May 04, 2015

Writing About: Spring


I am starting my blog tour for Ghost of Death on the blogs of Stephanie Faris and C Lee McKenzie. 


Check out my fun post: Name a Drink


And my musical post: 10 Songs



A few months ago, I shared a post about winter with tips for writers who are writing (or want to write a story set in winter. Now it’s time for SPRING!

Here are 10 things to keep in mind for a story set in the spring:

1.    Nature

Everyone knows spring as the season where the earth reawakens and flowers bloom. Gardeners flock outdoors with bags of soil and packets of seeds. Describing the fresh green grass, the new buds on trees, and the flowers bursting from rich soil would set the atmosphere for spring beautifully. You could also write about a character who is a gardener.

·         Flowers- Easter lily, pansy, daffodil, tulip, lilac, peony.

2.    Warming Temperatures

In the spring, the snow melts and the sun starts to grow stronger, warmer. Your characters will be able to open their windows, take the thick blankets off their beds, and turn off their furnaces. Whenever your hero/heroine is outside, take the opportunity to describe the blue skies, the cool breeze, and yellow sunlight.

1.    Clothes

Now that winter is over, you can let your characters wear shorter sleeves, brighter colors (purple, blue, yellow) and fancy church clothes. Mentioning what your characters are wearing is a nice touch that you could do with just a sentence or two. Describe your heroine in a pretty dress with a light cardigan, or your hero in tan slacks and a white shirt.

2.    April Showers

April brings an abundance of rain showers to many states in the United States. Writing about a rain shower could add a romantic element to a romance story.

Imagine: kissing in the rain, cuddling in bed to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof.

1.    Picnics

Spring wouldn’t be spring without picnics: family picnics, church picnics, and intimate picnics between your hero and heroine, which make lovely scenes for romances! They could pack a basket with cheese, grapes, finger sandwiches, cold chicken, hummus and veggies, wine or sparkling water.

2.    Outdoor Fun

With no snow and warmer temps, people enjoy spending more time outdoors. Let your characters take walks together, go on bike rides, or visit the park. All of these are wonderful activities for two characters who are falling in love.

1.    Holidays

There are many lovely holidays in the spring like Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, and Mother’s Day. You could write about one or two that would make the most sense to your plot and story.

·         Easter- church, dying eggs with kids and orchestrating egg hunts.
·         St. Patrick’s Day: Irish pubs, beer, Irish food (cabbage, corned beef, potatoes)
·         Mardi Gras- New Orleans, parades, beads and masks
·         Mother’s Day- Mothers, gifts/cards/flowers

\1.    Daylight Savings

In the spring, we turn our clocks one hour ahead. (Spring forward, fall back.) As a result, we have longer days and more sunlight, but we also lose an hour of sleep that first night and struggle to get our inner clocks in sync with the time change. You could show how your MC is affected by the time change by sleeping in and being late to work. Readers would be able to identify with that.

2.    Spring Cleaning

We all know spring is the time to clear out the dust, go through the clutter that accumulated during the winter, and fix the house for the warmer seasons. You could let a single mother/woman go through her closet/desk/kitchen while obsessing over her latest breakup or problem.

1.    Food/Drinks

Springtime is perfect for fruits and vegetables and lighter meals. If your characters eat out together or have a quiet dinner at home you could have them enjoy these:

·         Food- strawberries, peaches, asparagus, light tomato and basil salad, pasta primavera, and herb chicken.

·         Drinks- iced mint tea, strawberry lemonade, fruit smoothies, and sangria.



QUESTIONS: When you think of spring, what comes to mind? What do you like most about spring? What do you like least?


On Wednesday, I'll be posting my A to Z Reflection post with my Insecure Writer's Support Group post.





88 comments:

  1. Visited your stops already.
    I think of my lawn growing and having to mow the grass again.

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    1. Thank you, Alex! You're awesome!!!

      Mowing the grass is a boring chore.

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  2. Wonderful write and awesome pictures. Chrys,

    Yvonne.

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  3. Pollen is in full swing here in the Midwest, that's for sure.

    Best wishes for a successful blog tour!

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    1. Pollen is the worst, especially if you have allergies.

      Thank you, Jay! :D

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  4. I think of daffodils and green leaves. Luckily, no downs for me.

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  5. And what's funny (or not) is how caught up in a story you get that you can't "see" that you've said a character is wearing wool in the summer or flip flops in the snow. It's the details that matter.

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    1. I actually had a mistake like that in my current WIP. They lived in Florida and went to San Francisco in January. They needed thicker clothes. :P

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  6. Great things to remember when writing for the season. I love the colors of spring and how everything here goes from looking like a dead land to one full of vibrancy. Though the temperature here knows no mercy. We go from cool end of winter to the beginning heat of summer without any spring warm in between.

