The following articles were written to show how weather can be used effectively as a literary device. This is an ongoing series in tandem with my book Creating Atmosphere with Atmosphere: How to Use Weather as a Literary Device.
- Mark Twain Made Me Write ThisMark Twain shunned putting weather in books, even though he shows up in a table of authors that mention the weather in the first sentence. Yet human emotion can be drawn out or set by using the weather as a tool.
- What Could Be Better Than a Book About Weather?I ask what could be better than a book about weather, but I know the answer–to me, anyway: nothing.
- What is Solar Weather?The sun can play a part in writing, not only as an obvious source of light, but also as a literary device all its own
- On Temperature & EmotionThe emotions drummed up by your characters would also be the emotions that you feel when you are in that situation.
- On Precipitation & EmotionThere are many forms of precipitation–from snow to rain to ice crystals and more–and therefore many ways a writer can use it for emotion.
- Alien WeatherAlien weather is something I think about quite frequently, not only because it plays into my own writing, but because it’s just neat.
- On Thunderstorms & EmotionThe way nature uses thunderstorms to restore balance to an unstable atmosphere is akin to the way a plot is intended to resolve a conflict.
- On Fog & EmotionLike the cat of Carl Sandburg’s poem, fog does not announce itself very well. So how can we use this stealthy behavior as a writing tool?
- A Little Experiment with Weather & EmotionsEarlier this year, I did a little study about weather and emotions. Here are some thoughts on what I found.
- The Thunderstorm Story ModelI’ve always loved the dynamics behind thunderstorms and recently, I’ve been seeing parallels to the standard plot curve many writers have been taught.
- On Wind & EmotionJust like clouds and emotion go hand-in-hand (with respect to literature, anyway), so does wind and emotion.
- On Clouds and EmotionClouds and emotion go together when you think about it. We have been trained since birth to recognize signs in the sky, whether we did so deliberately or not.
- How To: Inhale a Novel Idea (Literally)You really can inhale a novel idea, especially if the novel involves dust and you stand in the middle of a dust storm. It’s quite the experience.
- How To: Create an Atmosphere on PaperWriting the weather into a setting–creating an atmosphere–is not that difficult, but you can screw it up. Keep in mind that there are readers out there who have studied meteorology for years, and like anything, the genius is in the details.
Read Other Series Posts
Ink and Enlightenment ● Using Anthropology for World Building
