Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime
Mine's a case of 'is it or isn't it a ghost?'! Well, I think it's like that...I've only just written the first draft this minute and I'm confused myself, so no doubt the reader will go 'eh?'!!! :)
[quote=toothlight] A 'ghost' has to be VISIBLE.[/quote]
Ghosts are not always visible, supposedly. More auditory. You know they're there, but you can't see them. And NOT seeing them is what scares us. Make your ghost visible and you lose that atmospheric impact.
@Red
But what about that amazing film with Nicole Kidman, where it's only revealed at the end the 'haunted' family are the REAL ghosts, cos that was all visual, but-wow!- what a tension. I agree with Paperbackwriter. I can see no reason why you cannot get an automatic reply email to say your story has been received.
[quote=toothlight]But what about that amazing film with Nicole Kidman, where it's only revealed at the end the 'haunted' family are the REAL ghosts[/quote]
The modern family that had moved into the house couldn't see the ghosts (i.e. Nicole and her children). As ghosts, they couldn't 'see' the modern family either, but they could hear things, sense them. A very clever film of perspectives. And because neither can actually 'see' each other, it actually helps maintain atmosphere and tension.
I've racked my brain trying to come up with a ghost story. I've looked at things in the house thinking "Can I make a ghost story out of that?". This morning I woke up with a fully-developed story in my head (totally unrelated to the things I'd been looking at for inspiration!).
I've just written it - first draft 47 words! Near enough perfect (the word count that is, I'm not bragging about the story).
Good luck to all TBers who enter. If I don't win I hope one of you does.
Of course. Always!
I doesn't matter how long I leave things to 'rest' or how many times I edit them I always think of the perfect word (or spot the flipping typo!) after it's gone.
[quote=Onlinegenie]it would have been better if I'd used this word instead of that one[/quote]
I think this an occupational hazard, especially in flash fiction. This time, FINALLY, (need italics), I held off the submission until I felt absolutely sure I had picked the fifty words I wanted to use. However, there is just one...
Did anyone watch MERLIN last night? The ghost of Uther, the dead king (Arthur's dad) came back and haunted them. He caused a lot of trouble. Made me thing of the ghost story comp.
Hi all. I´m going to have a go at this too. I can´t see anything about story title in the guidelines, and was wondering if any of you gave your piece a title, and, if you did, whether you included it in the 50 word count? Thanks in advance!
I'm an eejut. Just spent an hour on this, rushed to send it and realised I'd missed 6 words from the middle. There should be a cooling off period of 2mins on e-mails so you can unsend them.
As no title was requested, I would not worry, and didn't give one to my entry. However, for some reason, I did phone Writing mag about their 250 word comp with a stray cat as the subject matter. Even though it didn't ask for one, they told me they expected a title , though didn't know if it was included in the 250 word count! I made sure I was well under. I'm beginning to think rules are made as they go along. Anyway, we should know how we fared soon....but I wish there was some way to find out if your entry got through the ether.
Yep, it is also the Times. Consider where that newspaper is sold, how many copies plus it's on line isn't it?
It'll be thousands of thousands who enter.
I emailed it to all my friends and some who don't ever ever EVER write, are entering. So it'll not just be the usual suspects who enter as well ie regular writers.
@ Phots Moll I believe they are using the members of the House of Commons as judges. That poses a problem as most have an IQ of -8, and few can read or write. So do not be surprised if the winner has written an erotic story!!!!!
In one place on the website it has the dates that way round and in another place it has them the other way round, so not sure which will come first - I expect it will be inform first/publish later.
Still not sure if they're announcing the winners tomorrow or on Monday - you'd think they could have got that bit right! As Heather says, the announcement / printing dates are different on the competition's main page and the page with the T's & C's.
I don't hold out a lot of hope for my story. I think the words fit together well but I'm not convinced it's "scary" enough.
Doesn't bother me, PBW. I really enjoyed waking up in the morning with a story fully formed in my head then getting it completed the same day. If I don't win (and let's be fair, the odds are against me) I may just increase the length of the story and see if I can use if for something else.
Ah, but I want to WIN. I'm sick of rejection. I had lorryloads of rejection in 2011 and now I want to WIN something. don't let me give the impression I'm competitive or anything... :)
Actually, I'd be happy to be a runner up because I'd love to win a set of those autographed Susan Hill Ghost Stories.
Comments
I just wish they'd had an auto respond on that email. Okay, it didn't raise the mailer-daemon but I always prefer to have a confirmation.
Anyway, as toothlight says, it's a long shot. They'll probably get squillions of entries.
I just sent mine.
Ghosts are not always visible, supposedly. More auditory. You know they're there, but you can't see them. And NOT seeing them is what scares us. Make your ghost visible and you lose that atmospheric impact.
In my story, the ghosts are implied.
It's a fair few more words than the required 50.
But what about that amazing film with Nicole Kidman, where it's only revealed at the end the 'haunted' family are the REAL ghosts, cos that was all visual, but-wow!- what a tension. I agree with Paperbackwriter. I can see no reason why you cannot get an automatic reply email to say your story has been received.
The modern family that had moved into the house couldn't see the ghosts (i.e. Nicole and her children). As ghosts, they couldn't 'see' the modern family either, but they could hear things, sense them. A very clever film of perspectives. And because neither can actually 'see' each other, it actually helps maintain atmosphere and tension.
We NEED the ghost in the machine.
Good luck to everyone and their 'spirited' entries.
Good luck everyone - let a TBer be a finalist!
Spirited - ha! ha! Like that.
I've just written it - first draft 47 words! Near enough perfect (the word count that is, I'm not bragging about the story).
Good luck to all TBers who enter. If I don't win I hope one of you does.
I doesn't matter how long I leave things to 'rest' or how many times I edit them I always think of the perfect word (or spot the flipping typo!) after it's gone.
I think this an occupational hazard, especially in flash fiction. This time, FINALLY, (need italics), I held off the submission until I felt absolutely sure I had picked the fifty words I wanted to use. However, there is just one...
Especially when writing a ghost story. That elusive word will always come back to haunt you.
[quote=Anna]That elusive word will always come back to haunt you.[/quote]
The ghost of a word! Brilliant! Quick, write it up!
Oh yes! Genius!
Did anyone watch MERLIN last night? The ghost of Uther, the dead king (Arthur's dad) came back and haunted them. He caused a lot of trouble. Made me thing of the ghost story comp.
Can you enter more than once and send another version? Check the rules!
It's free and at only 50 words people other than 'writers' are more likely to have a go.
Yep, it is also the Times. Consider where that newspaper is sold, how many copies plus it's on line isn't it?
It'll be thousands of thousands who enter.
I emailed it to all my friends and some who don't ever ever EVER write, are entering. So it'll not just be the usual suspects who enter as well ie regular writers.
I wonder how many judges they have.
To subscribers only.
Good idea!
*practises being furtive and surreptitious*
I don't hold out a lot of hope for my story. I think the words fit together well but I'm not convinced it's "scary" enough.
Actually, I'd be happy to be a runner up because I'd love to win a set of those autographed Susan Hill Ghost Stories.