What a glorious way to wake up! Enormous snowflakes falling passed the window of my clubhouse!
Recently I read a post by a friend who said writing about nature is not her forte – characters are her strong point. My writing group consistently asks me to stop, stop, STOP describing the world around the characters and get to the action. It’s hard.
Days like yesterday are the culprits. They pull my attention away from work so I can “watch the world go by”. I watch and study.
How do the snowflakes look coming down? Are they falling or blowing sideways? What effect do they have on the appearance of the cedar boughs and the thick blankets of yellow-green moss clinging to the trunks of the maple trees? How does snow change sound? The whir of car tires are muffled, birds sing louder – or do they? The deer smashing the delicate blue flowers on the vinca don’t seem to notice their backs turning from mottled brown to splotchy white. Although Freya the Cat certainly “shifts left”. She pokes her head out the door then scoots backwards to sleep on her hammock suction cupped to the door.
Is it a waste of time to take a walk, alone and slow so there’s not a hint of excercise involved, and fill ones eyes, ears and nose with what the world has to offer? To saturate every sense with sights, smells and sounds, then keep them like a heart beat until it’s time to write it all down?
Well, maybe not ALL of it, if you want your writing group to keep reading your work.
Up From the Ashes 