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    1. The colors after so much darkness is one of the best things about spring. I know just what you mean, Christine! I think we both live in Florida and there is no spring weather here.

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  7. I think of warmer days and lighter evenings :)

    betty

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  8. Allegeries, I think of allergeries. It is the most colorful season (unless you are up north in the fall), but is also the season my sinuses revolt. I haven't forgotten your blog tour questions and will send them later today.

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    1. Allergies are terrible! I'm glad I don't have bad sinuses, but I'm sorry you suffer. Thank you! I am looking forward to your questions. :)

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  9. I think of no snow in sight, that makes spring alright. Dumb daylight savings time though, hate that

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    1. Daylight Savings when we lose an hour does suck. I like gaining an hour much better. ;)

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  10. Great job, Chrys. These are helpful prompts. Our characters should always be rooted in the larger eco-system and weather and all that it brings is an important area to draw on.

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    1. Absolutely! I love to write about weather, especially intense weather, and how my characters deal with it. :)

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  11. Great tips! Now I want some sangria...
    I had a picnic scene in my WIP but I had to cut it. Maybe I'll write a different one someday.

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  12. Spring fever! lol I love writing outdoor scenes set in spring.

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  13. I love everything about spring. It has become my favorite season. That sangria looks good, too!

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  14. I probably think of flowers the most when it comes to spring. And baby animals. And the five minutes of nice weather we get in Houston before it becomes a sauna.

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  15. Great ideas to keep in mind for settings in the spring. Having some ice tea as I visit blogs. My favorite spring/summer drink.

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  16. I love seeing Planet Earth returning to life after all those months of snow, ice, and cold. I can't believe I used to want to live in Alaska, on the Aleutian Islands even. It's nice to finally drive with the windows down again, wear more lightweight clothes, go swimming outdoors, and change the music in my car. For the last few years, I've had RIo in my car stereo during the cold months, since picturing the music videos in Sri Lanka and Caribbean help to warm me up. I have other albums I play in my car when it's warm and hot out, like Who's Next and Live at Leeds.

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    1. The renewing of nature and life when spring comes is the best thing about this season. It's cool that you have specific albums to listen to when its cold or hot.

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  17. Great post. I used Outdoor Fun in my recent MS. The husband / wife protagonists went out for a country drive and had a picnic to enjoy the scenery. Of course, this is where their troubles began. Hmmmm .... maybe they should have went out to eat instead.

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    1. Uh-oh! A lot can go wrong during a picnic.

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  18. Spring time is when we all get out of the darkness. Light, birds chirping and the scent! The blooming cherry trees and flowers make the air smell like heaven. Fun post, Chrys!

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    1. Now that I live in a house with woods around me, I get to enjoy the sounds of birds chirping. :)

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  19. I love getting out and working in the yard. Unfortunately, this is a great time for my allergies to go traveling through my head being that I am allergic to grass, tree pollen, dust... But, the grass is green, the trees are budding, and hundreds of plants are emerging. I think this is my favorite season.

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    1. That is a lot of allergies. It must be tough to enjoy spring with allergies acting up.

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  20. Number one thing I like about spring: NO. MORE. SNOW!!!!!!!!!! Which some manages to linger around until May. One year, we had snow at the end of May.

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    1. I think if I lived in Michigan, I'd be sick of snow by April/May too.

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  21. Sweet Tea, the smell of fresh, cut grass and red-headed lizards doing push-ups in the yard! And rainbows! Had one just this morning :-) We don't do daylight savings here, so no worries there. Enjoyed your blog tour and this lovely post for springtime :-)

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    1. You just had to mention lizards didn't you? You know I don't like them! ;P How nice not to have to deal with Daylight Savings. Thank you, Diedre! :D

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    2. Ha! Happy to oblige :-) In my area it's just another sign of spring!

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    3. Haha! They start to come out in the spring here too. I see them from my kitchen window and glare at them with my death rays. :P

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  22. Spring is a lot nicer to write about than winter. You can actually get out of the house and do something instead of being trapped under all the snow! Makes for more interesting stories :)

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    1. Winter makes interesting stories too, though. :)

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  23. I don't think I've ever enjoyed Spring as much as I have this year. I got a major sunburn yesterday and it made me so happy because it's finally WARM outside.

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    1. Imagine being happy about a sunburn. I can't. LOL!

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  24. Summer sometimes gets too hot while winter sometimes too cold while spring is usually just right like Baby Bear's porridge. Fall can be pretty nice too. But over all I like how everything starts greening up and blooming at springtime.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host

    Tossing It Out




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    1. Unless you live in Florida where the weather skips over spring and goes straight to summer. haha

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  25. There's possibly nothing I dislike about Spring. September (the start of Spring in our hemisphere) is my favourite month of the year. Light rain in warm weather is beautiful.

