![]() ![]() "There was a desert wind blowing that night. Raymond Chandler famously made this point about weather and mood in the opening to his story "Red Wind": Mood, more than anything, is what pulls me into a story, and few things can truly set mood better than the weather. Those extra words can enable an author to truly set the scene-or more to the point, to set the mood. I find this is especially true if I have the opportunity to read a first paragraph rather than just a first sentence. To my surprise, the openings that catch my attention the most each week, the ones that make me eager to read a book or story, use the weather. It helps me understand what works and what doesn't and why. And reading first lines and first paragraphs that don't grab me is also helpful. (I've been guilty of this myself.) I enjoy reading more than a sentence because the additional words can help me to get a much better feel for the work at hand. Sometimes they share the first paragraph. Sometimes people share more than the first sentence of a story. ![]() The intent is to showcase good or great first lines. I belong to a Facebook group whose members post each Monday the first lines of books and stories they read the prior week. Today, I'm going to come at this topic from a different angle. I just reread it, and I think my advice is solid. The column you're thinking about ran in 2016. If you're sitting there thinking, Barb, you've written about using the weather in stories, even starting with the weather, before. Still, even with that caveat, the times you'll need to use the weather at the start of a book or story are probably few. The first one: "Never open a book with the weather." I've long agreed with this advice, with an exception: If the weather is pertinent to what's happening at the start-if it's part of the plot-use it. TONS OF SUPPORT YOU CRAVE.Elmore Leonard had ten famous rules for writing. So, clickety-click RIGHT HUURRR or click that image to the right to get on The List! #yourewelcome _ THE JOY JUNKIE AFTER HOURS CLUB! COMPLETELY FREE FACEBOOK GROUP. It’s time to finally believe in yourself, find that self-confidence you crave, and start living your life for YOU. If you’re DONE feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed out because you’re constantly doing, doing, doing for everyone else, then you must grab your seat in this brand-new workshop! You’ll learn the exact five-step process I take my clients through so they can let go of all the stress and angst of striving for “perfect” and caring waaaaay too much what everyone else thinks. Is this the year you go from a people-pleasing, guilt-tripped perfectionist to a bold and boundaried badass? Um, yeah. So, clickety-click RIGHT HUURRR or click that image to the right and get your peace on! #yourewelcome _ NEW *FREE* WORKSHOP READY TO GET RID OF PERFECTIONISM, SELF-DOUBT, AND OVERWHELM? So, you won’t be clucking like a chicken or any of that booooshit. ![]() I wanted to create a resource to help you cope with the new crop of fears and anxieties that have been poppin’ up so I made an awesome hypnosis track for you! And no need to freak out about hypno… It’s basically just meditation with a goal. I’ve been hearing that many of you have been battling some seeeerious anxiety due the craziness of recent current events. _ NEW *FREE* HYPNOSIS MEDITATION ON FEAR + ANXIETY READY TO RELEASE THAT PENT UP ANXIETY AND FEAR? Truly hope this episode boosts your spirits and inspires you to show up in this world in the most powerful way possible. Although this episode will certainly have you laughing, you may want to grab a tissue as some of the examples of kindness and generosity may have you shedding a tear or twenty. I also give you a handful of things you can watch or do to laugh your ass off and keep your spirits up. In this week’s show, I took a bit of a departure from our typical format and decided to chronicle 30+ inspirational stories of people doing remarkable things for their fellow womankind. Unfortunately, these stories just don’t get nearly enough air time. The great news is that there are a TON of other amazing examples of people winning at human during this crazy time in history and there are many people doing some serious good in this world. We are living in a time where there is no shortage of news coverage about stressful, overwhelming, and scary shit, which often leaves us feeling anxious, fearful, and focused on the worse-case scenarios. ![]()
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