Seasonal Settings: Making the Most of the Weather (and other things)

I was talking to a client yesterday and reaffirming what I've probably said before.

A writer needs setting in their books; they also need to use the five senses. If not, the characters are living in some sort of void.

Photo of clouds by: revedavion.com, courtesy of Flicker

I love the seasons. And it's always a good idea to write about them when you are experiencing them. Try tucking these seasonal experiences away until you need them.

If you're writing about summer and the true season (at least in the life you're currently living) is winter, try bringing to the surface your past experiences. They will help you in creating a real setting for your book.

One thing that some writers struggle with is something I call "talking heads." What this means is that the writer gets so caught up in the conversation they forget to reveal where the characters are standing (sitting), what time of day it is, and what the weather is like.

Photo by: blmiers2, courtesy of Flickr

I may be able to see the main character pondering about her life, but I don't see where she is sitting and what is happening around her. I don't "feel" her thoughts. And if I don't "feel" anything (and much of this "feeling" can be found in properly placed senses) I don't care about the character's life.

Real life always has something going on, whether that thing is a slow blowing wind, children playing on the playground, a water tap dripping, or just the sound of the sheets as the main character repositions herself on the bed.

Photo by: Tom Raftery, courtesy of Flickr

None of us live in a void.

When we read any worthwhile book we are not only learning from the dialogue we are learning from the setting and the five senses. A great book makes the most of the weather, whether the weather happens to be brisk, warm, or somewhere in-between; this same writers gets a real clue into the main character's heart by using the five senses.

What Rainy Weather Can Do For Your Writing

Last night around dinner time I mowed the lawn. It needed it. After all the fertilizing my husband had done and the wicked rain we've had recently, there just wasn't any other choice.

Photo by aussiegall, courtesy of Flickr

I'd considered mowing this morning, but THAT choice would have been poor seeing as it's pouring today. I love and I hate rainy days. I love them because I am often in-doors when it's coming down and out and about when it's not.

If you're cooped up today as well, consider these options for your writing:

• Get one or both of my e-books and Amazon.com TODAY for FREE and do some reading. Reading is always helpful to writers who want to learn a particular style of writing or improve their craft.
• Take some time off to relax. Most of the time we're going a hundred and one miles an hour, down a curvy street. (Have you been down the one in San Francisco?) After relaxing, you often feel rejuvenated; something all writers need to keep going on their projects. 
• Write like there's no tomorrow. One thing about rainy days--you often want to stay indoors, so why not get your next novel going?
• Visit over the phone rather than through email. When we get busy, we send off emails because it's quicker and easier to get the information we need. Convenience is often the key, and we may neglect to speak with our loved ones live because we are so busy doing other things. But talking with others often brings up great ideas for your next work, you may even find yourself digging into that stalled project because of the great talk.



Photo by FindYourSearch, courtesy of Flickr

• Turn off the television and listen to music. I know writers who play certain pieces of music to get their creative juices flowing. 
• Watch the rain through the window and write a scene about it. You may decide to use this scene in your next short story or book, but being there and writing as the raining is happening will help your writing to be more authentic than if you were merely remembering what it was like the last time. Use your five senses so the writer will feel the scene.
• Go dancing. When was the last time you danced in the rain? 

Perhaps the rain is coming down and you didn't mow your lawn--the grass looks more like a jungle. I've experienced that too. Write about it.

Writing through the Pain

I had a wisdom tooth pulled this morning and am still in the land of the living, at least for now. People tell me that the pain comes after all of the shots have worn off and it made me think of writing and when the best stuff comes from my soul.

Photo by Vassilis, courtesy of Flickr

When it hurts. When the procedure is anything less than easy. When I feel as if I might be saying too much. That's when the best stuff comes.

I was talking to a client about this just the other day. She didn't want to share the details of her experience, but because she had, gold was the result. I cried when she read the experience, I felt like I was there, that I was a part of the pain and that I could share in hers.

Isn't that what the best books are about? Some tied connection that makes you feel as you have known the writer for years? Isn't great writing all about opening yourself up and getting it all on paper, not holding back because you believe your experience isn't really worth anything?

Photo by spoon, courtesy of Flickr

If you're saying to yourself, "What I write won't matter to anyone else." If you don't pick up a pen and paper because you just can't get started on some of the horrors in your life; allow me to make a suggestion.

Do it anyway. Open your heart. Get those words on paper. Use your five senses, all of your emotion; don't let anything remain hidden. If you discover later that you've shared to much, pull back, but don't short change yourself in the first draft when all of your feelings and experiences should be expressed without walls. Your best stuff is written in that first draft, don't hold back by standing behind the wall.

5 Ideas + 1 to Get you Writing

Having a difficult time scheduling your daily writing time? Whether you have a full-time job outside the home, children hanging on your legs, or your day quite honestly seems to get away from you before you realize you haven't made time to write, we all need to schedule writing time.

Photo by: Earls37a, courtesy of Flickr

I find that if I don't schedule, my writing time doesn't happen. And if I do schedule, I don't often focus on the task at hand but find time to clean my desk, wipe a few layers of lint off my computer screen or eat. It isn't always easy to write.

But that's not because I believe in writer's block.

For me, it's not writer's block that keeps me from moving forward, it's plain and simple, laziness. Sometimes my brain is just lazy and it doesn't want to perform, either that or my heart's just not in it. Maybe that's writer's block, and if so, so be it.

What I know is that I can always move forward if I make the effort. Here are a few things I do:

1. I just start writing! I write for 15 minutes and whatever comes out, comes out. The words may be, "I hate this and I have no idea what to write," and then a few minutes later I'm talking about my day yesterday, or my grandchildren, or the pot pie I ate for dinner. It doesn't matter--not really--what I write, it's getting the juices flowing.
2. I look at my magazine pictures that I've cut out and placed in a three ring binder. I write about the picture using my five senses. I clear the way for a great story.
3. I read a great line from one of my favorite books, and go off that. No, I'm not going to use, "Just call me Ishmael," but I'm going to borrow the line, even change it a bit to get me going. "Just call me (insert your own name)" and go from there.
4. I look out my office window and write what I see. It's amazing the writing that comes depending on the season that I am writing in. Or I travel to another place to write, somewhere outdoors. Some writers even spend some time writing in a hotel room away from the doorbell, the phone and other daily distractions. 

Get away from home for awhile to write!
Photo by Koonisutra, courtesy of Flickr

5. I take out something unfinished, read over it, and make editing changes. Sometimes my best work

    comes from a piece that has been sitting inside my computer for awhile. 

The best news about being a writer I think is the process in writing that next best seller. It's the process, not the result that usually gives me the most satisfaction and growth. 

Get writing!