posted
How many of you have used, or often use, weather as an element in your writing? I was researching weather in fiction as I intend to include weather in my WIP and wanted to see how others handled it. When I googled it, the following article turned up:
quote:
Uses of the Weather.—All that has been said thus far of setting in general applies of course to one of the most interesting of its elements,—the weather. In simple stories like the usual nursery tale, the weather may be non-existent. Or it may exist mainly for a decorative purpose, like the frequent golden oriental dawns of Spenser's poem or the superb and colorful symphonies of sky and sea in Pierre Loti's "Iceland Fisherman." It may be used as a utilitarian adjunct to the action: at the end of "The Mill on the Floss," as we have already noted, the rains descend and the flood comes merely for the purpose of drowning Tom and Maggie. Or it may be employed to illustrate a character: we are told of Clara Middleton, in "The Egoist," that she possesses the "art of dressing to suit the season and the sky"; and therefore the look of the atmosphere at any hour helps to convey to us a sense of her appearance. Somewhat more artistically, the weather may be planned in pre-established harmony with the mood of the characters: this expedient is wonderfully used in the wild and wind-swept tales of Fiona MacLeod. On the other hand, the weather may stand in emotional contrast with the characters: the Master of Ballantrae and Mr. Henry fight their duel on a night of absolute stillness and stifling cold. Again, the weather may be used to determine the action: in Mr. Kipling's early story called "False Dawn," the blinding sandstorm causes Saumarez to propose to the wrong girl. Or it may be employed as a controlling influence over character: the tremendous storm toward the end of "Richard Feverel," in the chap-ter entitled "Nature Speaks," determines the return of the hero to his wife. In some cases, even, the weather itself may be the real hero of the narrative : the great eruption of Vesuvius in "The Last Days of Pompeii" dominates the termination of the story.
Although the weather is a subject upon everybody's tongue, there are very few people who are capable of talking about it with intelligence and art. Very few writers of fiction—and nearly all of them are recent—have exhibited a mastery of the weather,-a mastery based at once upon a detailed and accurate observation of natural phenomena and a philosophic sense of the relation between these phenomena and the concerns of human beings. Perhaps in no other detail of craftsman-ship does Robert Louis Stevenson so clearly prove his mastery as in his marshalling of the weather, always vividly and truthfully described, to serve a purpose al-ways fitting to his fictions.
The Elinor Glyn System Of Short Story Writing: published circa 1918
[ I purposely placed the citation at the end so that the publication date wouldn’t put people off. ;-) ]
I think most of us are very greatly more educated regarding weather in the abstract (think of jet streams and stationary fronts) than folks 100 years ago, but tend to have less personal experience of weather than they did. I wonder if that change (if true) has been reflected in fiction over the last 100 years or so? Do we use weather less now, or just differently?
If you have used weather as an element in your writing, how did you use it? Did it work for you?
(Given the current popularity of LOTR) Remember the scene on Caradhras as the Fellowship struggles to cross into Lorien? Tolkien used weather as a weapon in that case, but I don't distinctly recall much other use of weather in LOTR, although they did camp at Weathertop, didn't they? When I first read LOTR in the '60s I wondered then why they had so much good weather. Perhaps it would have been an unnecessary burden on the reader?
posted
Before everybody else jumps in here-- in "The American Claimant", Mark Twain put all of the weather on one page in the appendix. His explaination was: "Many a reader who wanted to read a tale through was not able to do it because of delays on account of the weather."
There follows (in the book), an interesting discussion of weather in literature and in the appendix, a nice description of a storm.
posted
I guess I never think too much about the weather unless it is important somehow. I think the same is true when I read. Mood is created and the weather just seems to follow. There are times though when I start reading and all of a sudden I'm jolted by a reference to the weather because it wasn't what I was imagining. i.e. I get feel for something as dark and brooding, imagine an overcast sky then <WHAM!> the author says something about how sunny it is. I usually have to re-read the whole scene or more.
