What is it about the weather?
The urge to start a story with a description of weather is damn near impossible to overcome. Rain, wind, sunshine. The feel of salty sweat dripping off the nose. The shiver of the jaw while staring at a frosted window. The pleasant warmth of a temperate summer afternoon. The I wonder why that is?
I supose when starting a story, there’s an urge to look around, to decide where the best place to begin is. Once the story gets moving, once the plot takes over, the weather is thrown out the fucking window. Defenstrated, as it were.
But at the beginning, at the very beginning, before character or action or any other narrative elements you get the weather. Sometimes it’s just a sentence. Maybe even just a clause in a sentence. But it’s there.
And there’s something beautiful about that. No matter where else you might end up, at the beginning there’s always weather. And as long as there’s weather, there’s always new beginnings.
Outside my window, a gentle rain soaks the newly laid mulch, darkening the asphalt.
I’ve been looking for an email address for you, but haven’t been able to find one. I’m leaving a comment instead.
I’ve often given thought to the Emperor’s Reach tattoo myself. My feelings are mixed here – I’m 23 and have wanted it since I was 13, but I also realize that very few people indeed would have any idea what it was. Even the imperial insignia is fairly drowned out under the other designs. It’s also potentially career damaging. What are your thoughts on this? How serious are you about getting one? Being within ‘one drink and a 5 minute conversation’ reminded me exactly of my own sentiments. It seems like a childish desire, but it rears its head so enthusiastically from time to time.
Hope you get back to me on this at the email listed above, because so far, you’re the only person I’ve found who’s had the same idea.
-Nathanael