All summer in New England, the heat and humidity has been brutal. There’s a big difference between 90 degrees in dry heat and 90 with humidity so high the heat index rises to triple digits, the air so soupy and thick, even people without breathing problems still struggle to breathe.
We can’t help but complain about how miserable it is. Talking about the weather isn’t pleasant chitchat around here. It’s a serious subject discussed year-round.
Characters from New England will absolutely mention the weather—snow, ice, heat, or humidity—at one point or another. The topic is ingrained in us from birth. If the character never mentioned, or at least thought about, the weather in New England, they would lose all credibility.
Now, I’m not suggesting we include long, boring conversations about the weather. If you choose to include a line or two of dialogue, make it memorable…
“Man, this heat. I feel like a racehorse in last place.”
Or better yet, show us their sweat while exerting energy or their faces numbing from an arctic chill.
Even the shingles sagged, too drained from the heat and humidity to hang on.
Be clear about the weather without telling the reader.
After I weeded my garden yesterday, I rung out my hair, every pore of my body open and crying, sweat stinging my eyes, salt niggling my tastebuds.
The setting should become a character in and of itself. Make the reader experience it as if they were there.
Floridians might scurry to board up windows before a hurricane. Californians might whip up an evacuation plan when wildfires are near. Or maybe, these characters are old pros who aren’t fazed by hurricanes or wildfires and wait till the last minute to prepare. That would tell us a lot about them.
The setting can convey mood, tone, or characterization. It can also become a constant obstacle for the main character as it actively participates in the story.
Heavy downpours are wet and loud and can interfere with one’s ability to hear. What if a secondary character tries to warn the hero via text? Chances are they won’t be able to hear the notification.
What if the electric grid can’t handle the overload of air conditioners? A blackout is rife with possibilities.
What if the full moon brightens the wooded landscape too much? It’s more difficult to hide in the light.
Tips to describe the setting:
Sensory Details: Don’t only include visual elements. Vivid descriptions use all five senses to bring the setting to life. Every character interprets the setting differently. One might revel in a star-filled sky, where the other can’t see past the army of mosquitos.
Dynamic Changes: Depending on where you choose to set your story, the setting can evolve over time. Environmental changes, mood, or plot events all impact the setting.
Emotional Connection: A well-developed setting can evoke strong emotions in the characters and readers, like New Englanders this summer.
Symbolism: The setting can also have a symbolic meaning that might reflect and/or contrast with the theme(s) or characters. Hiding symbolism within the plot is also a ton of fun.
Take your time when deciding where to set your story. If you’re unfamiliar with the area, take a trip or find a local. Social media is an excellent resource for this. A local will be able to tell you about the community, weather, landmarks, and add rich, visceral details that you can’t find anywhere else.
Where does your WIP take place? How do you incorporate setting into the plot?
Great tips, Sue. I love bringing my hometown to life–the good, the bad, the ugly, and there’s plenty of all three.
Or maybe, these characters are old pros who aren’t fazed by hurricanes or wildfires and wait till the last minute to prepare. That would tell us a lot about them.
LOL! A few wildfires ago, a man with a valuable wine collection knew he was going to have to leave his soon to be burning house…so he started drinking the wine. He drank and drank until the firemen came and carried him away.
I wondered if anyone would catch the silliness of the lines you quoted, never expecting you would know of a “character” like that. At least he got to enjoy the wine. 😂😂😂
I’ve lived in Los Angeles, south and central Florida, and now in the Colorado Rockies. I left LA in my early 20s, and have never set a book there, but Florida and Colorado offer plenty of opportunities to slide setting into my stories. Any book set in Florida that doesn’t mention the blanket of wet air you walk into when you go outside, or the chilling blast of the a/c when you go into a building loses credibility with me. Or the the 3 pm thunderstorms. Natives in fur coats and tourists in shorts when the temps dip into the 50s. Or the character totally unprepared for that rare Florida freeze. And here in Colorado, we get all 4 seasons, sometimes in one day. Then, there’s the lack of oxygen at elevation. (I live at 9011 feet.) Bring someone into my neck of the woods and watch them have to stop halfway up a flight of stairs. Or have them deal with the effects of alcohol.
Excellent descriptions, Terry. It’s those details that add a great deal to the setting. Thanks for adding to the discussion.
Sue, what excellent tips of how to incorporate weather through the character’s senses, esp. sweat in the eyes and the taste of salt.
In Montana, weather affects livelihoods like farming, skiing, tourism, construction. Wildfires shut down national parks and highways, cause power failures, flooding, and evacuations. Even hundreds of miles away, the air quality can be drastically affected, causing serious health problems. We joke (and choke) about needing to chew the air before we can breathe it.
