Ok, I don't win anything...except a Dairy Queen (courtesy of my husband)! That's right, I finished the first third of HP this weekend. Cut out a bunch of adjectives, tightened things up, toned down a few scenes that were maybe a bit...um...over-the-top, and am all ready to start the "Dreaded Middle Bit". I can't think of that too much right now, though. I'll think about that tomorrow.
Tomorrow we're going to Itasca State Park for some good old-fashioned tent camping. I'm bringing along my chapter cards for the "Dreaded Middle Bit" so I can really start confronting the ghost. My main purpose for this final revision is to increase the tension. When I first started HP I wanted it to be very literary and serious. Now I just want a page-turner, and I realize that's not so easy to come by. I'm thinking back to all the books I could not put down and borrowing their tricks.
In the meantime...if a ghost were haunting you at work, what would most freak you out? What would really scare you? The ghost meddles some with the computer and email, plus does the usual moving things around and making things "spooky." Any other ideas?
Thanks go out to JoJo for her feedback on the revised "Part 1" of HP. JoJo could be a book editor, but she also happens to be a very talented writer. I'm very lucky to have her help!
Finally, I watched two movies this weekend. Bathing Beauty, an Esther Williams movie that had almost nothing to do with swimming until the end, when for no reason whatsoever Esther Williams puts on a big water show while Xavier Cugat and his band of ethnic stereotypes play bongos in the background. Plus, there's fire IN the water! Pretty awesome! I also saw Gothic, an insane movie directed by Ken Russell. I rented this because I'm teaching Frankenstein in the fall, and the movie is loosely based on the genesis of that book. If you want to feel like a slightly Goth freshman English major in the '80s, who has just drank both tequila and absinthe at a friend's cabin while reading Cliff's Notes on Frankenstein, then this is the movie for you!
I'll post again after camping!
tankless toilet for home
2 years ago
2 comments:
I think in your book you should have the ghost put messages on the couputer, and at times the person can see the keys on the keyboard being pushed down.
Emily
We see ghosts as manifestations of human behaviour, so a scary ghost is going to be threatening--we'll feel a force move up against us quickly like a person suddenly invading our body space wanting to cause us harm but stopping just short of hitting us, or we'll feel the rising tension and heat of someone's anger just before they shout. Perhaps we'll feel suddenly under threat for no reason, sudden racing heart or other symptoms experienced when we're having a fight with someone or when walking home and nervously looking over one's shoulder...its as if our instincts are telling us 'someone's here, and they're not happy with you.'
I think the way you handled Ana's emotions/reactions at the beginning of her introduction to Lola show her reaction to a benevolent ghost really well-- a sense of comfort, feeling loved and protected. Perhaps more of the opposite could be used when Lola suddenly turns nasty.
My sense of ghosts is that they are reacting to our emotions, that without our more tangible energy they are pale and weak, but when they feel our happiness, confusion, anger, fear they almost feed off of it and their behaviour becomes stronger--as if they are a reflection of us (or perhaps it's the other way around??).
Either way, Lola is connecting to Ana alone (until we learn she connects with Barbara--but why does she do this?) so it seems to follow that she will feed off Ana's emotions. If it is just because Ana is the one occupying the cube, then why don't other people get the sense of Lola (like Oscar) when they're in the cube? I think this is about Ana, not the cube. This is why I wondered from time to time if it was all in Ana's head, an adult creation of the same story she wrote as a child, produced at a time of great stress. It was good to wonder as the reader. But equally, if Lola is truly a ghost outside Ana's head, then perhaps she is still 'called up' by Ana's emotional state.
Rambling thoughts...!
Hope you're enjoying Itasca!! xx
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