Topic Brainstorm

The first topic that I chose is Ghost Stories. Of the topics I selected to write about, I am most excited about this one. I love scary movies, but scary stories tend to have a more intense effect. I have always believed that a movie cannot possibly show a monster more wicked than your mind can conjure. When I was reading storybooks for a previous assignment, I noticed that I was drawn to these kinds of stories. I already have a few ideas for specific stories and I think this could be really fun to write, even if it gives me nightmares. I'd love to find some true stories to base my project on. During my research for this assignment I came across an incredible storybook called Ghost Stories of Europe. If you like scary stories I seriously suggest you check it out! I looked into some possible sources and Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad sounded like a possibility. I like the idea of a haunted object found innocently which brings danger to its keeper.

(Image Information: Oh, Whistle, and 

I'll Come to You, My Lad 

Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The next topic I'm considering is Brothers Grimm. I've stated before that this is a subject of interest to me. I enjoy the dark twists that the stories tend to take. I've read a lot of these stories, but there are also many I've not seen. I'd never heard the story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses before. I think it could be interesting to rewrite it in a modern setting, with a cruel father who will not let his daughters leave their home. A young man would fall for the oldest and ask her father for her hand in marriage. The father would laugh and tell him he can have her if only he can figure out where they sneak out to each night.

(Image Information: The Twelve 

Princesses Sneaking Out

Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Topic number three is Greek Mythology. I've had an interest in Greek mythology since a young age. I took four years of Latin in high school where I learned a lot about these gods and goddesses. I would love to learn more stories of their never ending drama. I'd like to work with the story of Narcissus. In my version, my narcissist will be a woman. She is so entranced by her own appearance that she pushes away friends and family who fail to worship her looks the way she feels they should. In the original story, (spoiler alert) Narcissus dies. I'm not sure exactly how or if I would kill off my character. I'm thinking she gets hit on by a suitor she finds unworthy. When she laughs at his proposition, he becomes enraged and takes it out on her. He strikes out at her with a knife or his fists, leaving her face scarred and her opinion of herself in shambles.

The last topic I'm going to talk about is Changelings. I don't know much about this subject, but I've read a few books which use this idea as a minor theme. I think it's very interesting, and I'd love to do some research about some old accounts of what people believed were cases of changelings. According to Wikipedia, autistic children were often mistaken as changelings. A part of changeling myth includes that they are drawn to counting things, which is a common habit of people with autism. I'd like to do a story from the perspective of the "changeling." This would be a normal person with autism, cystic fibrosis, etc which could get them labelled as a changeling. Due to the time, region, and beliefs of their elders, this child would forever be treated differently. They would constantly feel and be told that they are different and don't belong. You can imagine the kind of toll this would take on a person. I'd have to give them a happy ending by finding other people who were "changelings" or a caretaker who didn't try to label them.

(Image Information: A Mother with Her Child

Source: Wikimedia Commons)