When people who don’t know me very well find out that I write books, they ask, “How do you have time for that?” It’s a legitimate question. I’m a full-time middle school teacher, and my husband and I have three children who need our attention, homework assistance, and regular transportation! My life is full and busy, and it would be very, very easy to let the writing slip through the cracks. But I don’t. It’s not always easy, but I make time for it, because it’s important to me.
I’ve had to be creative about finding time to write. Unfortunately, setting aside a regular chunk of time to devote to my writing just doesn’t work for my family’s situation and schedule, so I’ve figured out a few things that do work for me. It’s not an exact science, and I am certainly no expert, but I know the things that have allowed me to keep writing despite all the other responsibilities that require my attention.
Tip 1: Get Mobile
My first recommendation is to make your writing-self mobile. By this I mean it’s super helpful to have some sort of technology that allows you to write wherever, whenever. For me, I’ve found it essential to not be tied down to wherever my desktop computer is! Before I used a laptop computer for mobile-writing, I used an AlphaSmart Word Processor. The AplhaSmart is not as pricey as a laptop, but offers the same type of mobility. An iPad or other table can also serve this same purpose. Being mobile means that I can write on my front porch, my desk at work, in the car on long trips, and a variety of other places. Because sometimes, the only free time I have is in the car!
Tip 2: Make Minutes Count
Learn to write productively in small batches. Productive writing time does not have to be an hour or more. In fact, for me, some of my most productive writing times are only 15 – 20 minutes. I’ve learned to squeeze writing into my lunch break, into the twenty minutes between the kids’ bedtime and mine, or the few minutes I have alone before the kids arrive home from school. When I know I have a few minutes coming up, I have the wheels turning in my head beforehand, thinking about what I want to accomplish. Using small batches of time intentionally, with a little forethought, can make those times super-productive.
Tip 3: Put Pen to Paper
Don’t discount the value of actual pen and paper. I know everyone is writing on a computer these days (me included!), but sometimes nothing replaces an actual piece of paper and a pen. For instance, if you’re shopping at the mall and all of a sudden the perfect bit of dialogue pops into your mind. Or maybe you’re sitting in church or a meeting and suddenly you have the majority of a plot playing out in your head. Those moments are GOLDEN! Don’t lose them because you aren’t at a computer. Write them down! I used to try to carry a journal with me, but it never seemed to stay in my purse, and my kids always wound up using it for doodling in the car, but I always have some scrap piece of paper, even if it’s just an empty envelope from a bill I’ve already paid! I plotted the biggest part of my current release on the back of 3 church bulletins on Sunday morning during church service. I know this is advice that any writer should - and probably does take to heart - but I think for those of us who are balancing demanding day jobs and parenting responsibilities, along with our writing, this bit of advice is particularly important.
Tip 4: Value the Prep Time
It’s extremely important to realize that writing is more than putting words on paper (or the computer screen). While it’s true that adding to the word count is the most concrete way to measure productivity, it’s also vital to recognize the importance of everything else that goes into writing. The research. The brainstorming. The plotting. The stewing. The stressing. It’s all a part of the whole. And without one or more of the parts, the whole would not be complete. In my extremely busy life that sometimes threatens to edge out my writing time, I’ve learned to recognize and value the time I spend doing the things that lead up to putting words on the screen. After all, I can plot while watching a middle school basketball game or scrambling eggs for breakfast!
It boils down to this: We make time for what’s important. And when the writing is important, as it is to all of us, we find ways to carve out time.
Post by Amy Durham
Showing posts with label Craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craft. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Value of Good Editing to Your Work
Writing is writing whether you do it from home, work, in your closet, in your bedroom or in the car. And those of us who are driven to put words on paper do it because we’re compelled to do so. You can be a writer your entire life and never publish anything. It doesn’t take courage to put your words to paper. Not until you start putting your words out there for others to read.
Publishing what you write probably takes more courage than the writing process ever will. You’re baring yourself to more criticism with the push of a button than you’ll face for any other action. And those criticisms are going to come from complete strangers if your story isn’t what they expect it to be.
A wide sweeping controversy has been ongoing about whether or not self-published authors are professional writers, and I have to say from personal experience, and from years of observing fellow writers and their struggles, WE ARE.
