Writing in Time — April
As with the other months of spring, I am not a huge fan of April. The better weather and new growth means one thing to me: more work.
Luscious green grass means it will need to be mowed soon, and when you have acres to cut, it’s no small chore. Soon we will be planting which means weeding can’t be far behind.
When I worked in the children’s department of public libraries, April meant more work because we were gearing up for our summer reading program, an enormous undertaking. We had to get a lot done in April because in May we were busy with visiting schools to promote our program. We would take a deep breath in April and not let it out until mid-July.
So if I use April for a setting, I will use it for comic effect. My main character is the one person in the story irritated with spring. A lot can go wrong, in a humorous way, when working outside.
Speaking of humor, the month kicks off with April Fool’s Day. I am not a big joker, but the holiday does have a lot of possibilities for storytelling — two or three characters spend the day tricking each other. Or a joke has unexpected consequences. I could turn the holiday serious – someone is accidentally killed by a April Fool’s Day joke. Or was it an accident?
April also makes me think of storms, so I often see it in my head as a month of darkness. In a temperate climate, it’s the first month of the year when you expect dangerous storms. An April storm would be a great setting for a climax between two competing characters locked into some kind of duel. The month’s dark and stormy nature can be used as a metaphor for secrets. I could write a story about long-held secrets that finally come to light at the height of a storm.
I know I have skipped over Easter, but I thought that holiday should have entry to itself, which I will write about next time.
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