Weather Thesaurus Entry: Clouds

WEATHER is an important element 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: white, shades of gray, greenish-black, fluffy, puffy, full and thick, feathery, wispy and thin, scant, covering the whole sky…

Smell: n/a

Taste: n/a

Touch: wet, damp, misty

Sound: n/a

EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS:

Mood: Different kinds of clouds can create different moods. Many people associate white fluffy clouds with happy memories. They can evoke feelings of contentment, joy, and optimism. Quick-moving clouds, usually accompanied by wind, can bring about a feeling that change may be coming. Dark, heavy thunderheads…

Symbolism: foreshadowing of ominous events to come, hiding or revealing information…

Possible Cliches: mother and child laying in the grass and finding pictures in the clouds, clouds parting to let the sun shine on a happy occasion or event, dark clouds and thunderclaps that herald…

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.