This post appeared originally on the blog of Jason Jack Miller, author of The Devil and Preston Black, Hellbender, and The Revelations of Preston Black. Check out his site.
The Ghost of Backstory in DEATH PERCEPTION
Backstory is everything that happened to the protagonist before the story begins. In The Anatomy of Story, John Truby calls this the “ghost.” The ghost is usually some negative event from the past that still haunts the protagonist in the present. This past trauma is the source of the hero’s current psychological and moral weakness. It’s his internal opponent, what Truby describes as the “great fear that is holding him back from action.”
In DEATH PERCEPTION, my just-released supernatural thriller, young protagonist Kennet Singleton’s backstory ghost is his father’s drunken violence, resulting in his father’s death and the loss of his mother’s eye. Lack of a good role model has crippled Kennet from striking out on his own; at 19, he still lives with his invalid mother in a personal care home and holds only a part-time job at a local funeral home.
However, Kennet’s natural hypersensitivity toward his father’s moods and abusive behavior birthed a psychic gift that blooms when an old prophetess lays her hands on him. Later he discovers that he can discern the cause of death of those he cremates—by toasting marshmallows over their ashes.
When he begins believing in himself and using his gift to avenge the spirits of those who have been murdered (ghosts of a different sort), Kennet finds the courage to stand up for himself and forge his way toward independence.
Good stories dramatize the process of a flawed character overcoming past wounds on the path to wholeness. Even in a tale of horror and supernatural crime, Kennet’s “ghosts” find justice—and peace.
DEATH PERCEPTION is available in trade paperback, Kindle (.mobi) and Nook (.epub) at https://leeallenhoward.com/death-perception/.
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This appeared originally on the blog of Hunter Shea, author of the dark and paranormal. Check out his site.
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Do you want to develop your psychic skills to write better fiction?
In this 47-minute live audio recording presented at Seton Hill University’s 2012 In Your Write Mind writer’s workshop, writer and medium Lee Allen Howard teaches about psychic development for fiction writers. From the presentation:
Inspiration comes from the same source as psychic information, and delivers creative information along the same channel. By learning to open your psychic channel, you become better able to receive inspiration and channel creative information that makes fiction work. In short: If you widen the psychic channel, you’ll get better ideas.
To receive this information, you must:
1. Connect to higher sources.
2. Bring that information into your waking consciousness.
You’ll learn how to do this with actual development exercises.
What People Are Saying about “Psychic Development for Writers”
Lee Allen Howard’s “Psychic Development” gave me insight into how my creativity works, as well as working out a “stuck spot” in my manuscript through his guided meditation. It works! —Meg Mims, author of Double Crossing
This dynamic and thought-provoking workshop by Lee Allen Howard is accessible to anyone, regardless of his or her spiritual path. Lee’s presentation is clear and straightforward, and the guided exercise at the conclusion is worth multiple revisits. Highly recommended! —Chris Stout, author of Days of Reckoning
What You’ll Receive
- CD of the live audio presentation of “Psychic Development for Writers” (tracks split per slide), including the psychic development exercises that you can use at home
- Session handouts that include slides, psychic development exercises, an article about gifts vs. skill, and a bibliography.
CD with handouts are $15, which includes shipping to locations in the continental US. To order, click the following link:
To widen your psychic channel for better fiction, order “Psychic Development for Writers” today.
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I’ll be presenting at Seton Hill University’s IN YOUR WRITE MIND writer’s workshop on Friday morning, June 22. My topic is “Psychic Development for Writers.”
Psychic development is not just for a gifted few. It’s for everyone human, and especially for you as a storyteller.
This workshop will help you discover the innate skills of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience. By exercising your psychic sensing mechanisms, you widen your inspirational channel, empowering you to create stories that resonate more deeply with readers.
Come prepared with a specific project in mind to strengthen your imaginative abilities.
Please join us that weekend for genre writing advice and help.
http://inyourwritemind.setonhill.edu/
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