FEELING GOOD—HOW DO YOU CREATE IT?

We all have things that make us feel good; things, which bring us comfort, or lift our heart.  Maybe it’s a snatch of song, the scent of cookies baking, watching kittens play, or the sound of a baby’s delighted laugh.  The first snowfall and the quiet hush of peace and beauty it brings to our heart.  It’s all about atmosphere.  Sometimes atmosphere is something that happens, other times it’s something we invoke. 

When I’m not in the mood to do household tasks, but know it has to be done, I play music with a strong beat and rhythm.  Want to set a party mood, music again.  Music and scent have always been a big thing in my life. Music makes me feel good, adds energy and can reset my mood.  Music is a tool I’ve used to give the atmosphere of peace and serenity after an argument or so my baby could sleep.

After a stressful day out in the world I long for the comfort of home.  I light my scented candles, turn on music, change into something comfortable—comfortable lounge pants, oversize shirt, a pair of soft socks or barefoot.  If it’s cold and dreary, cooking special foods for dinner will call upon memories of growing up or happy times.  I surround myself with cozy things to snuggle up to on a cold winter’s night, a funny movie, the smell of popcorn, a down comforter, a cat in my lap, a dog at my feet, and my family around me.  A plate of homemade cookies, the snap and crackle of a fire all are atmospheric things of comfort I deliberately set up in my environment.

How do you set the atmosphere in your writing? 

We want to show not tell, so how do you show the mood and tone surrounding your characters?  Dialog will give the reader verbal cues but how you ‘paint’ your ‘scene’ gives subconscious clue to your atmosphere.

 

Take a moment and think:  At the end of the day or the close of a long week, what does your mind leap to that spells comfort or invokes peace or happiness?

 

Chances are, you will automatically add in the atmosphere. It’s not just the action or words or a place, but the background your mind layers in subconsciously. If you contemplate how your comfort is built it becomes a pattern to build atmosphere in your writing.

I’m curious. 

When you need to set a particular tone or mood with your writing, what do you do to put yourself there first?  Do you use sound? Touch? Scent? Open the inner journal of times past?  

MONDAY'S MUSINGS— BUILDING A STORY

One thing I’ve learned over the years is everyone tells a story differently. Writers build their stories differently, too.

My stories come to me in a flash of an idea. A quick sketch. Something that intrigues me whether it’s and idea from something I’ve read, heard on the news, a snippet of conversation, and a scenario develops in mind. And I should say, I always have some daydream situation going on in my mind. Once it reaches a certain point I have to get it out of my mind and on paper.

I tend to be spare when I’m starting a story or a scene. It’s a quick sketch of what I’m seeing in my head. I don’t have the time to layer every sensory bit I see and feel.

This used to be a big wall for me and certainly frustrating. What I saw, heard, and felt wasn’t always there—the bare bones were. The fluid movements, the echoes of emotion were there. I’d get to feeling like, oh my god this is such crap. Why? Because I wasn’t looking at it properly and forgot that as I wrote the scene it was my mind providing all the layers, but I wrote only the actions. For the reader to see it I had to add the layers I saw and felt.

I’ve learned a few tricks along the way. For me, it very similar to building a picture. It starts with an base outline and each pass I add more details until it matches what’s in my head. I need to get it on paper but I can’t let it go without going back and shading in and smudging the bare sketch.  

 With my story, I have to go back and add reaction/emotions/description and adding all the fun and tantalizing details. Even when the scenes are good initially I’m still going have to go back and shade in more sensory details.

I’ve also learned I’m going to have to do that over and over as I write each chapter.

Each of my scenes has to have a goal and a reason exist. I have to ask questions of myself. Is there enough conflict internally or externally? Especially in the opening. Is there enough to put my reader in the scene and make them want to read more? Am I getting them involved or are they on the sidelines? Am I using settings and dialog that showcase my characters strengths and weaknesses or foreshadow actions to come?

• What about you? How do you build a story? What tricks have you learned?