Usually my son gives me a play-by-play of what he’s working on at school.
But the past couple of weeks, his Language Arts class has been concentrating entirely on writing to prep for a standardized exam. And somehow he neglected to tell me until a couple of days ago. :)
I guess he thinks I’ll be entirely too interested. He’s right. Writing, I think, is hard to teach, and I’m curious how people approach it.
In preparation for this exam, the school had each of the six 7th grade English teachers specialize in a particular area and then teach it to the rotating student body.
His favorite class of the series was on mood. To pull the children in, the teacher had shown them a YouTube clip on the SmartBoard that was a parody of the Mary Poppins movie.
First she showed the regular scenes with Mary Poppins drifting gently down from the sky with her umbrella, surprising the children by swooping up the banister, and magically cleaning the nursery.
Then she showed the other version, where the creator of the clip had given it all a menacing tone with spooky music when Mary came from the sky and with horrified expressions of the children when the nursery went crazy—topped off with Mary Poppins’ head spinning around in a very non-Disney, Exorcist-type fashion.
The mood in the two pieces was totally different.
It’s probably easier to create mood on film. You’ve got the benefit of using music (sometimes it’s overused, but it’s always an option.)
But we can accomplish the same type thing in our writing. We just don’t want to make the reader feel like they’re being manipulated. And we’d want to make it as seamless as possible.
Setting is one big way of creating mood. How the author treats the setting is also important (the author’s tone.) The author can turn the spooky old house into a lovely historic home just by his word choice.
What kind of imagery are we using? If we write all the senses, we can create an ominous or a happy mood even with aromas—is there a strange smell coming from the woods? Is the sweet smell of gingerbread making the kitchen a cozy place?
What sort of sounds are in the scene? Eerie whistling as the character is walking alone at night? Birds chirping in the backyard? Children laughing?
Characters’ thoughts and actions can definitely work toward mood creation—how are they reacting to the situation they’re in? Are they relaxed? Nervous? Frightened?
What kind of a climate are we creating in our WIPs? How do you create it?
Another brilliant post. And what a wonderful teacher she must be to make it come alive for the kids.
And it is so much easier to create mood in movies, isn’t it?
~ Rayna
ELizabeth – Creating mood is essential if the reader is to be drawn into a story. I’m so glad your son’s teacher found a creative way to show how important mood is. I’m always wary of being too obvious (and therefore, sounding contrived) with mood, so I use subtle things. Sometimes I use characters’ thoughts or dialogue, sometimes touches of weather, and sometimes, as you say setting.
Sensory input, or lack of it, creates mood. Weather, lighting, sounds, scenery, all of the exterior things, come down to how the character experiences it. And in those experiences comes the mood.
In this way, books are different from movies because we can’t do that sweeping shot that moves in close to set the stage and mood at the beginning of a scene.
My two cents.
Interesting post.
I guess the ability to create moods, in an original way, without too many cliches, is one of the things that contrasts good and bad writers.
Cold As Heaven
Music definitely helps in movies. I think I probably rely on my character’s moods more than anything.
Mood is so important, isn’t it? I’m cutting and pasting this into my “elizabeth’s writing tips” folder. Thank YOU.
Karen
We have to be so careful in writing not to go overboard in description, but setting the scene IS important. I second Rayna’s statement about this teacher making the subject come alive!
And Helen’s comment about the iPad makes me nervous–do I now have to come up with a soundtrack to sell alongside my book? Hmmm…Could be lucrative, but so much more work…
Ok, back on topic. Keeping your characters IN character. Their reactions contribute to mood. If they are scared, readers who relate to them will feel it, too.
GREAT post, as usual!
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
It would be so nice if we could write books with a musical soundtrack – I learned back when I was a director that underscoring certain scenes added a huge amount to the atmosphere I was trying to convey.
When writing I try to do it through dialogue and reactions. For instance, a shadow on the wall could be spooky – or it could be a welcome sign – or it could be funny. Senses are heightened when adrenaline flows. Thunder rumbling is never a good sign.
Just wanted to let you know that Writer’s Digest Magazine (May/June 2010) listed Mystery Writing Is Murder as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (Genres/Niches). Congrats! Well done!
http://bit.ly/coWrcv
The web page is still blank, though, but it’s in the magazine :). In print :). Definitely :).
Hi:) I’m your latest follower! I’m so glad to see a fellow mystery writer here on the blogosphere (though you’re way more professional than I am)!
Wonderful tips. You’re right, our books can’t play music (yet – thinking of the iPad here), but they can let the reader smell and hear things through sense-words. Gonna tweet this!
Helen
Straight From Hel
I have to go back to my art teachers in high school and give them credit for helping develop my creativity. They were the ones to give me projects back and redo the. Said I plateaued. That I needed to work harder each time and do something different. Raise my level of creativity. Think in a different light. Look at something from another perspective.
Stephen Tremp
This is great to think about. I’m thinking of real life examples. Just this week, I entered a property with my twin sons. We’d never been there before. It was a scout event. We got five paces up the driveway and were hit with a strong smell. I noticed gardening tools and cans of stuff for gardening, like round-up. We walked around to the back. The boys took the steps up onto the deck, but it was the side, not the front and they were warned that young plants were under those rotting leaves. It made me self-conscious about where I stepped and I watched and scolded my boys about that, too. Otherwise, they seemed like nice people.