1. We are responsible for every word in our manuscript. Every plot device, every moment of character building, every paragraph of prose that sets the stage for the story comes from the writer’s imagination. The writer has always carried that weight. Not the entity that publishes it.
2. We spend the same amount of time formatting and editing our work as any publisher does. And sometimes more. I have reformatted my last two manuscripts four times each. I have a different format for every place my manuscript is available. I did that myself, not a publisher because I am the PUBLISHER.
3. We promote our work with more zeal than any publisher ever will. We use every social media device available to us and then some. What mainstream publisher have you seen doing anything but putting the book up for sell? So we don’t just wear our writer-publisher hat but a promoter’s hat as well. It’s me you’ll see on Facebook, Twitter, Google, Goodreads, Blogspot, the radio, newspaper, and any other media I can reach to get the word out that I’ve written a good book and it’s out there to be read.
4. As writers, publishers, and promoters, we who self-publish agonize over every missed comma, misspelled word, backwards quotation mark, and blemish that might detract from the reader enjoying our story. In fact, we agonize over them more because they’re our one opportunity to put our best PROFESSIONAL foot forward with readers.
We supply a product just like any publisher out there. And every self-published writer I’ve spoken to says that the formatting and editing of their books ranks right up there with the strength of the writing.
With that in mind, I put out an all call on several writing loops to get some feedback about the editing resources available to us. As always when you ask fellow writers for help, it comes pouring in with enthusiasm.
From all the feedback, the consensus was that it doesn’t matter how many of your writer friends have pored over your manuscript, a professional editor is the way to go. And I have to agree. My last manuscript was read by nine different people looking for mistakes. They did find some. But my copy editor found every typo, homophone, missed comma, everything that nine other people didn’t see. She gave me the opportunity to put my BEST work out there for everyone to read.
And she did one more thing for me. She lifted the worry I carried of putting a product out there that was less than what it should be. As a writer, publisher, promoter, I have to say that worry was HUGE.
Below is a list of wonderful editors who have helped others do the same thing. And I’m definitely including mine in the list.
The Authors Red Room www.theauthorsredroom.com
Lisa Constantino http://www.manuscriptmaster.com/
Anne Victory www.victoryediting.com
Jim Thomsen thomsen1965@gmail.com
Cathleen Ross contact@cathleenross.com
Helen Woodall helenwoodall@gmail.com
Nancy Cassidy www.theredpencoach.com
Red Circle Ink Editing http://redcircleink.com
Jane Haertel haertel@aol.com
Wendy Ely www.creativemanuscripts.blogspot.com
Faith Freewoman www.demonfordetails.com
The last editor on the list, Faith Freewoman, was my editor for TIMELESS, my latest release. She took the stress of worrying about finding all the small, pesky mistakes off my shoulders. And she put a professional polish on my work that made it so much easier to enjoy releasing the book.
The Editorial Freelancers Association http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php This link can offer you the range of pricing in hiring a freelance editor.
To get each editor’s rate you’ll have to do some research. Depending on what kind of editing you want done, from a deep line edit, to just light copy editing to find punctuation mistakes, the more you ask of your editor the more they have to charge for their time and expertise. So rates will run from a dollar a page to forty dollars an hour, and sometimes more. It will be up to you to decide what you need.
Write on,
Publishing what you write probably takes more courage than the writing process ever will. You’re baring yourself to more criticism with the push of a button than you’ll face for any other action. And those criticisms are going to come from complete strangers if your story isn’t what they expect it to be.
A wide sweeping controversy has been ongoing about whether or not self-published authors are professional writers, and I have to say from personal experience, and from years of observing fellow writers and their struggles, WE ARE.
1. We are responsible for every word in our manuscript. Every plot device, every moment of character building, every paragraph of prose that sets the stage for the story comes from the writer’s imagination. The writer has always carried that weight. Not the entity that publishes it.
2. We spend the same amount of time formatting and editing our work as any publisher does. And sometimes more. I have reformatted my last two manuscripts four times each. I have a different format for every place my manuscript is available. I did that myself, not a publisher because I am the PUBLISHER.
