Weathering the Writing or Writing the Weather
In my corner of the world, ice encased everything, thunder crashed, rain poured and fog covered us like a blanket – all in the last two days. So what’s next? I don’t know but it should be interesting.
Have you ever considered writing about the weather? Does that sound boring?
Think back to all the times weather affected your life: your flight was cancelled because of a tornado, your kids’ school closed because of a blizzard, you played in the rain or you did business with God on a walk in the bright sunshine. Weather often impacts the choices we make. So, why not write about it?
Personal Experience Pieces
Share your stories. When your flight got cancelled, did you get an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone in the airport? Did you build a special relationship with your kids as you played games during the blizzard?
During those times, how did God change your plans? Your relationships? The way you relate to Him?
Everyone has a weather story. Share yours and give your reader a new perspective on how God can work through the weather.
How-To Articles
I know someone who died of a heart attack while shoveling snow. It’s changed the way I shovel.
People need tips on how to handle weather situations. How do you prepare for a hurricane? How do you weather-proof your house? How do you drive in the snow? How can too much sun impact your health?
If you’ve had to answer these questions for yourself, chances are that someone else needs those answers, too. You can provide them.
What Else Can I Write?
Use weather in your fiction:
- Your main character gets into an accident in the rain.
- A significant character dies in an avalanche.
- A character survives a tornado.
You can create conflict with the “man vs. nature” scenario and move your story along.
Weather can inspire your poetry. It gives it mood. It can also inspire a devotion or meditation. What have you learned from God in a weather situation? Trust? Thankfulness? Overcoming fear? Share it with your reader.
Weather and Kids
When I was a child, the scariest thing I ever saw in a movie was the tornado in The Wizard of Oz. It took me years to overcome that fear and a little bit of it still lingers today.
Explain weather to kids. You can offer a perspective to them so that they don’t fear it. Instead, give them tools to deal with it and help them know what to do in different weather situations.
Tell stories that help them trust God and know that He’s bigger than any weather they experience.
Weather sets the tone for our life. We make adjustments based on the weather. Use that. Write it. You will connect with your reader because weather touches everyone.
© Deborah Christensen
Posted on January 29, 2013, in family relationships, inspiration, weather, writer's life, writing, writing ideas and tagged children's stories, encouragement for writers, family, family relationships, fiction, fiction ideas, health issues, how-to articles, hurricanes, inspiration, meditations/devotionals, parenting, personal experience pieces, poetry, prayer, salvation story, tornadoes, weather, writing, writing for children, writing ideas. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
I can so relate to the fear of storms. I used to go wake my mom and dad up when I was little because I’d hear the wind blowing hard! My family teases me now about watching the clouds through the window–they frequently will pull the blinds or do something to keep me from looking out!
That’s a great story, Shauna. I think you should use it in your writing.