Tag Archives: mood

Creating an Atmosphere

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hickling

Writers approach reading differently from other people. They dissect the writing, eager to understand how the author has created an enthralling plot, a cast of sympathetic and believable characters and a strong sense of atmosphere.

By atmosphere, I’m not talking about ghostly happenings or unexplained creepiness, though these also have their place. I’m talking about creating a mood to draw your readers in, build expectations and provide important information about your characters. By using sensory detail to bring scenes alive your readers will see the world through the eyes of the characters. Encouraged to experience the story at first hand, they will inhabit this imaginary world, be part of the characters’ lives, sharing their pleasures and disappointments. Continue reading →

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Actions speak louder than words

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Non-verbal communication is usually understood to mean the process of creating or representing meaning by sending and receiving wordless, usually visual messages. These can include facial expressions, gestures, body language and eye contact. But how, I hear you ask, can this possibly help the writer? We need to examine the concept in a little more detail.

Previous posts have discussed the art of showing, not telling. Non-verbal communication falls firmly into the ‘showing’ category. Our characters don’t have to say anything to convey how they are feeling. The postures they adopt, their facial expressions and unconscious actions or tics will all reflect their moods and tell the reader more about the characters’ thoughts and feelings than long paragraphs of description, speech tags and adverbs.

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