Weather and Setting
A s a writer, I suppose I should place more importance on first pages than I do. I very rarely read a first page before I decide I want to read a book, so I don’t imagine other people do either. So, I hate this idea that the first page has to be the hook. I think that concept has ruined many a first page. Too many authors get the idea that they have to being with something exciting or people won’t continue reading. As in any form of writing, the first page of a novel is an introduction to things to come. Often, that means talking about weather and setting. Some people think it is bad form to talk about weather and setting on the first page, but how else are you going to let people know what is going on around the characters. Some of the best stories ever written begin by talking about the weather. These days, weather may not be quite as important as it used to be because so many of us spend our days inside. But interior environments have their own kind of “weather”. Have you ever w...