Thursday, December 22, 2011

Sometimes You Have To Start With The Ghost


So December has been a bit of an exercise in despair writing wise.

I backed up my deadline to allow me to finish writing "The Dance of the Ancients", but I had also discovered that a story I intended to put in the anthology didn't really count as a ghost story. So there I sat, still a story short. I wracked my brains for a new story, but everything I came up with either seemed trite, forced, or to be blunt...it plain sucked.

It just wasn't working.

Then I remembered how I came up with the story for "A Long Cold Forever of a Night". I started with my ghost, or in that case the photo of the ghost on the cover of the anthology, then built my story around her. So I got out my photo editor, went to old photos from the dust bowl because I knew they would be in the public domain, and started making ghosts. I figured that since it worked once, it was worth trying again. And sure enough, after playing around a little while I finally struck paydirt.

The one in the picture above is the one that inspired a story.

He doesn't have a name yet, but he has a story...now I just have to write it. I still need to work out details such as names of people and places, and a few plot elements, but I already have the general arc of the story in mind. And since this story just hit me about an hour ago, I guess I'm going to count it as a Christmas present from my muse. The lazy little bimbo will now probably take a vacation for the rest of the year, knowing her.

But the important thing is I have story...

...I just have to write it.

4 comments:

  1. He is sure creepy!! What a great way to inspire a story. I hope your muse sticks around for awhile. I'm sweet-talking mine in the hopes that he will inspire me soon :).

    Happy holidays!:)

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  2. Thanks! I'm beginning to wonder if I'm a visual thinker, and that approaching things from this angle might not work more often. I'll have to think about it.

    Merry Christmas! :)

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  3. Being a visual thinker would make sense - especially given your artistic ability. I agree with Lenka - he's creepy!

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  4. Thanks, Steph! He has a name now... Andre Puscasu. And the story is tentatively titled "Legacy of Flies". I'm currently nine thousand, three hundred words into it, and right at the part where he makes his grand appearance.

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