The story in three lines. In the cold, wet summer of 1816, eighteen-year-old Mary Godwin was dared to write a ghost story and could think of nothing for days. Then, by her own account, she saw a young scientist kneeling beside the creature he had made. The book was published without her name in 1818, and many assumed her husband wrote it.

One question to ask. "Which line would you keep?" Then: "Who is the monster in the book?" Many people will say the creature. Ask them to look again at the man who made him.

One thing to do at the table. Each person tells the story of how they came up with an idea they were proud of. Then ask: is that exactly how it happened, or is it how you tell it now?

The grown-up layer. The story ends on a question about credit, because Mary's name was missing from the first edition. The Honest Page is careful about her famous waking dream: it is her own account, written fifteen years later, and nobody can check it. Teenagers can enjoy a story and still hold it in pencil.

Ask for the line before you offer yours.