Month: June 2018

Writing Tip — Animal-Inspired Characters

great-blue-heronw-744257_1280Of course animals have inspired some of the most beloved characters in literature — Charlotte, Mr. Toad, the Cat in the Hat. Although my characters are people, I still find animals as writing inspiration.

Because my main character Junior in my YA novel lives in the mountains of West Virginia, he is more attuned to nature than many 16-year-old Americans. This aspect of his personality allows me describe other characters in comparison with animals. This helps my writing in two ways: first, it assists the reader in getting inside the head of my main character, and second, it gives the reader a “handle”, a short description she can grasp quickly.

When Junior says a man reminds him of a giant toad, that’s a handle that immediately carries with it a certain image to each reader.  It also tells the reader something about how Junior thinks of the man.

Animals can inspire human characters in other ways. Where I live, lots of turkey vultures make their home here between March and November. Lots of them. If I spot the outline of a large bird in the sky, 9 out of 10 times it’s a vulture, or buzzard, as I like to call them. I would love to build a minor character on the appearance of a buzzard. A narrow, reddish, bald head protruding from hunched shoulders. The character would have to wear something black and bulky, like a sweater, to imitate feathers.

Or a character based on a great blue heron. I’ve seen many of these on the river near my home. They walked in a stilted gait and can remain so still, that it’s hard to believe they are alive. Then when they see a fish, they flash into action. I can see a very thin character with a very deliberate but awkward way of walking. Also the character would be quiet and still, not drawing attention to herself until she needs to.

Comparing people to birds would be perfect for a main character whose hobby was bird watching. Or if you have a main character who is crazy about dogs, he could see people in those terms. A woman who is “as regal as an Afghan hound” or “beautiful and vacant as an Irish setter.” A small child whose constant questions were “as incessant as the yipping of a Chihuahua.”

How have animals inspired your writing?

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Writing Tip — Weather Lore as Writing Inspiration

caterpillarw1-1572858_1280Many of us, at least in North America, have heard the weather lore of seeing how fuzzy the coat of a “woolly bear” caterpillar is to determine how severe the upcoming winter would be. Fuzzier coat, worse winter.

When I was with my grandmother as a kid, and the wind blew hard enough to turn up the paler, underside of the leaves, she always said a storm was coming. I don’t know how scientifically true that observation is, but to this day, when strong winds turn the leaves bottoms up, I check the sky.

Another bit of nature lore I’ve discovered on my own is the return of the turkey vultures to our area. Every year, during the last week of February or the first week of March, the turkey vultures fly in from South America, a sure sign of spring on the way. This year, they returned, and April turned out to be the fourth coldest on record. Although it still felt like winter, it was spring by the calendar. I wonder if it confused the vultures.

If you have a story set in nature, research the area’s weather lore for writing inspiration. It can enhance a character who lives close to nature. Or it may provide a spark for speculative fiction. For example, if I set a story in my home county, I could have my main character notice that the turkey vultures don’t return on time or not at all. It signals some devastating natural disaster.

A great source of these kinds sayings from Southern Appalachia are the Foxfire books. Begun in 1966, Foxfire is a magazine still written by high school students on the heritage of Southern Appalachia. To learn more, visit their website.

In the first book compiled from these magazines is a chapter on “Weather Signs”. Some of the advice it gives for forecasting the weather are:

  • The winter will be harsh if:
    • “squirrels begin gathering nut early (middle or late September)
    • “beaver lodges have more logs.”
    • “hoot owls call late in the fall”
    • “miller moths hit the screen trying to get it”
  • Rain comes when:
    • “if the horns of the moon point down.”
    • “if leaves show their backs.”
    • “if birds fly low.”

Any of these old sayings could spark a story. What if you invent a world where all these sayings are true? People are trained to be weather lore forecasters. The most gifted ones hold powerful positions in government. Or what if just one of the sayings is true? What if “woolly bear” worms really could forecast the weather? Farmers would raise enormous colonies of the worms to sell. Some species would be better than others at predicting weather. Thieves might steal the best kind to sell to businesses that depend on the weather.

What weather signs have your heard of?

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Monday Sparks — Writing Prompts: What is Your Favorite Nature Experience?

peoplew-2564708_1280As we wrap up the nature theme for the month, I wanted to share one of my  favorite nature experiences. I’ve already written about some of mine: walking outside on full moon nights and hunting for seashells off the coast of North Carolina.

