Friday, July 13, 2012

Weather or Not? By Casea Major

It was a dark, stormy night…

It may be cliché now, but when the words were first written they were brilliant. Because of that brilliance, they've been overused, but the fact remains, using weather in out stories is a powerful tool.

I sometimes use weather as an event to bring about a turning point, as a way to set the mood or tone of the story, or as symbolism to reflect how a character thinks or feels about something in my story.

Weather as an Event – My favorite example of this in fiction is the storm that strands two unlikely people and forces them into a circumstance they would never allow otherwise. This is a fun trope to use in writing that can have all kinds of implications. Soap Operas are notorious for this trope.

Weather as background to set the mood or tone – I have often used rain to express sadness or melancholy, or a bright sunny day to set a happy, lighthearted tone.

Weather as symbolism – This is my favorite way to use weather. In one of my stories, I used sea storms to symbolize the conflict that raged within a certain character. The rain, wind and tossing waves represented the heroine's grief and guilt and mirrored her own inner turmoil.

How do you use the weather in your stories? Or if you are a reader how do you like to see it used?



Casea Major is a writer, philosopher and part-time sexual adventurer (at least in her own mind). She loves exploring limits and unleashing her imagination to create worlds of pleasure...and pain.
Come along for the ride.
And if the flames get too hot...embrace the burn.
You can find her at her blog: http://caseamajor.wordpress.com/

8 comments:

Sheri Fredricks said...

You want to know why I like this post? Because I believe like you - weather sets the stage. It can add to the emotions or detract from them. You give me much to think about.

Great post.

Casea Major said...

Thanks, Sheri! I live in Texas and we love our weather down here. LOL

Daryl Devoré said...

Weather is about to play a big part in my WIP and my heroine just landed in a cyclone. Which was a surprise to me.
Good post. We often forget about the weather - it can add so much atmosphere.

Brenda said...

Weather is a very important stage tool that should be used in our writing.
Great post!

Unknown said...

Excellent post! Really like the idea of using weather as symbolism. I'm going to try and work that into my writing more. Thanks for sharing!

Casea Major said...

Oohm Daryl! Sounds great!

Brenda - I love using weather.

Karen - I like using symbolism of all kinds in my stories but weather is fun to use that way. Let me know how it works for you.

Jenna said...

Great post and great idea, Casea. I'm trying to go back through my books to see if I used weather for any of these.

I did use it as a device in Only Scandal Will Do to trap the heroine indoors with the hero so they'd have to confront each other.

Not sure if I've used it elsewhere. But thanks for the suggestion! :)

Mary Corrales said...

You never really think much about weather in stories, but you're absolutely right that it can be used to reflect a mood.

Great post.