• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • Master Storytelling Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • WHW Descriptive Thesaurus Collection
    • Free Tools & Worksheets
    • Grab A Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Weather Thesaurus Entry: Dew

July 28, 2011 by BECCA PUGLISI

WEATHER and PHENOMENA are important elements in any setting, providing sensory texture and contributing to the mood the writer wishes to create in a scene. With a deft touch, weather can enhance the character’s emotional response to a specific location, it can add conflict, and it can also (lightly) foreshadow coming events.

However, caution must accompany this entry: the weather should not be used as a window into a character’s soul. The weather can add invisible pressure for the character, it can layer the SCENE with symbolism, it can carefully hint at the internal landscape, but it must never OVERTLY TELL emotion. Such a heavy-handed approach results in weather cliches and melodrama (a storm raging above a bloody battle, a broken-hearted girl crying in the rain).

SENSORY DESCRIPTORS:

Sight: Dew adds a crystalline shimmer to greenery and trees, collecting on the upper surface of leaves and in the low point of stems. When morning sunlight hits beads of dew, it creates a light reflection that adds a healthy gleam to natural foliage. Depending on how much moisture is in the air…

Smell: Dew adds moisture to natural growth, enhancing the greenery smell and creating a sense of ‘freshness’ in the air.

Taste: Water (pungent greenery may also flavor dew collected at the site)

Touch: Wet and slick to the touch, dew in the grass will quickly soak through shoes and pant legs, and…

Sound: No sound

EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS:

Mood: Dew adds the feel of silence, stillness and freshness that is associated with early morning hours. Adding dew to a scene will add texture to…

Symbolism: Purity, Nature, Cleansing…

Possible Clichés: Comparing dew to youth or tears

Don’t be afraid to use the weather to add contrast. Unusual pairings, especially when drawing attention to the Character’s emotions, is a powerful trigger for conflict. Consider how the bleak mood of a character is even more noticeable as morning sunlight dances across the crystals of fresh snow on the walk to work. Or how the feeling of betrayal is so much more poignant on a hot summer day. Likewise, success or joy can be hampered by a cutting wind or drizzling sleet, foreshadowing conflict to come.

Weather is a powerful tool, helping to foreshadow events and steer the emotional mood of any scene.

Need more detail regarding this weather element? Good news! This thesaurus has been integrated into our new online library at One Stop For Writers. There, not only has the information in each entry been enhanced and expanded, we’ve also added scenarios for adding conflict and tension. The entire thesaurus is also cross-referenced with our many other descriptive collections for easy searchability. Registration is free, so if you’re interested in seeing a sampling of the fully updated Weather and Earthly Phenomenon Thesaurus, head on over to One Stop.

BECCA PUGLISI
BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary Witzl says

    July 29, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    I shivered at the words ‘crytstalline shimmer’.

    I like the idea of using weather as a contrast. T. S. Eliot knew all about this when he wrote “April is the cruellest month.” There’s nothing more painful than beautiful weather sometimes.

  2. Lisa Gail Green says

    July 29, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    The thing I’m writing right now has a LOT to do with weather. So I’m loving these entries. They are very… inspiring!

  3. Angela Orlowski-Peart says

    July 29, 2011 at 11:17 am

    Like with everything, a simplicity is a key :-)Less is more…
    Wonderful post!

  4. Nisa says

    July 29, 2011 at 8:15 am

    What a great post! Excellent way of explaining how weather can become melodramatic.

  5. Jeff King says

    July 28, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    Sweet…

  6. Carrie Butler says

    July 28, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    You know, something about this post makes me want a cup of coffee. 😉 Great description!

  7. Becca Puglisi says

    July 28, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    Love this one, Angela. It evokes freshness and cleanness.

  8. Marsha Sigman says

    July 28, 2011 at 12:47 pm

    I used dew in a description in my last ms. Your advice totally nailed it!

  9. tracikenworth says

    July 28, 2011 at 7:59 am

    One of my favorite things about the morning!!

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2023 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

Cookies are delicious and ours help make your experience here better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with our cookie use. Cookie settingsGOT IT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. More on our Privacy Policy here.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT