Do you think themed issues of ST might be a good idea? Just mooted the idea with a friend on Facebook, and came up with the following themes - curses, witches, monsters. Obviously ghosts are another possibility. Would a theme be too restrictive, or might it stimulate authorial creativity to re-examine familiar tropes, ideas, imagery etc? Also, might themes be extended to include more general terms like 'islands' or 'travel'?Over to you.
6 comments:
I like the idea, but would prefer less obviously linked categories ie instead of ghosts theme of wood for instance
Not sure about the "obvious" themes such as ghosts, monsters, vampires, etc. Might be worth considering more wide-ranging subjects; that way what's coming isn't so obvious to the reader from the outset.
Could be activities (e.g. building) or places (e.g. the seaside) or much vaguer (e.g. lost, language, time).
I like the idea -- give it a try!
Oh....I just found your blog. Love. YES....do it.
Thanks for your comments! Themed issues may indeed be attempted in future. Need to think about it a bit, though. Should the theme be traditional i.e. haunted houses, or more abstract - expiation, redemption, isolation? We shall see.
Themes are tempting. But I already know that each story must contain a supernatural aspect, so why give more information away? That's a problem I have with ghost stories, if I already know they're ghost stories then a percentage of speculation and suspense is taken away right off the bat.
How about not telling the reader what the theme is, and letting them guess after they've finished the issue? Or, maybe, sometimes have a theme and sometimes not?
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