Learn about the festive tradition of ghost stories and create your own ghostly tale.

Christmas is a time for presents, overeating, jollity – and, weirdly, scary stories! In the Victorian era, the likes of Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gatskell revelled in ghostly festive tales.

In this workshop, novelist and short story writer Sally O’Reilly will walk you through how to write your very own Yuletide ghost story. Of course, we’ll be inspired by A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, looking at popular tropes and discussing ways to develop character and conflict, create tension and atmosphere, immerse the reader in a supernatural setting and build to a satisfying conclusion.

Hopefully, you’ll leave with the beginnings of a short story you can share this Christmastime to delight and fright!

Tutor: Sally O’Reilly is a historical-fiction writer. Her most recent book is Hagtale: A Macbeth Origin Story and her work in progress is a counter-factual story set in the Elizabethan era.

The Writers Workshop is a nonprofit social enterprise on a mission to share the joy and power of creative writing. Our members get the best ticket prices! For more information visit our website. (https://www.thewritersworkshop.co.uk/join)

Description supplied by the event organiser.