Writing Myths Busted: #1 Never Start with Weather

If you believe the myths, your stories will sound like boilerplate. Instead, read and learn from great writers who break rules beautifully.

The sky had gone black at sunset, and the storm had churned inland from the Gulf and drenched New Iberia and littered East Main with leaves and tree branches from the long canopy of oaks that covered the street from the old brick post office to the drawbridge over Bayou Teche at the edge of town. The air was cool now, laced with light rain, fecund with the heavy scent of wet humus, night-blooming jasmine, roses, and new bamboo. I was about to stop my truck at Del’s and pick up three crawfish dinners… In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, by James Lee Burke, winner of the Guggenheim Fellowship, two Edgar awards, and Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award.
Brightness fell from the air, nearly as tangible as rain. It rippled down windows, formed colorful puddles on the hoods and trunks of parked cars and imparted a wet sheen to the leaves of trees and to the chrome on bustling traffic that filled the street. Miniature images of the California sun shimmered in every reflective surface, and downtown Santa Ana was drenched in the clear light of a late June morning. When Rachel Leben exited the lobby doors… Shadowfires, by Dean R. Koontz (as Leigh Nichols), bestselling author of suspense thrillers, with 14 hardcovers reaching #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end… Nineteen Eighty-Four, by Eric Arthur Blair (as George Orwell), considered one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century and, in 2008, was ranked by The Times as second among “The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945.”

Incidentally, these great writers also broke at least two other writing myths. Can you guess which?