Prompt for a Nature Scene

Is this a picture you’d like to dive into and bring to life for readers? I would, which is why I chose it as a prompt for a nature scene. Using the technique I described last week, how would you write a scene in this natural setting, although you haven’t been here?

Here’s what I imagine:

Light from the full moon gilding everything with silver, making it appear distinct but weird
Although on the sea, no wind, which is unusual
Rough sand and/or rocks
The smell of salt, dampness
Taste salt?
Without wind, high humidity?

Now here’s my description.

Sand scraped my barefoot as I scurried over the boulders that let to the shore. The full moon allowed me to see far in any direction, but I couldn’t trust the silver light. Its magical glow let me to spot objects but not really see them.

I turned in a complete circle. I was alone. Not a breath of wind stirred the fronds of the palm tree. Humidity settled on me like a second skin.

Turning again, I gasped, the thick air nearly choking me.

A figure was walking toward me, too far away for me to see more than a silver-edged silhouette.

Had he really come?

For more prompts for a nature scene, click here.

Please write your inspiration in the comments.

September 26, 2022 5

Close Your Eyes to Nature

If you want a nature scene to come to life for your readers, you may have to close your eyes to nature so you can tune into your other senses. I used this idea as a prompt two years ago and thought it’d be valuable to repost. If you can, visit the natural location where you want to set your scene. Then close your eyes. What do your other four senses tell you?

I sat in the woods behind our house one morning. Below are my impressions.

Insects droning, maybe cicadas
Murmur and swoosh of traffic
Wet feet from dewy grass
Bird call like a squeaky toy
Drop of water on my hair
Touch of falling leaves
Rough, warty bark
Scent of dampness
Almost without me thinking, feet sensing contour of ground and adapting.
Variety of bird calls and chirps

Now I can incorporate these senses into a scene, depending on what kind of mood I want to create.

Humorous

If my feet got any wetter, I’d sprout webbing between my toes. Water dropped onto my hair from the low branches and dampness overwhelmed any other scent. Could you drown on dry land? It seemed possible this morning.

Upbeat

The cicadas hummed in their hidden homes as I strolled in the green shade of the morning woods. Bird calls bounced among the trees. The murmur of traffic wasn’t even a distraction, blending with the cicadas so well that it faded from notice.

Sinister/Suspenseful

Leaves crunched under my feet, and I froze. Had anyone heard me? The cicadas droned, uninterrupted. A drop of water plopped onto the top of my head. My hand groped for support and found it on the warty bark of a slender tree. Catching my breath in my throat, I took another step, my tennis shoes soaked from the drenched ground cover of dead tree debris.

For more posts on writing about nature, click here.

Sit in some natural spot and close your eyes to nature. What do you discover?

September 19, 2022 1

Nights of the Full Moon as Writing Inspiration

Some 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 wonders of a full moonlight and your ability to use nights of the full moon as writing inspiration.

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.

The climax of my Christmas mystery, “A Rose from the Ashes”, is set on Christmas Eve under an almost full moon. I had to use an almost full moon because the last recent occurrence of a full moon on Christmas Eve didn’t line up with the timeline of my series–I’m fussy about my timelines. But I wanted to use the magic of moonlight to set the scene and hint that something extraordinary was about to happen to the main character.

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.

For more posts on writing about nature, click here.

How would you use or where have you read about using nights of the full moon was writing inspiration?

September 15, 2022 1

Write from an Animal’s Viewpoint

My theme this month is nature, so my first prompt is to challenge you to write from an animal’s viewpoint. One of my favorite novels Watership Down is about the epic struggle of a group of rabbits in England as they establish a new warren. It’s fascinating to read how author Richard Adams imagined the rabbits’ views of humans. For example, one of the rabbits says he avoided a straight line of woods because straight things are often made by people. I’d never thought of that before, but it’s true.

From what animal’s viewpoint would you write? I’d love to read your inspiration!

For more nature prompts, click here.