Weather can be anything but boring.
Wishing you cool breezes of relief!
Thanks, Debbie! Today, after severe thunderstorms last night, the humidity finally broke.
“Chew the air” is such a visceral description. Love it.
Life in the Midwest! Last week, 87 degrees and 97% humidity, made breathing hard for everyone. It also leaves you with the feeling like you need another shower, after walking to the car.
Severe weather is different as well. I was watching a TV show and it showed people boarding up for a tornado. That is not how that works. Tornado warnings have gotten much better. For the May tornado most people had between 5-10 minutes warning. Enough time to get to the basement, not enough to buy plywood.
Snow is special. There is a unique silence that comes with snow. I know the science, but the effect is what is needed. The silence drowns out the everyday sounds that we think of as quiet. You don’t hear birds or machinery. Traffic noises don’t travel far. It is a special kind of peaceful.
Oh, I agree, Alan. The silence of snow is a special, almost indescribable, quiet. I love fresh fallen snow.
Didn’t realize the Midwest had humidity. I’d always pictured dry heat there. 🤷🏻♀️
I spent a couple of weeks in the dessert. 117/trace humidity is comfortable as long as you don’t touch anything metal. Most of July/August for me is mid 90s at midnight and air you can cut during the day.
Yuck. That doesn’t sound pleasant at all. I can handle the heat but humidity bothers me a great deal.
It’s 80 degrees outside right now in Iowa, with 82% humidity. When I moved here from Oklahoma, I was suffocating in the humidity. I was told it would get worse as the vast fields of corn grew taller. It did. It could also be caused by the 4.5” of rain we got over the weekend. 😉
Tall corn stalks enhance the humidity, Becky? Mind blown. That’s an excellent detail to include in a story.
Great examples, Sue! Having lived in the south and mid-south most of my life, I can identify with humidity so thick you almost feel claustrophobic. Just thinking about it makes me want to turn down the air conditioner a degree or two. 🙂
My WIP takes place in Manhattan. My husband and I spent some time there a few years ago, and it was fun to revisit the city through the eyes of my middle-grade characters as they trail thieves through museums and famous buildings. Joanie thought the Guggenheim Museum looked like “an upside-down wedding cake,” and Reen describes the dinosaur skeleton in the rotunda of the American Museum of Natural History as “huge with a neck so long, it would make a giraffe major-league jealous.”
Haha! Love your characters’ descriptions, Kay. So fun, and on point for middle graders. Well done!
Terrific advice on utilizing setting, Sue. My current WIP, Fine Me Deadly, which is the third Meg Booker Librarian mystery, takes place in Fir Grove a fictional Southwest Portland (Oregon) neighborhood, inspired by several actually SW PDX neighborhoods I’m familiar with, and is very much a character.
The series is set in the mid-1980s, and 25 year old Meg doesn’t own a car, so at times she has to hoof it down winding roads through hilly, wooded terrain. Answers to questions she has about a mystery lie in the very neighborhood she lives and works in–the library, the community center, the community theater, the local book store, the rambling huge old Victorian mansion an elderly friend owns etc.
Hope you have a wonderful week, my friend!
The mid-1980s is a fantastic time to set a story, Dale! One of my all-time favorite eras IRL, second only to early ‘90s. And yet, I’ve never used either for a story. The creative wheels are turning now.
Thanks, sweet friend. Hope you have a fabulous week!
I hadn’t realized this was a disadvantage of growing up on the West Coast! “Don’t like the weather? Wait six months.”
The socks and sandals crowd in Seattle would say, “Wait ’til this afternoon…”
🙂
New Englanders often only have to wait 10 minutes for the weather to change. We’ve had all four seasons in a single day.
A “learnin'” blog post for sure, Sue…thank you!
Both of my novels are set in the PNW, where I’ve spent all but 8 years of my life. I tried to let my love of this area show through my characters.
Have a good Monday, all!
And I’m sure it does, Deb!
I looked at the humidity gauge the other day, and it registered 105% humidity in my area of Mississippi–I didn’t know it could get to 105%. You can stir that air with a spoon.
I’ve had my characters discuss the weather and one said in response to the heat: It’s not the heat that will kill you, it’s the humidity.
I hear ya, Patricia. We had a short reprieve yesterday and today, then heading back into heat and humidity tomorrow. 😩
Your character is 💯 correct. Stay cool!
I live in Arizona where heat is well, heat. But I set one of my novels there and used a sandstorm that played an important role in a high-tension scene.
James Lee Burke is a master at using setting to set mood. I love his descriptions of the Louisiana Bayou.
Thanks for the tips.