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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Character Talents and Skills: Predicting the Weather

October 4, 2014 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

As writers, we want to make our characters as unique and interesting as possible. One way to do this is to give your character a special skill or talent that sets him apart from other people. This might be something small, like having a green thumb or being good with animals, to a larger and more competitive talent like stock car racing or being an award-winning film producer. 

CLOUDS
When choosing a talent or skill, think about the personality of your character, his range of experiences and who his role models might have been. Some talents might be genetically imparted while others are created through exposure (such as a character talented at fixing watches from growing up in his father’s watch shop) or grow out of interest (archery, wakeboarding, or magic). Don’t be afraid to be creative and make sure the skill or talent is something that works with the scope of the story. 

 WEATHER PREDICTING

Description: To observe signs in nature (cloud formation, air pressure changes, animal behavior, plant growth patterns and the color of the sky, etc.) and interpret them in a way that predicts shifts in weather.

Beneficial Strengths or Abilities: Strong eyesight, hyper awareness of one’s body and subtle shifts that will indicate air pressure changes (headaches, swelling joints, a perception of increased pain, etc.) a strong sense of smell (to detect ozone, a metallic-like…

Character Traits Suited for this Skill or Talent: focused, observant, alert, cautious, organized, responsible

Required Resources and Training: For a character to build this skill, they would do well to have a lot of experience in nature, and the opportunity to notice minute shifts in animal behavior (bees disappearing from flowers, swallows flying close to the ground…

Associated Stereotypes and Perceptions:

This is a skill that many survivalist have. It is also one that will come in handy for any occupation that relies heavily on weather variances, such as a ship’s captain.

Scenarios Where this Skill Might be Useful:

  • working as a wilderness guide for others and being responsible for their safe travel from one location to the next
  • Planning battles in war times
  • situations where shelter from the elements is key to survival…

Resources for Further Information:

Survival Skills: How To Predict The Weather

Weather Forecast Indicators

Marine Weather Forecasting

Talents and skills not only make our characters stand out, they often help them attain their goals. So choosing them strategically can greatly enhance both the character and the story.

If this is something you’d like to learn more about, you can find the entries in their entirety at One Stop For Writers, where all our thesauruses are cross-referenced and linked for easy navigation. If you’re interested in seeing a free sampling of the Talent and Skill Thesaurus and our other descriptive collections, head on over and register at One Stop!

 

Image: Rettenberg @ Pixabay

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.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mart Ramirez says

    October 15, 2014 at 11:03 pm

    Love how you tied in the weather in this! Thank you for this.

  2. Kathleen Smith says

    October 14, 2014 at 10:29 am

    Starting a new season of writing. Thank you!

  3. Rosi Hollinbeck says

    October 5, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    Another great addition to your list of character traits. I don’t know how you keep coming up with these. Thanks!

  4. MJ Bush says

    October 4, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    THANK YOU for the reminder, Angela! I had completely forgotten that I wanted one of my characters to read the weather. Noting it!

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      October 5, 2014 at 5:38 pm

      Oh woot! Glad this one is useful! I think it’s a very unique and interesting skill. 🙂

  5. Traci Kenworth says

    October 4, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    This will be very useful in a future book!! It deals with the wilderness and this kind of character would be an asset to the team.

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      October 4, 2014 at 7:33 pm

      I like this talent, because I don’t see it a lot in books, but wow does it ever add some depth to anyone who has it. Glad it helps!

  6. :Donna Marie says

    October 4, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    This is a fantastic one, and one we should all have in life, right? Of course, I first think of storm chasers and farmers, and of course, Les Stroud 🙂 Thanks for another great trait, Angela! 😀

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      October 4, 2014 at 7:33 pm

      Oh yes, storm chasers is a great one! I know they rely a lot of satellite data, but once you’re close you can’t always rely on it, and you have to interpret what’s in front of you.

  7. Laura Gross Smith says

    October 4, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    This talent would have been nice to have today in New England! Thank you for your posts, I learn so much from all of them.

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      October 4, 2014 at 7:34 pm

      Haha, I know right? I wish I could read the weather myself–it would help me out a ton! Our weather is very changeable, being so close to the mountains.

Trackbacks

  1. Resources For Describing Characters | Stephanie Tillman says:
    August 6, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    […] Predicting the Weather […]

  2. Monday Must-Reads [10.05.14] says:
    October 6, 2014 at 4:01 pm

    […] Character Talents and Skills: Reading The Weather – WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRI… […]

  3. Writing Links…10/6/14 | TraciKenworth's Blog says:
    October 6, 2014 at 8:08 am

    […] https://writershelpingwriters.net/2014/10/character-talents-skills-reading-weather/comment-page-1/#co… […]

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