Does the Season Play a Part in Your Story? By Connie Vines

This month’s Round Robin Topic: 
Does the season ever play a part in your setting? 
How do you think seasons affect setting & plot either physically or metaphorically?

Winter Despair and Hope. References to winter in literature may refer to death, old age, pain, loneliness, despair or an end. Spring Joy and Love. Themes of rebirth and renewal often use symbols from the spring season. Summer Searches and Reflection. Autumn Bounty and Changes.

These are the classic examples of seasonal symbolism.  While I often rely on seasons to affect my plot or play a major part in my novel, I try to be less…well, symbolic.

In my YA Historical novel, Tanayia—Whisper upon the Water, my prologue and chapter openings gave the readers an emotional touch-stone into the life and emotions of my main character.

Prologue, 1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries.

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where sagebrush was stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak. A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reached out into the silence.

A world of hunger and hardship.  This is my world.  I am Tanayia.  I was born thirteen winters ago.  My people and I call ourselves “Nde” means “The People”. The white man calls us Apache.

The seasons were: Swimming Ducks, Gathering Corn, Red Grass. 

However, if my main character had been Anna Thunder, a member of a nomadic tribe (Comanche) the seasons would have reflected her reality.

Settings and Plot 

I find my settings and plots usually reflect the seasons because the seasonal changes are an occurrence in our life.

I have an anthology set in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is a part of the culture and my story has the season woven throughout the story line.

And, of course, my ranching/westerns have the seasons woven throughout the plot.

Brede, Rodeo Romance Book 2

Several hours later, she clung to the soothing tone of Brede’s voice as she cleared away the dishes and filled the sink with soapy water.  She trusted him to keep his promise.  Brede was the only constant in her life.  She only hoped when she discovered where she belonged it would be a world as safe as this one.

After nestling the last piece of silverware into the draining board, she reached for the saucepan and glanced out the rain-streaked window.  Thunder clapped overhead just before a jolt rattled the dishes in the cupboard.  Lightening stabbed the earth just beyond the kitchen window, bathing the room in a sharp flash of surreal brightness.

The flash of light was so unexpected, that it took her a moment to realize the electricity had gone out.
The saucepan slipped from her fingertips and clattered to the floor.

She tried to tell herself that it was only the storm and the lights would come back on in a matter of minutes. Still, terror that was icy cold and merciless grabbed her by the throat and crushed what little courage she possessed when the cloudy, moonless night turned the room to inky black.

She remembered the darkness, the terror, and the unrelenting sound of the rain.
She was alone.

Alone in the darkness.

A mindless whimper left her lips as her mind threw her back into a pit of terror.
I find the seasons a way to influence my plot-lines, and add depth to my settings and characterization.

Remember to visit the other members of Round Robin Blog.

Happy Reading,

Connie


   Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
> Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
> Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
> Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
> Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
> Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
> Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1yE

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WRITING IDEAS – THEY’RE EVERYWHERE by Rita Karnopp

      A question I’m often asked; “How did you think of that for your story plot?”  In the search for that unusual ‘never before written’ idea, most writers are sidelined by the idea there just isn’t anything that hasn’t been written before. Their range of inspiration narrows—and they’re convinced all the good ideas have been written. This is a troublesome feeling . . . a struggle for that all moving and exciting vision that will take them to the top. Let me tell you . . . waiting for creativeness to strike won’t write that book. Get off that couch and go out and hunt it down—in unexpected places.

     Go to the local shopping mall and listen, watch, if you write suspense take a visual stroll down the list of renown killers and see if they spark an idea, glance through history books if you write 1800s, talk to old people and see if they can catapult an image, prowl the internet, talk to experts in an topic of interest, etc.

     We all know the best ideas are those other writers haven’t written about, or haven’t noticed. It may seem daunting – but new ideas are popping up all over the place, and if you’re like me you ask yourself; “Why didn’t I think of that?”

     Some authors use the ‘explain common things’ style to get that story plot.  They ask experts to explain how ordinary things work, preferably things invisible to the public. For example, how does the railroad system work? What happens to old refrigerators? How do breweries make beer? How can you tell if a person is truly drowning? Why do some women desert their children, isn’t it instinctive for them to protect a child at all cost?

     Another way to get ideas is to think about what troubles or baffles you, find out why by interviewing people who have the knowledge you’re seeking. I’ve always wondered if I lived in the 1800s what would my life be like.  Housewife or pastor wife, work in a mercantile, live at a fort, live in a booming mining town, a female prospector or a dance hall girl (giggle), which turns out to be a fairly common question.

     What if you upset your life and do nothing your ‘daily habits’ dictates.  Walk to work instead of drive, go to a different church, listen to different music, dress opposite the norm, etc.  Do you think you’ll look at life differently?  Will you react to people differently?  

     I know this will be hard for those shy people, strike up conversations with people you don’t know, even cultivating the ‘strange-types’ you wouldn’t ordinarily chat with. Introduce yourself to people in the grocery lie or sitting next to you in church, or someone interesting in the airport waiting for their flight.  What about striking up a conversation with people carrying a sign or wearing a name tag?

     Accept any piece of paper handed to you on the street and start reading junk mail. Watch TV shows you usually can’t even stand the advertisements.  Ask yourself why would they appeal to anyone?

     My favorite of all - role-play as someone whose viewpoints differ from yours. I once put on a set of headphones and tried reading lips and understanding what it is like to be deaf.  It was beyond a learning experience.

     The purpose behind all this is these methods jar you out of your norm, and that’s where the writing ideas are, hiding in plain sight.