Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Tue, Jan 19 2010
Storms may be bad for writing, good for story
It's been tough to concentrate on writing today. We've had a series of windy storms coming through California. That probably evokes a "So what?" from those of you who live with snow drifts, sleet and sub-freezing temperatures each winter. But you have to remember that we get virtually all our measurable rain during the winter months. Then there are the problems involving a large state with a large population. And our terrain varies from valleys to coast to deserts to mountains. Torrential rains can bring mudslides and small stream flooding in a short amount of time, cutting people comletely off escape routes. Earlier today there were tornado warnings in Los Angeles County and Orange County. It's not that common for buildings to have basements here, which means a lot of people had no good place to go in the event of a tornado. We all seem to manage survive such inconveniences, but it can be difficult to keep tasks going when thunder and lightning shake the windows, power outages interrupt electronic devices and the flooding roads and falling trees make travel a challenge.
The good side is that all of this gives a sense of scale to what one might be writing about in a fictional work. Your main character may be having a few inconveniences at the beginning of your tale. That's a good thing. As you draw readers into the tale you will want to ramp up the difficulties. They might parallel or even rival whatever internal conflict the character is experiencing. However you handle it, make it count. Shorten the rope, put a flooded tunnel on the only escape route, squeeze the options down into a kit so narrow that the only way out still looks like a brick wall. You won't exhaust your readers too much. And if you do, they may still thank you for it.
posted at: 16:45 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
It's been tough to concentrate on writing today. We've had a series of windy storms coming through California. That probably evokes a "So what?" from those of you who live with snow drifts, sleet and sub-freezing temperatures each winter. But you have to remember that we get virtually all our measurable rain during the winter months. Then there are the problems involving a large state with a large population. And our terrain varies from valleys to coast to deserts to mountains. Torrential rains can bring mudslides and small stream flooding in a short amount of time, cutting people comletely off escape routes. Earlier today there were tornado warnings in Los Angeles County and Orange County. It's not that common for buildings to have basements here, which means a lot of people had no good place to go in the event of a tornado. We all seem to manage survive such inconveniences, but it can be difficult to keep tasks going when thunder and lightning shake the windows, power outages interrupt electronic devices and the flooding roads and falling trees make travel a challenge.
The good side is that all of this gives a sense of scale to what one might be writing about in a fictional work. Your main character may be having a few inconveniences at the beginning of your tale. That's a good thing. As you draw readers into the tale you will want to ramp up the difficulties. They might parallel or even rival whatever internal conflict the character is experiencing. However you handle it, make it count. Shorten the rope, put a flooded tunnel on the only escape route, squeeze the options down into a kit so narrow that the only way out still looks like a brick wall. You won't exhaust your readers too much. And if you do, they may still thank you for it.
posted at: 16:45 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