Nice post. The scenes in my own mysteries swing widely in mood from humorous to serious; comfortable to unsettling; joyous to tragic. I try to manage and sharpen those contrasts with many tools (word choices, setting descriptions, my character’s emotional state). “Setting the mood” is an excellent phrase for describing all of that work.
~Cleo
Mood to me is a part of voice, and I don’t have an overall strategy for dealing with either of them.
It’s easier for me when I get to do first person. The voice and mood usually just fall into place then. When I’m doing third person, I have to work at it more.
Great post! Creating mood without being clique is not an easy thing. I like to remember all the senses when I create mood because in life that’s what sets it. What we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch affects our mood.
Good post. What I do is, and I do this mostly during self-edit and revision/rewrite time, is put myself in the scene and ask myself what are all five of my senses experiencing? If there is not much, I add it in: sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and sights. Not overdone, of course, you can go too far with it, good to leave some to the imagination, and also best to show the sensory stuff throught character dialog, observation and action than just telling the reader.
Great point! Though I am a little evil and like to juxtapose the mood created with what’s really going on… something that seems spooky holding a wonderful surprise… or vice versa BUWAHAHAHAHAHAA! (did you hear that?) I also like to use different interpretations of the same thing to create a contrast in characters (I have a woods in CONFLUENCE–it holds good and bad, and the characters view it VERY differently)
Rayna–Almost makes me want to switch over and try film. :)
I just wish I could have been in the classroom to listen to her teach the subject. That’s likely exactly the reason why my son didn’t tell me about the class!
Cold As Heaven–Thanks! I think it’s a real challenge, definitely, to keep it fresh for readers and still set a mood for the scene.
Alex–I like using character moods, too.:)
Margot–I worry about that, too. Sometimes I’ll use opposites as sort of a contrast–maybe a beautiful day to highlight a funeral or an innocuous location for the setting of a tragedy.
Alexandra–Thanks so much for coming by and joining us! Oh, I have my very unprofessional days, believe me. :) But thanks!
Helen–Shoot! The ipad! I bet music will be the FIRST thing incorporated with Ebooks when they go multimedia. Thanks for the tweet! :)
Carol–Although now Helen has got me thinking that the ipad might end up changing our reading and writing experience! Maybe someday we’ll have music and epic shots going along with our text? Sounds expensive, though.
I like the idea of sensory deprivation that you mentioned. I do get a particular sensation from being in very corporate environments or government buildings…it’s not a good feeling, either! It makes me uncomfortable. Maybe I could use a DMV office in one of my scenes to create some tension! :)
Stephen–Teachers are awesome, aren’t they? The really good ones are so inspiring!
You’re right–if we don’t try new things, don’t stretch or experiment, then we risk getting stale.
Mary–That’s one of those times where we wonder how we get those strong gut feelings, isn’t it? I’ve felt that way about people before–I’ve practically raced across parking lots to lock my car doors a couple of times when I got a weird vibe about some man. And the poor guy was probably completely innocent….but I felt so *panicky* that I just listened to instinct. And you’re right…when we start feeling that way, maybe we should take notes so we can duplicate this mood in our books?
Thanks Karen! :0
Michele–I know! I didn’t (clearly) even think about the ipad when I wrote what I did about music. I think it’s a game-changer and we just don’t even know yet what it’s going to encompass. Multi-media?
Showing the world through the characters’ eyes is my favorite way to set up a mood, too. :) And it’s fun when the characters are WRONG, too–when they FEEL safe and they really aren’t.
Cleo–That’s such a great point, Cleo. And life’s like that, too, isn’t it? It’s not always ONE way all the time–emotions change change in the course of a conversation and something that starts off really innocently can quickly change to something completely different. Good tip!
I create mood with sensory details, but not too much! I don’t want to overdo it like background music in movies. ;)
I received my Writer’s Digest magazine today, and your blog is one of the 101 best websites for writers!!! WAHOO congrats! I got so excited when I saw that!
Elspeth–Absolutely right…sometimes I run for the shadows–a much cooler spot on a hot day. So the writer can twist a common device to suit his needs.
Heather–You’re right–because I think it’s all been done before. But it’s never been done with OUR characters or in OUR setting. So we can still try to keep it fresh (it’s challenging, but fun.) :)
Christine–Thanks so much for letting me know! I really appreciate the mention in the magazine.
Marvin–Good point! I can’t stand TOO much set up. When I can see the puppet’s strings, it gets very distracting. But I love having mood set up in a seamless way where I feel part of the scene and the mood, but don’t see how I’m being manipulated.
Hart–I can SEE your evil nature shining through. :) I’ve always loved “the woods” ever since I was a kid reading fairy tales. There’s just something about them…mysterious, or promising, or spooky.
The Daring Novelist–I can see how that POV would work well for that. I’ve never written in 1st person…for some reason I keep trying and then having to toss it out. Must not come naturally to me.
Laura–Thanks so much! :) I just found out today and had no idea. Will post on it tomorrow. It’s all thanks to my great friends who drop by and comment!