A Rolling Stone

Oh, I’ve Been Everywhere Man, I’ve Been Everywhere…

You know, having spent the past couple of weeks traipsing from one side of these United States to the other and back again (again) I feel a newfound appreciation for nature in storytelling.

And not just the rote action of moving across it, mind, but how it can become a character in and of itself.

The combination of a relentless sun juxtaposed against the icy grip of a mountain stream, the wind turning from a whisper into a gale as it whips across the plains.

Heat and cold.

Calm and fury.

Seems a rather large opportunity to miss out on while telling a story, no?

So many authors paint nature as a whole as merely something to be feared, or resented, or to be enjoyed only in some passing vignette. Rarely is it something dwelled in or expanded upon.

And why not?

Unfortunately, I think it’s because some authors truly don’t like to be outside.

This may sound weird but hear me out. It could be something as simple as the description of a forest or river falling flat, or the completely unrealistic timeframe presented to some trivial mundanity like how quickly (or slowly) someone’s clothing dries out once they get wet, but regardless there may be something that just doesn’t quite fit with an experienced reality if you catch my drift.

Such simple scenes, while they may be functionally sound themselves, present a subtle poison to a reader’s enjoyment, particularly if the executed so poorly as to defy common sense. Flubbing something as simple as the feeling of sunshine on a character’s face will have your readers wondering if things could have been described better (at best) or wondering if the closest you’ve come to nature has been to watch the National Geographic channel (at worst).

There’s nothing wrong with having such scenes be small, per say, but, oh, dear reader, they can be so much more.

If anything think of the drama inherent to a good journey. Theres a reason men are fascinated by climbing mountains you know. Theres a simple joy about “besting” the world, of proving you have what it takes to over come what at first may appears to be an insurmountable task.

Nature can be daunting, true, and it can be terrible. The neat thing is it can also be terribly beautiful.

Take storms: so often they’re presented as brutish, ugly things that bring misery to our characters and not much else. They are an obstacle. Something that must be endured. Hell, I’m guilty of this myself on occasion but let us think back to the last storm you were in. Can you honestly tell me you’ve looked out into the pounding rain amid the brief flash of lighting and not found it even the slightest bit beautiful? Why not have a character witness the same and comment on it if but for a moment?

Too often we ourselves ignore nature. We move through our day on auto pilot not really paying attention to the glory of a sunset or gentle swish of the wind through the leaves.

How do we fix that? Simple: Go fly a kite.

No, really. Get out there and “touch grass” as the youth say.

Take that walk. Go hunt. Go fish. Hell, go make your significant other make good on that picnic they promised to take you out on two years ago but never followed through with (Aaron, if you made it this far, this is your oh-so-subtle reminder. Pretty sure the Mrs. reads these too. Just trying to help you out).

In any event physical activity will be good for your mental health so why not inject a little more vitamin D into your day?

Who knows? It may even help you be a better writer.