Author Archives: admin

EVP

EVP stands for electronic voice phenomenon and is when ghost hunters use a small hand held digital recorder and will sit in a quiet haunted location and ask general questions. Sometimes you’ll hear a response but most of the time the spirits will answer in a frequency not of our realm. Later on the recording will be put on computer and run through a digital sound enhancer like goldwave where sounds on other frequencies will be identified. I was recently on an investigation where the ghost seekers were asking questions and we picked up an EVP that said repeatedly “get out! get out!” If you watch Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, you’ll see that EVP’s are the best evidence gleaned on a paranormal investigation. It’s very easy to do so try it at your home sometime. Just be careful what you ask for you might get an answer you’re not expecting.

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The Story of Us

WELCOME, readers, to a website that I hope will promote and illuminate what we readers love the most…stories. As you read on the opening page…(by G. K. Chesterton) Fairytales are not written to tell children that dragons exist. Children know full well that dragons exist. Fairytales are to show children that sometimes dragons can be defeated.
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And we story writers do our best to give them the triumph they desire. Which stories linger in our memories longest? Answer: those that connect with us emotionally in some strong way—and so they became unforgettable. Writers don’t write mere plots—we write emotions.

To start a story with the perfect first line that hooks the reader, present something—a person, name, or situation—in that sentence that the reader will, without conscious decision, understand on the deepest level. Two examples: “Call me Ishmael.” The name alone creates a picture. It’s Eastern, therefore slightly exotic to most of us. By not mentioning any last name the reader imagines someone who works at a menial job, and that he’s being uncharacteristically bold when he asks you to call him by his name. He sounds despairing. You immediately think he has something significant he wants to tell you. You wonder what it could be.

“Last night I dreamed I was at Manderley again.” A little anxious. She dreamed something that bothers her, and it’s far from the first time. We can tell somehow it’s a ‘she’ speaking, but the choice of simple, uncluttered words tells us this is a quiet, unhysterical woman, and therefore her anxiety is not dismissed. We want to hear the rest.

The key to great first lines: We want to hear the rest.

Angela

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Graphic Novel Scripting

Graphic & Ghost Blog by Dennis Webster.

Writing a graphic novel or comic book is very different than writing fiction stories. In a short story or long fiction novel, the author is able to fully describe the settings, the background of the characters. They’re putting the meat on the skeleton. When you write a graphic novel it’s similar to writing a movie or television script, you leave the details to the artist or director. The next time you’re in Barnes & Noble, go to the graphic novel section and take a random story off the shelf and look at the number of panels on a page. If you write for this medium you need to decide how many panels you’ll have on each page. It’s like doing a storyboard in your mind. Then, you must resist blasting a ton of exposition or dialogue as fans of the graphic novel don’t like tons of words. I know, that sounds crazy for a writer but you can get your concept across in small details you can give the artist drawing the panels. I would encourage any writer to give it a try in scripting a graphic novel. You can find examples of graphic novel script writing on line. Go for it! You’ll challenge your writing muscles and who knows, you might just find a new writing love!

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