{"id":17202,"date":"2022-07-08T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=17202"},"modified":"2022-07-04T10:37:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T14:37:42","slug":"dark-pathways-a-ghostly-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/dark-pathways-a-ghostly-reckoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark Pathways: A Ghostly Reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dark<\/p>\n

\"coverStoker Award nominee LaTanya McQueen has incredible storytelling skills. Her book, <\/span>When the Reckoning Comes<\/i>, is obviously scary (that\u2019s why we\u2019re here!), but what stood out to me while I was reading it is the pure talent. This book goes down smooth. It\u2019s the literary equivalent of a one-story beer bong\u2013you open the spigot and enjoy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OK, so maybe that analogy is a little pointed. Let me try to explain it another way: I\u2019ve read a lot of books that force me to stop and start — a bad paragraph here, a pointless chapter there — and it requires moments of <\/span>slog<\/span><\/i>. You slog through it because the book is very good (not great), so you accept that sometimes the writing is iffy. McQueen\u2019s novel is not like this. Every page <\/span>flows<\/span><\/i>. She\u2019s a master of narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Reckoning Comes<\/i> revolves around a young Black woman named Mira who\u2019s invited to the wedding of a white friend from her childhood. Celine, the white friend, is getting married on a renovated plantation. This plantation isn\u2019t simply a horrifically racist celebration of the past, it\u2019s also the sight of a traumatic experience that Mira and her friend Jesse had when they were younger.<\/span><\/p>\n

Things grow tense between the three pretty quickly:<\/span><\/p>\n

Celine should have known it wasn\u2019t about what the place looked like, but then Celine hadn\u2019t been with them that day, only heard the story afterward like everyone else. Mira and Jesse were the ones who\u2019d snuck off, and in the time since, who knew what it had become? The history rewritten, erased, having become something entirely new. This was what Celine was trying to convince Mira of as she pressed the phone against her cheek and thought back to a past she\u2019d hoped to forget, to the girl she\u2019d been, and to the friend she\u2019d loved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

McQueen does a lot of telling, which writers sometimes assume is always a big no-no. But McQueen is so great at storytelling that she makes you feel intimately involved in the plight of Mira. Her telling has purpose, and her voice is so natural that I couldn\u2019t stop turning the page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now consider this passage, when Mira sees a ghostly apparition of the plantation\u2019s past:<\/span><\/p>\n

The white man nodded and walked off out of sight. When he returned, he had a band of other slaves following behind him in teams of two, with each twosome carrying a large burlap sack. They grunted as they walked, straining from the weight of what they carried. He signaled for the slaves to drop their sacks and they pounded against the ground. Then, he called to those in the hole. \u201cEnough,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m done with this. I\u2019ve got other plans for today than to watch you all work.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When these scary scenes occur, we already care about Mira, and we want details. We crave the parts where McQueen <\/span>tells<\/span><\/i>, and then she moves effortlessly into moments where she simply <\/span>shows<\/span><\/i>. McQueen is an amazing storyteller.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dark Pathway: Finding Your Voice<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to split this writing activity in two because I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about how writers can find their voice. And I\u2019ve been reading this great book (<\/span>The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop<\/span><\/i>\u00a0by Felicia Rose Chavez) that gave me pause about the value of mimicking other writers\u2019 voices. Still, it might be worth it to practice a little, because being able to mimic another writer\u2019s voice can make for powerful learning experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step One: <\/b>Write a two-page story. Your character is in a house (it\u2019s not their house), and something creepy happens. This moment sparks a traumatic memory from your character\u2019s past. Free write the scene. <\/span>TELL<\/span><\/i> as much as you want.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Step Two:<\/b> Read Ernest Hemingway\u2019s <\/span>\u201cHills Like White Elephants.\u201d<\/span><\/a> It\u2019s a simply written story that takes place in a cafe between a man and a woman. Even though it\u2019s never spoken aloud, the man is pressuring the woman to get an abortion. Note, especially, what\u2019s said and left unsaid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step Three:<\/b> Write a new scene that takes place in a restaurant or cafe. Your character is sitting with a friend or lover. Write a conversation between them. Make the conversation brief and sharp, like the one in Hemingway\u2019s story. The topic of the conversation is your main character\u2019s traumatic memory, and the creepy scene in the house. The other character doesn\u2019t believe in ghosts. Show, through the dialogue, this tension between them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re done, look at the two very different scenes you\u2019ve written. Think about what feels right to you. This is how you find your voice: by experimenting and reflecting. Can you take something from each of the scenes? Or do you prefer one over the other? Don\u2019t be afraid to rewrite <\/span>Step Two<\/b> mimicking the voice of another writer. Get a feel for what looks good on the page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then keep writing!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ken Brosky is the author of\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>The Beyond<\/a><\/strong>, a horror novel available through Timber Ghost Press. His work has been published in Grotesque and Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s Mystery Magazine, among others. He\u2019s currently working on a screenplay and a new novel.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stoker Award nominee LaTanya McQueen has incredible storytelling skills. Her book, When the Reckoning Comes, is obviously scary (that\u2019s why we\u2019re here!), but what stood out to me while I was reading it is the pure talent. This book goes down smooth. It\u2019s the literary equivalent of a one-story beer bong\u2013you open the spigot and … Continue Reading! “Dark Pathways: A Ghostly Reckoning”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2633],"tags":[294,2634,2635,2704,2705],"class_list":["post-17202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dark-pathways","tag-columns","tag-dark-pathways","tag-ken-brosky","tag-latanya-mcqueeen","tag-when-the-reckoning-comes"],"yoast_head":"\nDark Pathways: A Ghostly Reckoning - 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