Sitting here, I can hear the wind blowing up outside. The house isn't super heated, but there's just enough warmth coming from the fireplace to lend a feeling of coziness to the living room. The lights are mostly dim, and the clock's ticking is just a faint little sound I can hear over my clicking keys.
Then, there's the wind.
Wind is such an element to a story. Have you ever noticed in books how wind, or the absence of wind, makes such an impression on the writer?
- The MC enters into a frightening situation: something happens, and there's silence. Not even a breeze stirs.
- An MC is on a life-and-death escape, and the wind is snatching at her as she monkey-bars her way across a balcony's rafters.
- The MC has just lost her one true love. She stands on a hill top and weeps. The wind pulls her hair up like a banner.
There's just so much good USE one can get out of the element of wind in a story. Wind adds that aura of mystery, tension, and poetic imagery that all stories need. Wind is one of my favourite elements to work with. It's a sense that I use frequently in my books.
What about you? What's the one thing you find you're drawn to the most, the one thing you like to insert that adds a heightened sense of drama, tension, or pacing to your story?
