Summer, Fireworks, and Ghost Stories

Well then, what's in today's article?


It's Yasu. Hobonichi's annual summer tradition, "Hobonichi's Ghost Stories," has started again this year. While looking at that page, I discovered a mistake. I worried about whether it would be better to send an email to let them know, but I contacted them. It was corrected immediately. I thought it might be meddlesome, but it's worth speaking up.


Now, this time, there are three pieces:

"Summer, Fireworks, and Ghost Stories"
"Summer Vacation Diary Day 18"
"Learning Tips for Narrowing Down Perspectives in Diaries"*Article exclusive to Writing Club members

※I changed the order of publication.

【Summer, Fireworks, and Ghost Stories】

That was 30 years ago, when I was still living at my parents' house. It was a sweltering night, just like yesterday. It was 3:00 AM, right when the air conditioner timer turned off. Feeling thirsty, I went down the stairs from the second floor, where the bedroom was, to the kitchen on the first floor to get some water.


Our house is a 40-year-old wooden structure. Every time you step on the stairs, they creak.


Creak... creak... creak...


Trying not to wake my parents sleeping on the first floor, I tried to go down the stairs quietly, but the stairs screamed.


Creak... creak... creak...


(Creak)


Just as I was about to reach the first floor with three steps left, I felt someone coming down from above. Rather than a feeling, since the creaking sound was ringing out, someone was actually coming down.


(Did my younger brother, who was sleeping with me, wake up too?)


Just as I was thinking that with a head still heavy with sleep, the door to the first-floor bathroom opened.


"Hmm? Is that you, big brother...?"


My younger brother, who came out of the bathroom, went up the stairs and returned to his room.


...Huh. Then, what was that sound just now?


"Waaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!"


My brother's voice echoed throughout the house from the top of the stairs.

My father and mother came over in a panic. "What, what's wrong?! Were you sleepwalking?!"


"N-no. Sorry. I was surprised because the stairs were wet."


When we turned on the light, there were small puddles on the top three steps of the stairs, as if someone soaking wet had walked there.


"What... Did you wet yourself?"

"No, I didn't!"

"Go to sleep already."


No.


...there wasn't.


When I went down the stairs, those puddles definitely were not there.


Who on earth was following behind me?


The end.


...That is, well, a classic ghost story. It's my own improvised creation. It's not very scary, though. It would be scary if you actually experienced it, wouldn't it?


Ghost programs have decreased recently because it's become easy to fake them. Even amateurs can quickly edit footage.


On the other hand, ghost stories read in text remain popular. Hobonichi also plans "Hobonichi's Ghost Stories" every summer, and it's a popular piece of content.


The reason ghost stories are popular. It leads to the "characteristics of interesting writing."


It's "not what I expected." Betrayal of expectations. Destruction of common sense.


The characteristics of ghost stories are:
・Something that shouldn't be there is there.
・Something that should be there is not there.


It's a staple. A person who shouldn't be there is there. There is absolutely no way a woman in a white dress should be walking inside a tunnel, but she was.


A school late at night. There shouldn't be any children, but a boy wearing a yellow school cap was looking at me from the classroom window.


The setting is also an important part.

・Ruins
・Hospital
・School
・Tunnel
・Taxi
・Graveyard
・Park
・Riverbank


Betrayal of common sense and the setting. If these are combined and move in a scary direction, it's a ghost story; if it's in a funny direction, it's a comedy routine or a skit. If it's a new perspective on the stage of daily life, you can write articles that evoke empathy.


Whether it's a ghost story, a comedy routine, or a way of looking at things, the important point is the punchline.


Thank you for coming to read today as well. Flipping the perspective is powerful in any genre.

【Summer Vacation Diary Day 18】

Yesterday, I was thinking about writing a manuscript for the "Relay Novel" project by Ito Daki on note. Characters, setting, incidents. What is the timeline? What is the relationship between the characters? What happened, and what will happen from here on?


Since there are parts that are clear and parts that are not, I am arbitrarily determining and assembling this in my head. Since it doesn't end with me, I'm doing it so that the next person can write as easily as possible.


Once I grasp the character profiles and set the stage, I just describe them as they move on their own. So I tried writing it all at once. Now, will my world be accepted?

《Notice》

I am looking for writing companions.

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Kiyofumi Noto
A money expert for the 100-year life era who loves the Japanese spirit (his 6th book is now on sale!). What is "US Treasury Bond Investment" for Japanese people? Number of channel subscribers10,000 people! Cumulative viewers1 million people!
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