Weather and Earthly Phenomena Entry: Eclipse

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).

There are two different kinds of eclipses: LUNAR and SOLAR. 

Lunar Eclipses:  In the presence of light, everything casts a shadow, including planets. The Earth’s shadow stretches nearly a million miles, far enough to touch the Moon. This is what happens when the Earth passes between the moon and the sun. As the moon orbits the Earth, it falls into the Earth’s shadow, which will turn a quadrant of the moon dark. As the moon continues its orbit…

Solar Eclipses: A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, and the moon’s shadow is cast over the Earth’s surface. The position of the three players will determine if the eclipse is total or partial.

•  A total eclipse happens when a new moon is positioned directly between the Earth and the sun. These conditions occur about every year and a half and cause the moon to block out the sun completely. But the effect…
•  A partial eclipse occurs when the moon, sun, and earth are not lined up perfectly…

During a solar eclipse, the sky darkens as the moon slowly moves in front of the sun, blocking out light and casting the moon’s shadow on the earth. When the moon has moved directly in front of the sun, the sun’s corona will be seen shining around the moon…

EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS:

Mood: Eclipses are infrequent occurrences, and so inspire in viewers a feeling of anticipation. The sun and moon are unshakeable fixtures in our sky; when they suddenly look different, it can bring about a variety of responses: excitement, awe, anxiety…

Symbolism: mystical events, synchronicity, the coming together of two things…

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.