Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Tuesday's Writer's Tip - More on When - From Idea to Finished Story #amwriting #When

Last week we looked at when from the large view so today, We'll break it down to smaller times.
The time of year, the time of day are all important when writing a story.

Seasons come with various events. Think of the holidays. If you've chosen fall, you might consider Halloween and Thanksgiving in your story. The weather of each season is different. Winter usually brings short days, long nights and cold weather, that is if you're in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, seasons are the opposite and nearer to the equator the seasons may seem to be quite the same.

Then one should look at the months. Is your story set in January. Where I live this often brings a thaw in the middle of the cold weather. Each month has different weather and different events taking place. Keep these in mind when you're writing. I'm working on a December story. Snow and Christmas figure in and make me remember these events.

Now weeks in a story is one way to advance the story without detailing every event in the character's life. Two weeks later something happened. The story has moved forward.

The days of the week often mean different things. Monday is usually the day one returns to work and may show in the character's mood. Friday, we all know TGIF. So think of what day of the weeks your character is experiencing to add some depth to the character.

The time of day. Night can be spooky and can also be a time of love. Morning and evening can bring different things to your character. Suppose your hero or heroine is a night person and they must be some where at sis Am. This can show in their mood and also have them see things they haven't seen before.

So remember to look at the when of the story from the century to the least minute when you write your story.

1 comment:

Rosemary Morris said...

Thank you for sharing this.

Before I begin to write a novel I know what the theme is and have a rough idea of the plot, however, I don't plan in detail because I like my characters to surprise me. Today I found the missing piece in the plot of my latest novel. Phew