Another favorite nature experience is also one of the easiest for me to get to. When the river we live next to goes down, I wade across with my kids to an island situated between the river and a creek. My kids fish, look for crawdads, build dams, and generally mess around. I take a beach chair, enjoy the breeze, the quiet, and write. It’s vacation just a few feet from home.

What is your favorite nature experience?

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Writing Tip — Full Moon Night as Writing Inspiration

naturew-3194001_1280Some of my favorite experiences in nature occurred on clear nights with a full moon. If you haven’t been out on a night like that, with no artificial light nearby, I highly recommend finding an opportunity to do so. Artificial lights dampen or kill the wonder of a full moon night.

Since we live in the county, I’ve had chances to venture out in these nights bathed in moonlight. What catches my attention first are the shadows. The moonlight is so strong it casts shadows. The second thing I notice is how far I can see. On typical nights, the woods that line the edge of our property are just a wall of darkness. Under the full moon, I can pick out details. And then I become fascinated with the color. Silver is the best way to describe it. It illuminates but very differently from sunlight, so I can see but not quite.

“Not quite” sums up a full moon night. I can see better than a normal night, but not quite like in the daytime. My yard is recognizably familiar but not quite the same in the silver light.

I had the wonderful blessing to see the ocean under a full moon. As well as casting our shadows across the sand, the moonlight transformed the waves into rippling sheets of metal. They appeared solid as the hit the shore. That experience was so intense that God used it to lift me from a four-month depression.

So what stories are appropriate for this “not quite” setting? The strangeness of it should be a backdrop for a wonderfully positive scene or a horribly negative one. It can’t be the setting for run-of-the-mill action.

As much as I enjoy moonlight, I can see how it can be unsettling and even sinister to people because of it’s ability to be a weird imitation of day. One of my favorite picture books, The Magic Wood, begins with an illustration of a boy sitting under a full moon. He heads into the dark woods and mets a creature who at first is disturbing and then turns dreadful. For a positive approach, read Chapter 22 “The Story of the Trial of El-ahrairah” from Watership Down by Richard Adams.

How would you use a full moon night a story?

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Writing Tip — Writing about Natural Light

naturew-3294681_1280One aspect of nature that’s always caught my attention are all the variations of natural light. How sunlight, and moonlight, illuminates the landscape often inspires settings for me. Writing about the natural light of a setting can add tension, foretell events, or soothe readers as they come to the end of your story. Below are some of the ways natural light inspires me.

Golden summer evening: Everyone has experienced how wonderfully relaxing a summer evening bathed in golden light is. It seems like the perfect setting for a low-key conclusion to a story, and that’s the setting for last chapter of my novel.

Bright sunrise: This kind of sunrise seems like a good setting for an upbeat ending to a story. It also makes a powerful contrast if most of you story has taken place at night, especially if the action has been harrowing for the characters.

Cloudy sunrise: If the day doesn’t start brightly, it seems to be a harbinger for a bad day. A cloudy sunrise could kick off a story, foretelling that things won’t go well for the main characters that day.

Bright, clear day: My mood almost always lifts when the humidity is so low that sky is clear of clouds and at its most brilliant blue. It seems like a day overflowing with possibilities. A great way to start an adventure. Or I can use the day was a counterpoint. My main character wants to get out into the gorgeous day and is trapped inside. Nature itself seems to be against her, like the other reasons which are forcing her to stay inside.

Weird light: Unusual weather circumstances can affect the light strangely. One spring morning when my kids were small, I woke up after my husband had already gone to work. The blinds were drawn in my bedroom, so my first view of the day was when I stepped out of my bedroom. Through the windows in my living room, I saw the morning sky was yellow. My first thought: TORNDADO! Immediately, I turned on the TV and found out that severe weather was passing. I can’t remember if the storms produced tornadoes but we didn’t experience anything more than normal thunderstorms.

Unusual weather like the yellow sky calls for dramatic action. My main character could be struggling toward a goal and a storm can be an obstacle or the symbol of obstacles he must over come. Or it could be the backdrop for the ultimate clash between to strong-willed characters.

How does natural lighting affect you? Do you see it as another element in your settings?

 

 

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