Don’t forget the weather

A little while ago, as I was sitting here at my computer, I happened to notice the tree branches outside my window rocking from the wind, the clumps of snow from their limbs launching off into the crisp winter air.

I love the wind.

I like the sound it makes, especially on a late fall or winter day, rustling the trees, howling sometimes like the cry of an invisible creature from the distance.

 There is something comforting about a healthy gale and a blustery day or night.

Don’t you think?

Maybe it’s because it makes me forget some of the troubles of the world, a reminder that when we really get down to it, nature is in control.

If nothing else, I can imagine one of those bursts of wind carrying me off to some place of the imagination.

A windy March day, a summer rain, snowflakes gently falling, can be springboards for our creative bursts. They can serve as backgrounds to the stories we create, add to the element of suspense or mystery or the very mood of the books we write.

The weather is an effective element of any story.

A gorgeous sunny June day can paint a happy scene, perhaps a couple in love strolling along a beach. Pounding rain can set a different tone, foreshadowing the doom of a character.

When it comes to the weather, it’s easy to just surrender to the imagination.

Many of us do it all the time without realizing it.

Clouds and drizzle greeting us on a November day are a downer, creating the feeling that it might be a bad day at work.

Bright sunshine illuminating the colors of autumn bring smiles and hope, gearing us up for a drive in the country, perhaps a walk in the mountains.

Writing, especially that of fiction, should be about surrendering to emotions to evoke the images, the very feel of the story.

The weather can play a big part to set the scenes of your own book.

Don’t ignore the weather.

It adds to the flavor and fuels the passion of any story.

It’s part of writing from the heart rather than from the brain.