3. We promote our work with more zeal than any publisher ever will. We use every social media device available to us and then some. What mainstream publisher have you seen doing anything but putting the book up for sell? So we don’t just wear our writer-publisher hat but a promoter’s hat as well. It’s me you’ll see on Facebook, Twitter, Google, Goodreads, Blogspot, the radio, newspaper, and any other media I can reach to get the word out that I’ve written a good book and it’s out there to be read.
4. As writers, publishers, and promoters, we who self-publish agonize over every missed comma, misspelled word, backwards quotation mark, and blemish that might detract from the reader enjoying our story. In fact, we agonize over them more because they’re our one opportunity to put our best PROFESSIONAL foot forward with readers.
We supply a product just like any publisher out there. And every self-published writer I’ve spoken to says that the formatting and editing of their books ranks right up there with the strength of the writing.
With that in mind, I put out an all call on several writing loops to get some feedback about the editing resources available to us. As always when you ask fellow writers for help, it comes pouring in with enthusiasm.
From all the feedback, the consensus was that it doesn’t matter how many of your writer friends have pored over your manuscript, a professional editor is the way to go. And I have to agree. My last manuscript was read by nine different people looking for mistakes. They did find some. But my copy editor found every typo, homophone, missed comma, everything that nine other people didn’t see. She gave me the opportunity to put my BEST work out there for everyone to read.
And she did one more thing for me. She lifted the worry I carried of putting a product out there that was less than what it should be. As a writer, publisher, promoter, I have to say that worry was HUGE.
Below is a list of wonderful editors who have helped others do the same thing. And I’m definitely including mine in the list.
The Authors Red Room www.theauthorsredroom.com
Lisa Constantino http://www.manuscriptmaster.com/
Anne Victory www.victoryediting.com
Jim Thomsen thomsen1965@gmail.com
Cathleen Ross contact@cathleenross.com
Helen Woodall helenwoodall@gmail.com
Nancy Cassidy www.theredpencoach.com
Red Circle Ink Editing http://redcircleink.com
Jane Haertel haertel@aol.com
Wendy Ely www.creativemanuscripts.blogspot.com
Faith Freewoman www.demonfordetails.com
The last editor on the list, Faith Freewoman, was my editor for TIMELESS, my latest release. She took the stress of worrying about finding all the small, pesky mistakes off my shoulders. And she put a professional polish on my work that made it so much easier to enjoy releasing the book.
The Editorial Freelancers Association http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php This link can offer you the range of pricing in hiring a freelance editor.
To get each editor’s rate you’ll have to do some research. Depending on what kind of editing you want done, from a deep line edit, to just light copy editing to find punctuation mistakes, the more you ask of your editor the more they have to charge for their time and expertise. So rates will run from a dollar a page to forty dollars an hour, and sometimes more. It will be up to you to decide what you need.
Write on,
Teresa J. Reasor
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Setting From A Sensual POV
For eons writers have been told setting is the culture, time, and place in which a story is set. But that definition only scratches the surface.
Setting is a character. That observation edges closer to how important a role it plays, but doesn’t quite go far enough. Setting interacts with characters, affects their physical beings, triggers an emotional response, plays upon their senses, and can even set a mood. It shares an intimacy with the characters only second to the relationship between the characters themselves. Intimacy-- what better term to use in explaining the relationship between character and setting?
Intimacy is characterized by a close, thorough acquaintance, and first hand, personal knowledge. It is developed through the interaction between two entities.
And for every moment of every scene Setting is there observing, tying the characters to a place and time in a physical manner, and deepening the point of view to draw the reader more thoroughly into the story.
Writing about Setting in terms of the five senses gives an elemental sensuality to every description and makes it more active. Setting does not have to be an inanimate location. In fact, locations are seldom inanimate.
As an example I’ll use a short passage from my paranormal suspense novel, TIMELESS:
Loch Maree provided a purplish-blue backdrop to the circle of twenty stones topped by lintels that stretched nearly the width of the inlet. A knoll of ground provided a natural dam holding back the water.
Braden led her beneath the crossbar spanning a narrow path between two of the stones. Atop the limestone altar in the center of the site sat her basket, the long stems of several plants sticking over the sides. The edge of her tartan shawl, bunched beside it, fluttered in the breeze. Braden paused in the shade of one of the slabs, a sudden wary tension in his stance.
