Writing the seasons
Yesterday was a beautiful, mild, sunny spring day. It was warm enough for me to sit outside while I sipped my coffee, an unseasonably early occurrence, and it got me thinking about the role of the seasons in writing.
In the Panthera books I've set most of the action in equatorial climates, but the two main locations are starkly different. Panthera : Death Spiral and Panthera : Death Plain are set in New Africa, the future form of our current Africa. Panthera : Death Song is set in the heart of rainforest.
Weather and seasons are a great way to shape the mood of our stories. Sitting in the sun, I felt that spring had arrived. Something primeval in me responds to the lengthening days, the sun climbing higher in the sky, and the subtle changes of light. I feel like a flower unfolding, seeing a new world full of hope.
Autumn is a bitter-sweet season in temperate climes. The glorious fire of dying foliage lifts the spirits, but we know it's a brief respite before the natural world closes down for the winter.
What seasons do your characters like best? I'm not a sun-worshipper, but perhaps they are. Or maybe they love the crisp, cold days of winter when the twiggy fingers of bare-branched trees reach out to a watery blue sky. Do they love the seasons of change, spring or autumn, the start and end of growth?
The seasons can enhance your characters' moods, or starkly contrast with them. On this bright day I greet the hope of a new spring with the delights of yellow narcissus, pale blue hyacinths, and the re-emergence of green in deciduous plants. None of these things would happen without the seasons. Enrich your characters' lives by including them in your stories.
In the Panthera books I've set most of the action in equatorial climates, but the two main locations are starkly different. Panthera : Death Spiral and Panthera : Death Plain are set in New Africa, the future form of our current Africa. Panthera : Death Song is set in the heart of rainforest.
Weather and seasons are a great way to shape the mood of our stories. Sitting in the sun, I felt that spring had arrived. Something primeval in me responds to the lengthening days, the sun climbing higher in the sky, and the subtle changes of light. I feel like a flower unfolding, seeing a new world full of hope.
Autumn is a bitter-sweet season in temperate climes. The glorious fire of dying foliage lifts the spirits, but we know it's a brief respite before the natural world closes down for the winter.
What seasons do your characters like best? I'm not a sun-worshipper, but perhaps they are. Or maybe they love the crisp, cold days of winter when the twiggy fingers of bare-branched trees reach out to a watery blue sky. Do they love the seasons of change, spring or autumn, the start and end of growth?
The seasons can enhance your characters' moods, or starkly contrast with them. On this bright day I greet the hope of a new spring with the delights of yellow narcissus, pale blue hyacinths, and the re-emergence of green in deciduous plants. None of these things would happen without the seasons. Enrich your characters' lives by including them in your stories.
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