• 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: Sunrise

July 7, 2011 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

WEATHER & EARTHLY 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: The sky lightens in streaks of pink and orange and  clouds are lit from the bottom in an fiery glow. Sunrise intensifies with each minutes, growing brighter and sharper, and visibility improves as night is cast off. Reflective surfaces (lakes, pools, ponds, puddles) take on the color of the sky, becoming a mirror of light, and shadows dissolve. Objects in the landscape…

Smell: As the sun warms the morning, earthy odors will emerge–soil, grass, greenery. Flower petals open, releasing their scent.

Taste: No specific tastes are associated with sunrise, unless one is enjoying a coffee or breakfast in accompaniment.

Touch: When the sun first touches skin, warmth seeps into pores causing hair follicles to respond and lift. The feel of sun on skin is pleasing and the brightness as it rises will force one’s eyes into a squint or to close…

Sound: As the sun rises, birds grow active and bird calls begin to filter into the experience. In an urban area, there would be an increase in traffic sounds…

EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS:

Mood: Sunrise is often used as a transition in books, allowing the story to be anchored in the beginning of a fresh day or signify a new stage about to unfold. There is beauty in a sunrise which allows for reflection and thought on the big picture and also the internal landscape. Dawn is a wash of light across the setting, causing darkness to recede…

Symbolism: New Beginnings; entering a new stage or point in one’s journey; beauty…

Possible Cliches: Comparing the sunrise to one’s love for another…

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 tension. 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.

ANGELA ACKERMAN
ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools 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. Karen Lange says

    July 8, 2011 at 10:06 am

    I love this! It’s making me want to get up early and watch the sunrise. 🙂 Thanks for always inspiring!

  2. tracikenworth says

    July 8, 2011 at 8:29 am

    I love sunrises!! Thanks for the imagery to go along with one.

  3. Misha says

    July 8, 2011 at 3:44 am

    I really have to work the weather in a bit more with my writing, although I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to avoid the cliches.

    🙂

  4. Lisa Gail Green says

    July 8, 2011 at 12:10 am

    Awesome PLUS pretty picture! What more could you ask for?

  5. Carrie Butler says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    I never would’ve thought of the scents that “awaken” at sunrise. Thanks for the post, Angela! 🙂

  6. Jeff King says

    July 7, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    I loved this one…

  7. Becca Puglisi says

    July 7, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    I’m so glad you did this one. I haven’t seen a sunrise in years and I truly have no desire to get up that early. Ever. So it’s nice to have a record of it, just in case, lol.

    Becca

  8. Karen Amanda Hooper says

    July 7, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    Ah, the weather. How we love to talk (and write) about it. 🙂

    Great advice and examples.

  9. Julie Musil says

    July 7, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    Oh how I love a beautiful sunrise. You captured it perfectly!

  10. The Pen and Ink Blog says

    July 7, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    Thank you. A great resource and really good for stopping writer’s block.

  11. Barbara Watson says

    July 7, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    A key scene in my MS takes place at sunrise so this post is incredibly timely. Thank you.

  12. Bethany Elizabeth says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Loved this – sunsets (all weather) can be used so well in literature, but we do have to be careful to avoid cliches. Great post!

  13. Heather says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Just reading this made me sigh. I love sunsets and you captured them perfectly. Next week I’ll be on vacation and hopefully I can catch a few and take notes on them. 🙂

  14. SP Sipal says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:29 am

    The resources you provide on this blog are phenomenal! You hit all the detailed descriptive techniques that can get bogged down if you don’t keep them fresh. Thanks so much!

  15. Marcia says

    July 7, 2011 at 10:34 am

    I love that you point out the possible cliches. Terrific job, as always.

  16. Angela Ackerman says

    July 7, 2011 at 9:45 am

    Matt: you Charmer you!

    Christina, that’s a really good point as a possible scent because bakeries are the first ones up and moving, and so the scent of yeast would definitely be in the air in urban locations around grocery stores, doughnut shops and bakeries. And boy, do I love that smell…irresistible. 🙂

  17. Christina Farley says

    July 7, 2011 at 7:50 am

    Very interesting points. I love the smell of Paris in the morning- fresh baked bread and coffee. Wish I could pump that into my alarm clock.

  18. Matthew MacNish says

    July 7, 2011 at 7:17 am

    You’re incredible. There isn’t much more to say, you’ve done it all.

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