Warm moist air looped around them. A prickling sensation fluttered over Coira’s skin as though a lightning strike had just dispersed. The smell of smoke lingered on the breeze.
Braden’s grasp tightened around her hand, holding her at his side.
More curious than alarmed, she ran a soothing hand down his arm. “Be at ease. There is nothing to fear in this place.”
She closed her eyes and embraced the power that lingered on the air like mist. Pulling away from Braden’s grasp, she walked clockwise along the edge of the circle. A low hum traveled through the bottoms of her feet to the top of her head, the vibration intensifying as she neared one particular stone. The Ogham designs carved into the pillar writhed black, against the reddish light the setting sun painted upon the slab’s surface.
The air grew still and weighted with moisture. She tasted it, like dew, on her tongue. Her skin grew damp. The sound of the wind, the movement of the trees, her own breathing, ceased. Her ears felt full as if she had climbed a tall peak and needed to swallow to clear them. What was about here?
The physical interaction between the elements of Setting and characters can drive the plot, create a mood, and provide foreshadowing. By the elements I mean earth, air and water.
Earth
Possession of the land has triggered feuds and wars, cost life, limb, toil and strife, and been a source of power since mankind first banded into tribes. And a man’s or woman’s home can be their cave, hut, castle, or the spooky old house they’ve bought to renovate. The possibilities are limitless as are the scenarios the locations can inspire.
Here is an example of using location as a resting place for internal speculation such as in my contemporary Navy Seal novel, BREAKING FREE:
Zoe helped herself to a small bowl of salad and wandered out to the screened-in back porch. She sat down in the old metal glider Hawk had renovated and placed against one wall. Green striped lounge pillows cushioned the seat. She propped her feet up on the brown wicker coffee table, and set the glider in motion. The sunset deepened to rose, maroon, and then purple painting the laminate floor with color. Through the screened windows, the sweet scent of honeysuckle wafted to her on the breeze. The cadence of the crickets thrummed in a synchronized ebb and flow.
The porch was fast becoming her favorite spot. She gravitated there to unwind when she arrived home from the hospital. Her bowl empty, she set it aside on the wicker end table beside the glider and eyed the sunken hot tub a few feet away. Maybe she could fill it after dinner when everyone left. With the aid of a few potted plants, and the canvas shades that could be lowered over the windows, she could find some privacy. Perhaps it would ease the pain in her calf from standing too long.
Imagining Hawk in the hot tub with any number of buxom, blonde beauties cost her more than a twinge or two of jealousy. A jealousy she tried to deny. Along with the feelings that inspired it. Every time she experienced the rush of excitement when he entered the room, or the hypersensitive tingle of heat when he touched her, a lingering ache centered just beneath her breast bone.
Better the ache of regret than the pain of caring for him more deeply and something happening to him.
By using the five senses to paint a picture you can add atmosphere to any location. Here’s an example from the horror novella I’m working on now called WITHIN THE SHADOWS.
The heavy metal beat pounded against Julia’s ears drowning out the beep of the cash register as she keyed in the order. The base drum thumped in time with the headache throbbing behind her eyes. Jesus! She rubbed her temples. The rock and roll bands Hector hired were loud enough, but for the last two weeks, The Skulls’ music fell just short of an assault.
She scanned the dance floor where a strobe light flashed capturing stop-action gyrations of the couples dancing. Not couples, but the group, the collective. They moved as one. The smoke machine backstage provided a backdrop for the band and the audience. Painted and garbed in Goth style, the special effects lent the patrons the look of extras on a Day of the Dead movie set.
She wiped her workstation down with a damp sponge, tossed it in the sink, and turned her attention to the next order, a primal scream. The singer on stage broke into a demonstration. Julia flinched. Geez what was with this band?
As she snatched up the bottle of Kaluah from the packed shelves, the mirror behind the bar captured a brief glimpse of her pale face and exaggerated eye makeup. Movement, a form, stealthy, fast, and gray rose up behind her in the glass. With a startled yelp, she twisted around to face the threat.
Nothing. Nothing was there.
Air
There is nothing inanimate about the weather or how it can become a thriving character in a story. Snow/Cold adds an element of physical threat to even the most lighthearted story. Typhoons, tornadoes, and hurricanes can add tension and suspense to any plot line. Fog has always added a sense of foreboding and atmosphere, a Gothic feel, to every manuscript. Prolonged periods of rain can act as an irritant and have your characters at each other’s throats, or can add a sensual backdrop of sound to which your characters can make love. Sunlight can add warmth and an exuberant mood in a scene or can contrast an emotional battle between characters.
Allowing your characters to experience the weather through their senses makes the very air they breathe an adventure in action-reaction.
Out of all the elements of weather, lightning is my favorite. Here's an example from TIMELESS.
Lightning singed the sky like a molten vein of gold and arrowed down to the stones below. Temporarily blinded by the strobe-like effect, he threw up a defensive hand. The thunder caught him unaware. Startled, he yelped as it crashed around him, vibrating through the bottoms of his feet.
Goose-bumps erupted on his forearms and he flung aside the umbrella. Tilting his head back, he screamed into the cloud- darkened sky in a show of defiance. Lightning would not frighten him away. Never. Once again, he was standing in the stones’ presence, absorbing their power, like static electricity racing over his skin.
A bluish-white bolt slashed downward, hitting a twenty ton lintel balanced between two posts, sending up a shower of sparks. He jerked, covered his ears against the thunder’s onslaught, and looked about for some cover.
The boxy shape of a structure stood fifty feet away. He ran through the rain, his feet slipping on the grassy bank, his breath coming in jerky spurts. He leapt inside the wooden storage shed. The heavens opened with a display of angry power as bolt after bolt lashed and whipped at the stones, again and again. The thunder rumbled like deep, terrible music.
As suddenly as it began, it ended. For a moment, he remained crouched against the door of the shed. Silence stretched first one beat, then another. The frantic drumming of his heart eased, though excitement still thrummed through every nerve ending.
Water
Water can be the cause of death, the answer to the quest, and the playful, sexy lure for adventurous skinny-dipping.
The sight and sound of waves rolling upon a beach strikes an elemental chord in the human psyche. They can inspire loneliness or ignite passion.
Water is sensuous, dangerous, and mysterious which are perfect characteristics for an interesting and versatile setting. From the bottom of the loch in TIMELESS:
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. The mantra played through Regan’s mind like a prayer as she propelled herself through the turbid water with strong even kicks. Heavy sediment clouded her range of vision and gave the water a greenish cast. It reflected back the feeble glow of the watertight dive light she held clamped in her hand. The grayish scales of a lone fish sparkled as it swam within the small, illumined circle, then darted away along the brown bottom of the loch.
It looked as though she’d been dropped on a waterlogged moon, desolate and distant. Her face ached from the cold temperature of the water, but her dry suit kept her reasonably protected. She forced herself to stop and take stock of the situation. She’d lost her dive buddy, Henry, in the hazy water, but still had her compass and remained on course. Her heart beat hard against her ribs and she tried to slow her breathing. He’d been right beside her only moments before. Where could he be?
Allowing your characters to experience Setting through their senses switches it from an inanimate stage to an interactive environment. It will cement your characters within their story by bring the time period, culture, and place into sharp focus for them and for you.
The action-reaction you have to your world should be as equally tactile, as sensuous an experience for your characters. It should be as intimate a journey as any other you create for them. By deepening the Point of View in such a way, it enriches your writing and in turn enriches your readers’ experience. And that is what writing is ultimately all about.
Post by Teresa Reasor
Setting is a character. That observation edges closer to how important a role it plays, but doesn’t quite go far enough. Setting interacts with characters, affects their physical beings, triggers an emotional response, plays upon their senses, and can even set a mood. It shares an intimacy with the characters only second to the relationship between the characters themselves. Intimacy-- what better term to use in explaining the relationship between character and setting?
Intimacy is characterized by a close, thorough acquaintance, and first hand, personal knowledge. It is developed through the interaction between two entities.
And for every moment of every scene Setting is there observing, tying the characters to a place and time in a physical manner, and deepening the point of view to draw the reader more thoroughly into the story.
