Rainy Days

The sound of rain falling can evoke an amazing sense of calmness.  I’ve found that incredibly helpful this week.  It is important as a writer to stop and take in your surroundings.  The way the light falls at certain times of the day, the smells that emerge when you venture outside first thing in the morning.  I am currently reading The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson.  When she writes she engages not only with your imagination but your senses too.  This is only the second novel of hers that I have read but I love the way she writes.  It’s not just telling a story or even setting a scene, it’s putting you right there amongst the pages of the novel. 

Another fabulous example is the novel Chocolat by Joanne Harris.  Her writing feeds your imagination, so that in your mind you can smell and taste the delights that her protagonist Vianne creates throughout the story.  This I believe gives the story depth and works with your mind to engage your senses.  Show, don’t tell is what I have heard so many times but I think it is so much more than that.  A good story should make you feel, taste, smell and see.  Our imagination is such a powerful thing and a writer should make full use of that. 

So as I sit and listen to the rain falling outside I’m aware that the way I describe it is greatly instrumental in helping me to set a scene.  For me it is calming as I sit in the comfort of my own home.  The sound is soft against the window, I know that the garden is receiving some much needed nourishment and I imagine the cool water bringing life and vitality to the plants.  This rain is very much about life and sustenance. 

How easily it can be changed to something filled with menace and fear.  Add a howling wind and immediately the atmosphere changes.  The house would react with spine tingling creaks and groans as the wind rushes through the little cracks and spaces that it finds, making doors bang and curtains flutter.  I think that quite often when I’m writing I can too easily become caught up in where I want the story to go, that I miss the detail.  The detail however is vital and is what gives the story life.  So as you can see, although we complain about them, rainy days can be very helpful indeed.