Ghosts and Ghoolies

Rather appropriately (given that it was Halloween), I finished my ghost story this weekend. I'm in two minds about the end result. I'm pleased with the style and language, but I think the ending could perhaps have a bit more bite. Having said that, the ending was almost pre-determined because I was retelling a fairly well known type of story. I hope I've managed to keep an element of surprise right up until the last few lines.

It took a little longer than I anticipated to complete as well, considering the brevity of the story. This was because I set out to write in the first person perspective, but mid way through the first draft I found that I just couldn't make it work. Once I changed to the third person it really began to flow. So really my first draft became my second whilst I was writing!

At the moment the story is still called 17 Percent, although this is certain to change. It was a real struggle to work an explanation of the title into the story. I think I've pulled it off, but now I'm unhappy with the title!

I'm hopeless at coming up with titles, which is why I've started picking things out from The Writer's Block. I find that I can't write without a working title so I pick anything, no matter how lame just to get me started. Coming up with titles is probably the area of my writing I would most like to improve. Silly really, because when it comes to publication editors tend to ignore your best efforts and go with their own titles anyway.