The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2014 is out. The year's short story competition (deadline 15th February) is on the theme of 'The Visit'. Thinking about what this could mean, I came up with five layers of possibility.
The first layer comprises people going to see other people. Perhaps you didn’t need this pointing out, but an important distinction is to be made here: all participants in these stories are still living. Layer one can also be subdivided into visitors who are welcome and those who are not.
This still living business helps us neatly segue into layer two: visits from the departed. Seances and ghost stories perhaps, but there is also the potential here for emotional explorations of unspoken feelings. You know the sort; at the end of the story you aren't sure if anything actually took place in the physical world. Not that it necessarily mattered.
Layer three considers non-human interactions, anthropomorphic or otherwise. There springs to mind an Armageddon-proclaiming turkey, or a cake whispering to you from its tin. Aliens. Say no more.
In layer four there are visits involving inanimate things: a revolting illness (not inanimate, arguably) or a turn of misfortune. Perhaps a floor is visited by a broom, a head of hair by a nit comb. Or maybe it’s the story of a nice day out to an old castle.
Layer five stretches the semantics of 'visit' somewhat, but still has its place. Someone is visited by a wonderful idea, and goes to great and hilarious lengths to turn this brainwave into reality.
Perhaps there are yet further layers of interpretation. If so, I would be delighted to hear about them. Further advice and details of Words Worth Reading Ltd's manuscript proofreading services for writers can be found here. In the meantime, good luck to be visited on all entrants!
Source: Owen, A. (Ed), 2013. The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2014. London: Bloomsbury.
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