Writing about Setting in terms of the five senses gives an elemental sensuality to every description and makes it more active. Setting does not have to be an inanimate location. In fact, locations are seldom inanimate.
As an example I’ll use a short passage from my paranormal suspense novel, TIMELESS:
Loch Maree provided a purplish-blue backdrop to the circle of twenty stones topped by lintels that stretched nearly the width of the inlet. A knoll of ground provided a natural dam holding back the water.
Braden led her beneath the crossbar spanning a narrow path between two of the stones. Atop the limestone altar in the center of the site sat her basket, the long stems of several plants sticking over the sides. The edge of her tartan shawl, bunched beside it, fluttered in the breeze. Braden paused in the shade of one of the slabs, a sudden wary tension in his stance.
Warm moist air looped around them. A prickling sensation fluttered over Coira’s skin as though a lightning strike had just dispersed. The smell of smoke lingered on the breeze.
Braden’s grasp tightened around her hand, holding her at his side.
More curious than alarmed, she ran a soothing hand down his arm. “Be at ease. There is nothing to fear in this place.”
She closed her eyes and embraced the power that lingered on the air like mist. Pulling away from Braden’s grasp, she walked clockwise along the edge of the circle. A low hum traveled through the bottoms of her feet to the top of her head, the vibration intensifying as she neared one particular stone. The Ogham designs carved into the pillar writhed black, against the reddish light the setting sun painted upon the slab’s surface.
The air grew still and weighted with moisture. She tasted it, like dew, on her tongue. Her skin grew damp. The sound of the wind, the movement of the trees, her own breathing, ceased. Her ears felt full as if she had climbed a tall peak and needed to swallow to clear them. What was about here?
The physical interaction between the elements of Setting and characters can drive the plot, create a mood, and provide foreshadowing. By the elements I mean earth, air and water.
Earth
Possession of the land has triggered feuds and wars, cost life, limb, toil and strife, and been a source of power since mankind first banded into tribes. And a man’s or woman’s home can be their cave, hut, castle, or the spooky old house they’ve bought to renovate. The possibilities are limitless as are the scenarios the locations can inspire.
Here is an example of using location as a resting place for internal speculation such as in my contemporary Navy Seal novel, BREAKING FREE:
Zoe helped herself to a small bowl of salad and wandered out to the screened-in back porch. She sat down in the old metal glider Hawk had renovated and placed against one wall. Green striped lounge pillows cushioned the seat. She propped her feet up on the brown wicker coffee table, and set the glider in motion. The sunset deepened to rose, maroon, and then purple painting the laminate floor with color. Through the screened windows, the sweet scent of honeysuckle wafted to her on the breeze. The cadence of the crickets thrummed in a synchronized ebb and flow.
The porch was fast becoming her favorite spot. She gravitated there to unwind when she arrived home from the hospital. Her bowl empty, she set it aside on the wicker end table beside the glider and eyed the sunken hot tub a few feet away. Maybe she could fill it after dinner when everyone left. With the aid of a few potted plants, and the canvas shades that could be lowered over the windows, she could find some privacy. Perhaps it would ease the pain in her calf from standing too long.
Imagining Hawk in the hot tub with any number of buxom, blonde beauties cost her more than a twinge or two of jealousy. A jealousy she tried to deny. Along with the feelings that inspired it. Every time she experienced the rush of excitement when he entered the room, or the hypersensitive tingle of heat when he touched her, a lingering ache centered just beneath her breast bone.
Better the ache of regret than the pain of caring for him more deeply and something happening to him.
By using the five senses to paint a picture you can add atmosphere to any location. Here’s an example from the horror novella I’m working on now called WITHIN THE SHADOWS.
The heavy metal beat pounded against Julia’s ears drowning out the beep of the cash register as she keyed in the order. The base drum thumped in time with the headache throbbing behind her eyes. Jesus! She rubbed her temples. The rock and roll bands Hector hired were loud enough, but for the last two weeks, The Skulls’ music fell just short of an assault.
She scanned the dance floor where a strobe light flashed capturing stop-action gyrations of the couples dancing. Not couples, but the group, the collective. They moved as one. The smoke machine backstage provided a backdrop for the band and the audience. Painted and garbed in Goth style, the special effects lent the patrons the look of extras on a Day of the Dead movie set.
