Haunting Characters
I occasionally write a ghost flash fiction story. One of my favourite stories of all time involves three ghosts and a miser - I’ll leave you to guess what that one is!
And I love a great series of books called Kindred Spirits by Jennifer C Wilson who combines ghost stories and history. (I should add Jennifer is a friend but I would happily read and recommend these books anyway given I love historical fiction and this is an interesting take on it).
But haunting characters shouldn’t just be confined to ghost stories. I want characters to haunt me and stay with me long after I’ve finished reading their story.
Some of those that do this for me include Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Sam Vimes, Death (from Discworld), Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee, Jeeves and Wooster, and many others besides. I do love an eclectic mix!
So how can a character haunt a reader then? Simply by being so convincingly portrayed any reader would want to root for them and absolutely have to find to what happens to them.
They’ve got to make the reader feel as if they were almost there in the story with them, as it is only when that is achieved will a reader care enough about them.
And I love a great series of books called Kindred Spirits by Jennifer C Wilson who combines ghost stories and history. (I should add Jennifer is a friend but I would happily read and recommend these books anyway given I love historical fiction and this is an interesting take on it).
But haunting characters shouldn’t just be confined to ghost stories. I want characters to haunt me and stay with me long after I’ve finished reading their story.
Some of those that do this for me include Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Sam Vimes, Death (from Discworld), Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee, Jeeves and Wooster, and many others besides. I do love an eclectic mix!
So how can a character haunt a reader then? Simply by being so convincingly portrayed any reader would want to root for them and absolutely have to find to what happens to them.
They’ve got to make the reader feel as if they were almost there in the story with them, as it is only when that is achieved will a reader care enough about them.
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