I've joined another writers' group, the Shorelink Writers, who meet weekly on Monday nights, in school term times. Most group members agree to create and run a workshop for the whole group about once a term, I've just delivered my second workshop, inspired by some of the odd and slightly off-key place names in the local area, which I thought would suit a noir-style story. My local area happens to be Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea.
The workshop went down very well, almost every writer chose one of two names, Galley Hill and Goat Ledge. Galley Hill is obviously noir, but Goat Ledge? Of course, the thing with Goat Ledge is that everybody local knows the place. It's the name of a very popular beach café, and originally the name of the reefs of somewhat treacherous rocks just off the beach, where historical goatherds would take their flocks to feast on the seaweed.
This is the workshop I delivered:-
Noir Stories
I’ve watched a bit of Scandi Noir and got hooked on watching
Shetland on TV, which is very noir. Noir is a category of crime fiction usually
involving the police, think of the Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus stories, set in brooding Edinburgh. Maybe noir might even be funny, think of the creepy goings on in
Royston Vasey!
Noir isn’t a horror
story, it’s all to do with the place and the mood, feeling dark, a bit
threatening. It does seem to me that the place where the story is set plays a vital
part in Noir Stories. They’re local stories about ordinary people, not usually
involving royal palaces, long distance travel, desert Islands, etc.
Here are some very local place names which sound like they
might have a noir story in them. You probably know most of these places. Choose
one and write about what might happen there:-
Maze Hill Pelham Beach East Ascent Galley Hill Combe Haven Ravenside Conqueror Road
Bulverhythe Goat Ledge Horntye Park Undercliff South Saxons