She wiped her workstation down with a damp sponge, tossed it in the sink, and turned her attention to the next order, a primal scream. The singer on stage broke into a demonstration. Julia flinched. Geez what was with this band?
As she snatched up the bottle of Kaluah from the packed shelves, the mirror behind the bar captured a brief glimpse of her pale face and exaggerated eye makeup. Movement, a form, stealthy, fast, and gray rose up behind her in the glass. With a startled yelp, she twisted around to face the threat.
Nothing. Nothing was there.
Air
There is nothing inanimate about the weather or how it can become a thriving character in a story. Snow/Cold adds an element of physical threat to even the most lighthearted story. Typhoons, tornadoes, and hurricanes can add tension and suspense to any plot line. Fog has always added a sense of foreboding and atmosphere, a Gothic feel, to every manuscript. Prolonged periods of rain can act as an irritant and have your characters at each other’s throats, or can add a sensual backdrop of sound to which your characters can make love. Sunlight can add warmth and an exuberant mood in a scene or can contrast an emotional battle between characters.
Allowing your characters to experience the weather through their senses makes the very air they breathe an adventure in action-reaction.
Out of all the elements of weather, lightning is my favorite. Here's an example from TIMELESS.
Lightning singed the sky like a molten vein of gold and arrowed down to the stones below. Temporarily blinded by the strobe-like effect, he threw up a defensive hand. The thunder caught him unaware. Startled, he yelped as it crashed around him, vibrating through the bottoms of his feet.
Goose-bumps erupted on his forearms and he flung aside the umbrella. Tilting his head back, he screamed into the cloud- darkened sky in a show of defiance. Lightning would not frighten him away. Never. Once again, he was standing in the stones’ presence, absorbing their power, like static electricity racing over his skin.
A bluish-white bolt slashed downward, hitting a twenty ton lintel balanced between two posts, sending up a shower of sparks. He jerked, covered his ears against the thunder’s onslaught, and looked about for some cover.
The boxy shape of a structure stood fifty feet away. He ran through the rain, his feet slipping on the grassy bank, his breath coming in jerky spurts. He leapt inside the wooden storage shed. The heavens opened with a display of angry power as bolt after bolt lashed and whipped at the stones, again and again. The thunder rumbled like deep, terrible music.
As suddenly as it began, it ended. For a moment, he remained crouched against the door of the shed. Silence stretched first one beat, then another. The frantic drumming of his heart eased, though excitement still thrummed through every nerve ending.
Water
Water can be the cause of death, the answer to the quest, and the playful, sexy lure for adventurous skinny-dipping.
The sight and sound of waves rolling upon a beach strikes an elemental chord in the human psyche. They can inspire loneliness or ignite passion.
Water is sensuous, dangerous, and mysterious which are perfect characteristics for an interesting and versatile setting. From the bottom of the loch in TIMELESS:
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. The mantra played through Regan’s mind like a prayer as she propelled herself through the turbid water with strong even kicks. Heavy sediment clouded her range of vision and gave the water a greenish cast. It reflected back the feeble glow of the watertight dive light she held clamped in her hand. The grayish scales of a lone fish sparkled as it swam within the small, illumined circle, then darted away along the brown bottom of the loch.
It looked as though she’d been dropped on a waterlogged moon, desolate and distant. Her face ached from the cold temperature of the water, but her dry suit kept her reasonably protected. She forced herself to stop and take stock of the situation. She’d lost her dive buddy, Henry, in the hazy water, but still had her compass and remained on course. Her heart beat hard against her ribs and she tried to slow her breathing. He’d been right beside her only moments before. Where could he be?
Allowing your characters to experience Setting through their senses switches it from an inanimate stage to an interactive environment. It will cement your characters within their story by bring the time period, culture, and place into sharp focus for them and for you.
The action-reaction you have to your world should be as equally tactile, as sensuous an experience for your characters. It should be as intimate a journey as any other you create for them. By deepening the Point of View in such a way, it enriches your writing and in turn enriches your readers’ experience. And that is what writing is ultimately all about.
Post by Teresa Reasor
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