I do like the idea of using weather as a character (not quite like in the old Woody Woodpecker cartoons). Actually, nature, in general, as a character can be quite effective. For instance Twister and Deep Impact are good examples of movies that do this, imo.
posted
I've got flashfloods in a current story, but I think that's the only time I've used weather except as a general stage setting. I'm fond on evening light slanting through trees, so there tends to be a lot of that. Food for thought...
posted
Hmm. I use weather quite a lot--in building milieu sometimes, or creating mood, or adding conflict, or...
My current SIP (Short In Progress) focuses on the weather.
But then, I'm kind of a weather geek. I always have been. I LOVE thunderstorms and flash floods and dream of someday going tornado chasing. I have always, from the time I was a kid, observed weather carefully. I am awed by its power and beauty.
An example: *** The clear cold skies of the second night were blanketed in dull, gray, snow-heavy clouds by morning. And by midday snow covered their hooded heads like thin fleece. The plain was eerily silent all around them. Some gave in to it, riding along dolefully listening to the muffled thud of the horses’ hooves and the muted creaking of the supply wagon’s axles. Others tried to break through the silence, making sudden noises just to be certain sound could exist anymore, or carrying on uncomfortably forced conversations, talking only to crack the silence. ***
AND: *** The wind struck first. He could see it coming, bending the trees ahead of it and engulfing the trees behind in a churning riot of dust and debris. ***
As has been inferred, weather isn't so much an issue for modern people who spend their lives living and working and traveling in air conditioned/central heated comfort.
So, if your works are set in such times then weather can be a passing thing, used primarily to establish time of year (if important) or mood.
But for writers such as I who write of times and peoples in which weather and knowledge of/preparation for are critical, I think weather is an important factor in telling the tale.
posted
I use weather a lot as a way to set mood. The last story I finished (well, the first draft, anyway, but that's beside the point) uses weather during two crucial scenes at the beginning and the end of the story. It helped to set the mood very nicely, I thought. (Those of you in my writing group will probably read this one pretty soon.)
Thinking back, I think I use weather a LOT. Kind a "mirror of the soul" kind of thing for the characters. Must do it subtly, though, because if it's obvious that the weather always just happens to reflect the mood your characters are in, well that's just corny.
posted
I agree with that last one. To use the weather solely to reflect a character's mood (*especially* the oh-so-overused "he's sad, see, it's raining") has become so cliche and trite it is hard to even use well anymore. I tend however to use weather to set the tone for *place* rather than character, which is more realistic. Weather patterns are fairly consistent from place to place that a bright and sunny French Riviera town is that, and that winters are generally gray and dismal in the midwest. So a plce can be described through its weather, and made welcoming or foreboding through its weather. The interesting thing is that then you can use the unexpected (a bright sunny winter day, cold and crisp, in the midwest, and a dreary summer day on the rivieray swept by freezing winds and heavy rains. This unexpected weathee then affects the character (instead of the reverse) perhaps enough to pull a character out of depression (cabin fever is not just a term, anyone who's lived in those winters know what I mean) or, in the second example, plunge a character into a moody, refletive tone (it is surprising how a single rainy day in a Riviera summer can bring you down when you know nothing about midwest winters.)
Do I use weather? I've experienced the best (Riviera summers) and worst (midwest winters and Florida hurricanes) of weather to know it can be a powerful tool in writing. Weather does very much *influence* our moods. I think it is especially important in SF where characters spend a lot of time in controled environments (space ships, space stations, research outposts or airless moons, etc...) A character like that would find that weather when he finally experiences has an even greater influence on him.
posted
Thanks, guys, for weighing in. As always you’ve given me a lot to think about.
Goatboy
Thanks! I’ll definitely go take a look at the American Claimant.
Robyn_Hood
quote:I do like the idea of using weather as a character (not quite like in the old Woody Woodpecker cartoons). Actually, nature, in general, as a character can be quite effective. For instance Twister and Deep Impact are good examples of movies that do this, imo.
Interesting, but I don’t think I have the skills to do that! What about Dune? Sandstorms and the weather are essential plot elements, aren’t they?
Djvdakota
Nice!
Wetwilly
Subtle is not my strong suite, so if I use weather I’ll have to try to be less over the top than usual.
Babylonfreek
Good points. I distinctly remember getting jolted out of the flow while reading SF where it didn’t seem to make any difference for spacer types to suddenly be in an atmosphere, or even several in the same chapter! Growing up in Panama, we learned to set our thermostats to 80ºF because otherwise the constant transitioning between relatively cold and dry household air and hot humid (saturated, actually) tropical air resulted in constant colds and sinus problems. That was just a fact of life for us, and something we were well aware of, so it bothered me when I didn’t see it taken into account in the novellas.
posted
Weather is one of the easiest ways to show mood. Plain and simple.
I have only onced used weather as character. It is actually only second to the main character I believe. I say I believe because I am still writing that novel(heaven willing) and have yet to introduce the storm. The character is a sand storm so I guess that might make it easier to turn into a character.
posted
My first reaction was "this is a photo-shop!"
Weather is weather, just like dirt is dirt and water is water. Obviously, it is a plot element, many a story that takes little mind of the weather wouldn't be possible if there were a storm going on or whatnot. And many settings obviate any reference to the weather, like Stargate SG-1's main two locations, the SGC deep underground and on various spaceships (of course, weather and climate play a large role in many of the episodes).
I use weather as an element of the story whenever it is present in any noticible fashion during a scene. I don't usually use it as a "literary" device, and I don't usually appreciate the effect when another writer tries to do so.
posted
There are only two scenes in my current novel where I mention the weather, and in both of them I do so to illustrate what a place is like -- both occasions are during the book's first scenes in the specific locations, and give short descriptions of typical weather such that if the reader were to assume any arbitrary scene taking place in the same location was likely to have similar weather then they wouldn't be too far off "reality".
Posts: 626 | Registered: Jun 2003
|
I majored in photog in college. So I first looked at is as a photographer. And I thought, "Hmmm. combo-print, opposing light sources, odd color enhancement..." But then I looked at it as a writer and thought, "Wow! Where are the dragons? Where is the castle? Something cool is about to happen, right?"
posted
Although not my major, the photo itself gave me the same impression, then from the POV of the question I thought, mmm, this should be a painting from a fantasy story. Dakota, I totally agree, put a dragon and castle in there and watch out!
The clouds are a bit eerie but also enticing. The weather, so to speak, creates a dynamic mood. Just based on the scene, I find myself anticipating something, even if I don't know what.
I found the title odd. Where I live, 99%+ of the weather comes over the mountains from the west coast. Unless this was a morning storm, it appears that the storm is approaching. The sun setting behind the advancing storm. It wasn't until I read the title below the picture that I even knew the storm had just passed. Talk about perception !
posted
I'm surprised. I had thought that your perceptions would differ from mine, but my perception of that landscape is pure anticipation.
I cruise the photo.net pages for inspiration, or when I am having trouble describing a landscape. And there ARE photos of castles there, for anyone who is describing one. Just do a search.
Note: for those offended by nudity the photo.net site contains nudity, although most of the time it is tasteful.
posted
The problem with my first impression is that the first thing you notice about a well constructed photoshop shouldn't be that it is a photoshop. Because that was my first impression, it was also my only impression. Or rather, because my eye told me instantly that I was looking at two different pictures that happened to be in the same frame, I saw two distinct pictures, neither of which was very interesting.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
|
posted
Hmmm...it's really just an extension of my other comment anyway. I experience weather (and portrayals of weather) as physical phenomena, not emotive impressions. Both rain and sunshine can be pleasant or unpleasent, depending on degree and situation.
I tend to judge weather in practical terms. Is this dew making the grass slippery? Is this rain making the air cleaner? Is this sunshine making the day hot? Is this breeze right for sailing?
Even in a story, I tend to look at weather as an element of the physical environment. It affects what is possible, not...whatever else it might be used to affect.
quote:I tend to judge weather in practical terms....an element of the physical environment. It affects what is possible, not...whatever else it might be used to affect.