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    1. Light rain in warm weather is lovely. We call it April Showers here. :)

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  26. Maybe I'll write a story set in a winter next winter, because winter and skiing resorts is the environment that I know the best >:)

    Cold As Heaven

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    1. That makes a lot of sense. I like writing about winter and snow but I've never even experienced snow. :P

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  27. You're amazing, girl! When I think if spring, I think of spring flowers, baby animals, butterflies, and walks and happy kids outside playing. xD

    ♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

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    1. Thank you! :D You're amazing too. <3

      Oh yes, the butterflies and nice spring walks. I enjoy those too.

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  28. My son starts sneezing. That's when I know winter is over. =)

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  29. Great post, Chrys. Thanks for sharing.

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  30. I'm stuck in Autumn at the moment here in Oz, but when I think of Spring I think of flowers, spring rains, and the flu ;)

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    1. Spring is so beautiful but can wreck havoc with our health.

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  31. Spring? June gloom or May gray. We're having the May gray right now.

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    1. Come to Florida. It's always sunny here. Well, except for today in my area. ;P

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  32. I love lilacs! That smell means spring on the east coast for me. Spring on the West coast is the smell of jasmine.

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    1. Both lovely smells. I just bought a jasmine bush/tree. I still have to plant it but it smells heavenly. :)

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  33. Spring brings life back to the Earth (think Demeter). I see the flowers come out and the birds chirping more. Seeing a robin confirms spring is here. I can smell the freshness in the air (unless it is the country and it's manure day then I want to plug my nose). People are out walking with their dogs. The rain seems to clean the earth and makes it fresh .I love all your thoughts about how one can use something from Spring in a book

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  34. Spring cleaning ... never heard of it. Just look at my closet :) Great tips! The rain one would be a bit hard to fit in here in London. It's always raining.

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    1. Haha! I like to spring clean. It helps me to start fresh. :)

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  35. Spring is when all the bugs start coming out again. I like the winter when the bug are mostly gone.

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    1. Right now, in Florida, the Love Bugs are out in force. That always says spring here.

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  36. The good parts of spring: putting away the snow boots, planting flowers, bike rides, new rollerblades (this year after my twenty-three-year-old pair disintegrated).

    Bad parts: ants all over the kitchen, putting sunscreen on squirming kids, mud everywhere, feeling guilty for not maintaining the lawn as well as my neighbors (I'm not a fan of chemicals).

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    1. I love planting flowers!

      Ha! I can relate to the lawn maintenance. I just moved into a new house and the lawn is full of weeds and patches of dirt. I don't have a lawn mower and don't want to pay someone to come out and cut my grass every week like my neighbor does.

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  37. Spring wakes up the sleeping flowers, birds build their nests, rain replenishes the earth, baby rabbits play, baby deer follow their mamas, dark clouds bring needed rain, and spring just makes me feel alive.
    Have a super tour.

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  38. Great tips, Chrys, and congrats on your two big launches this week!

    Spring isn't a pretty season here in Winnipeg, but I'm thrilled whenever I see the first flowers appear in my garden. That's a magical moment every time--I never take it for granted.

    To me, spring is pussy willows and lilacs and tulips.

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    1. Thank you, J.H.!

      I'm starting my first garden so I'll be able to experience that next spring. :)

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  39. SO honored to be a part of your blog tour. Springtime equals runny nose and watery eyes here in Tennessee. Oh...and it goes from 50 degrees in the morning to about 80 degrees in the afternoon. It's definitely interesting. Does everyone spring clean but me? I'm pretty bad about skipping that part! Maybe that's why there was so much dust under our beds when we moved out.

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    1. Thank you, Stephanie! I planned that post just for your blog. :)

      Ha! I spring clean but not under the beds.

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  40. Ah, spring. Everything seems good when it's spring time, isn't it? Even the nature is at its finest. But then, there's also the downside like the cleaning. :D

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    1. Spring is certainly nature at it's finest. :)

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  41. Mulching, mulching, mulching - that's been my spring!

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  42. Hi Chrys. All the best for your tour! Spring? Ah, daffodils and Wordsworth's poem, natch. Every season has its beauty when it comes to writing. Nothing like snow to create some havoc!

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    1. Thank you, Denise!

      You're right about every season having it's own beauty. :)

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  43. Rain and flowers blooming come to mind. Even though I live in Florida, there are still certain plants that will only bloom in spring.

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    1. I see that too, Medeia. Like Easter Lilies. :)

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