September 5, 2022 2

God’s Nature in Our Writing

Kicking off a new month with a new theme and a new author. Please welcome Penny Frost McGinnis, a who published her first novel with Mt. Zion Ridge Press this year. My theme this month is nature, and Penny gets us rolling with this lovely article about including God’s nature in our writing.

“To the attentive eye, each season of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which will never be seen again.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Growing up, I spent my time wandering through the woods and fields that surrounded our home. In the pond, I discovered frogs who plopped in the water, dragonflies which glided like kites, and red-winged blackbirds who hid among the cattails. We snatched heads of clover and sucked the sweetness from the tiny blooms and rolled down hills of grass. In the woods, I found toadstools and jack-in-the-pulpit. To me, nature came to life, as if another character inhabited the world I lived in.

As I grew older and learned more about God’s glorious creation, I embraced nature as a way to honor the Lord. When my husband and I visit Lake Erie, I like nothing better than to sit on a rock and hear the waves lap the shore. The mountains of South Carolina take my breath away, when the fog rises and reveals a sunrise displayed in yellow, red, and pink. Standing on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean as the chilled water washes over my feet reminds me of the power and beauty God has gifted us.

Because I experience deep joy when I commune with the natural world, I believe it’s essential to include the beauty God created in my writing. In my devotions, I often focus on one aspect, such as a flower garden and the process of growing from seed to bloom to emulate the growth in the Christian life. When I write fiction, I often set the scene with sights, sounds, smells, the taste, or touch of an element of nature.

In my work-in-progress, the main character, Marigold, owns a kayak business, so many of the scenes are set on the beach. Rather than give a lengthy description, I sprinkle nature throughout the chapters. For instance: “The scent of spring rain refreshed the air. Most days, she loved when the skies opened and doused her flowers, but today she prayed the sun shined through the clouds so vacationers would paddle in Lake Erie on the sturdy plastic boats.” And “The trees along the campground waved, as the wind whipped. Waves rolled in to the shore, higher each time. ‘The way the water is acting tells me a storm is brewing. Did you see the red sky this morning?’”

I enjoy reading books set on the east coast or in the Appalachian Mountains where the writer immerses the reader into the natural setting by description and through dialogue. As I write a scene, I picture where my character is, then I discover how I can add nature through the five senses. The character may smell the damp ground in the forest or the rose in the garden. They might taste the tomato they plucked from the vine, or hear the rushing water in the river. They might roll a snowball, rub their hand over the bark of a tree, or capture a handful of sand and let it flow from their fingers. Sight is the most used sense in writing, when the character witnesses a glorious sunset or hikes in the woods and discovers a baby barred owl on the ground.

Readers of book one of the Abbott Island series, Home Where She Belongs, said: The details and descriptions made me feel like I was on the island. Use nature to immerse the reader in the setting by sprinkling description throughout the narrative and dialogue, and weave in all five senses so the reader experiences the nature in each scene.

For more post on writing about nature, click here.

*****

Tired of being a pawn for her father and an emotional punching bag for her ex-boyfriend, Sadie Stewart escapes to Abbott Island where she spent summers with her grandparents. Would the love and faith she learned from them be enough to fuel her new life? She wants to believe God’s promises, yet broken trust holds her back.

Joel Grayson left the island long enough to train at the Police Academy. The community trusts him, even though he’s failed. When he finds Sadie at her grandparents’ cottages, his heart skips a beat. He’d love to get to know her again, but no one needs to share the hurt he harbors.

When Sadie discovers someone is sabotaging her future, she seeks Joel’s help. As they are drawn together, will Joel let down his guard and let her in? Will Sadie trust the man who loves her and the Father Who cares?

*****

If Penny Frost McGinnis could live in a lighthouse or on an island, she would. Instead, she and her husband are content to live in southwest Ohio and visit Lake Erie every chance they get. She adores her family and dog, indulges in dark chocolate, enjoys creating fiber arts, and grows flowers and herbs in her tiny garden. She pens romance with a dash of mystery and the promise of hope. Her life’s goal is to encourage and uplift through her writing. Connect with her on website/blog, FB author page, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bookbub.

September 1, 2022 4

Tag: Ideas for writing about nature