Why ignore the whole emotional side of weather? People are affected by weather, and weather can solidify a mood. Granted, badly done, use of weather in writing can be melodramatic, but it is a legitimate tool in the writer's workshop. Useless references to weather should be avoided, just as smalltalk and talking about weather in normal conversations shouldn't be jotted down verbatim in dialogue, but the emotional side of weather can be as important to a story as the practical side of weather.
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jun 2002
|
posted
Just as humor is subjective, so is the emotional side of weather.
I understand that people with seasonal affective disorder (or however it's termed--there's another d in there, I think), are deeply affected by weather, but I don't really empathize with them.
I'm more like Survivor on this. If I'm affected by the weather at all beyond what he said, it's in a way more or less opposite to the above-mentioned people. (In other words, I am not a sun worshipper and a really sunny, hot day--aka "beautiful" to some--can make me grumpy. I have been known to rejoice over rain, drizzle, overcast, etc.)
I agree that if I were writing a character who was affected by the weather, I would want to use the emotional aspects of the weather as part of my description, but I am more likely to not write about such a character. In fact, I find descriptions that include what I call "weather reports" a little cliched and boring. <shrug> So far, only Tony Hillerman has been able to do it in a way that I can appreciate.
posted
Naturally I regard the effect of weather on humans and other animals with the same practical eye I regard its effects on plants, rocks, dirt, artifacts, and so forth.
Rain can and should depress the mood of your characters just as a bomb would scare them. But you can't rely on the fact that you're describing rain to make your readers feel depressed. It may work on some people, but....
And I think that's a pretty clear line you can draw. When something has an effect on the story, that is different from just using it to have an effect on the audience.
quote:Rain can and should depress the mood of your characters
Why? Like KDW, I am not a sun worshipper either. I am more apt to be depressed on a bright hot sunny day. I don't get along well with sunshine (I'm half vampire, maybe?).
Instead, I rejoice in nature's moodier moments. I am soothed by rain, excited by a massive electrical storm, contented by a gentle snowfall, delighted with a blizzard and welcome the high winds we sometimes get here in SE Wyoming (and always got in Florida when a hurricane was near!). I am amazed by tornados and can admire the beauty of a well-formed hurricane even as I mourn for those whose lives it has destroyed.
There was a picture of Hurricane Floyd I once used as wallpaper and have since lost that I would love to have back. In it the hurricane was just off of Florida's east coast, about midway up the state, and it was just incredible how the state was dwarfed by the massive size of the storm. Talk about awe-inspiring! Man I wish I still had that pic!!
So why should I not write a character that feels that way, too? While most of my audience may experience weather differently, it might also challenge them to explore weather-related moods in new light.
Why must I have a character that is depressed by rain? Bah!!
posted
Ah...several of you are making assumptions. So who says rain or any other weather-related phenomenon are cut-and-dried, emotionally speaking? Bah, indeed! I can see rain and storms undergirding positive emotions, and sun and warmth doing the same for negative emotions.
The emotional side of weather is subjective. That's the beauty of it. Just as Kathleen and shadowynd can get grumpy over hot, sunny days and rejoice over rain, as I think most of us can depending on what's going on in our lives at the time, so can our characters. Rain can mean different things at different times and in different emotional states.
quote:But you can't rely on the fact that you're describing rain to make your readers feel depressed.
Of course not. Just like you can't assume that everyone who enters a pychologist's office is there for therapy. They may be picking up someone, or selling something, or looking for a bathroom. The entire context of a story or scene must feed into the emotions of the character and help the readers in the direction you want them to go. Weather can be just one part of it.
The best and most dramatic use of weather, to me, is in the short story "Rain," by Somerset Maugham. Without the rain, the story wouldn't have been as memorable. In fact, the rain is almost a character in that one.
[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited August 15, 2004).]
posted
Who said that bombs always scare people? Most of you should know me well enough by now to have spotted the parallel there. Not everyone is depressed by rain, nor is everyone scared by bombs.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
!
