or atmosphere. Ghost stories are all about atmosphere. Everyone reading one knows they are going to encounter a ghost of some kind – they’re looking to be caught up in the mood of your story.
