Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elves on Bookshelves - The Bookcase for Friends of Fantasy

Back to Guilds

A literate guild for readers: We mainly discuss books, but feel free to share jokes and real life issues; we'll laugh and cry with you. 

Tags: contests & quests & advice for writers, faery games and medieval quizzes, original poetry, fan art and fiction, library of myths and legends, fun magic wizard, bookworm & bibliophile 

Reply Shh, the Librarians Will Never Know We're Here!
Dark and stormy night

Quick Reply

Enter both words below, separated by a space:

Can't read the text? Click here

Submit

Minerva the Bookwyrm
Captain

PostPosted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:55 pm


Do you think that various types of weather in books help to set the tone of the scenes that they're in? Like stormy, sunny, foggy, hot, or cold?
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:06 am


I like so. In some books I have read, it has been really really cold and its very hard for the characters to get about and get to the places that they need to go. I even sometimes feel scared for them because of how cold it is.

I think the weather gets your more involved in the book because almost all of us can relate to the weather that they are having and we know some of their pain and we know how good it feels to be outside in good weather.

gerp91


Minerva the Bookwyrm
Captain

PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:33 pm


I think that hot and cold help us understand the turmoil that the characters are enduring.

However, I don't think that storms make things scarier. Actually, bad things happening on a beautiful day frightens me much more.
PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 11:07 am


That's when it depends on the writer and the way he or she sets things up, I think.

Any element in a book - such as weather - can either contradict the feeling plot or match it. If you open a book to a scene where there's a lot of thunder, lightning, and pouring rain, you get the feeling that there should be turmoil in the events of mankind as well. If it's bright, sunny, and calm, you expect these things to be mirrored in the plot.
A good writer knows how to draw those feelings and expectations out of you with word choice and imagery, and he/she will also know just how to set up the corresponding plot to go with that weather: either in stark, ironic contrast or in matching harmony.
When human emotion stands against the strength of nature and succeeds, you get the sense that the emotion in question is very, very strong indeed - whether it is abject horror on a sunny day, or a cheerful companionship in the midst of a storm.
Conversely, when the weather matches human emotion, you get the sense that the emotion is so strong that nature itself is bent by it.
We want to believe that we are this powerful - that our lives are mirrored in the stars themselves and in other natural phenomena. As a result, both techniques are strong when used well.

When not used well, you get either discord or cheesiness. And that's just annoying. sweatdrop

Alutian

Vicious Duelist

6,350 Points
  • PvP 200
  • Alchemy Level 1 100
  • 50 Wins 150

NekoGirlItzura

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:30 pm


I think that every detail matters and that the more details you have the better you can get a feel for what the author wants you to imagine when you read it.
PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:25 am


January is almost over and I haven't had cause to give out many points this month, so 2 points to everyone that expressed his/her ideas in this topic since I found reading your responses interesting. cool

Minerva the Bookwyrm
Captain


Umi Pryde

5,550 Points
  • Tycoon 200
  • Citizen 200
  • Conversationalist 100
PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:03 am


I think weather has a lot to do with the setting and mood of a story, or scene in one.

Fall of the House of Usher wouldn't begin the same if the sun was shining and birds were chirping their morning requiems.
A scene that isn't full of energy most likely doesn't have a lot of wind activity.
Where's the struggle to see and catch the snitch when it isn't soaking wet and violently raining?

The imagery of weather conditions helps bring us as readers in the scene with our own ideals of how we would feel and react in the scene if we were the characters, or to watch things as they take place with even better emotional and physical understanding of what is unfolding within the pages in our hands.
It is a fact of writing, and reading, that man vs nature often presents itself mildly in all stories when it comes to the weather conditions.
Reply
Shh, the Librarians Will Never Know We're Here!

 
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum