tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post6773854997879114227..comments2024-03-28T16:52:31.923-04:00Comments on The Write Conversation: Your Scene’s Not Working? Maybe the Lighting Is WrongEdie Melsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03902312441667526147noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-21576765971332655762014-09-16T09:02:57.910-04:002014-09-16T09:02:57.910-04:00Wow, very interesting post. I also have rarely th...Wow, very interesting post. I also have rarely thought about lighting consciously in my stories. But now that I am aware that I can manipulate the lighting in my scenes, I can't wait to try it! Thanks for the excellent advice!Janelle Filahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08743237704560984222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-48995423003397458342014-09-12T22:20:45.154-04:002014-09-12T22:20:45.154-04:00I've used lighting frequently, but not in ever...I've used lighting frequently, but not in every scene. Near the end of my current WIP, the MC catches sight of her husband's face, "one side warmed by the sepia glow of the lamps on the foyer table, the other a shadowed mask"...and she realizes she will never see behind his mask, just as he will never see behind hers. I suspect, as usual, that I've probably over-explained by adding the words to the effect that she'll never see behind his mask, etc.. Time to edit, I think, but at least I used lighting the way I wanted to.<br /><br />Sometimes I use the weather and create what I like to think are invisible metaphors, e.g., a scene where a petty criminal is getting deeper and deeper into sh*t and further away from his family values, and the weather in the scene gets progressively worse, too, e.g., drops on the windshield of the car at first, and then by the end, the guy can't see out because it's raining so heavily. I think my execution of that scene is such that the reader doesn't really recognize what I'm doing with the weather there (unless they're analyzing the writing), but I've also done it rather clumsily and obviously in other cases. I think the challenge is to make these things virtually invisible to the reader. The reader is being seduced, but doesn't realize it (unless they're K.M., and analyzing!)<br /><br />K.M., do you think we can get too locked into a particular technique and end up over-using it? I think so, and for that reason, I try to use a variety of techniques...they eventually might come to me so naturally that I pick the right technique for the job at hand almost without having to think about it.<br />Sherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01576360263718145096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-39530440217103329952014-08-03T20:04:52.720-04:002014-08-03T20:04:52.720-04:00Thanks for another technique to communicate the mo...Thanks for another technique to communicate the mood of a story. I've tweeted. :)Susan J. Reinhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07461276857852409546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-21824055002777917222014-08-01T11:55:54.414-04:002014-08-01T11:55:54.414-04:00Definitely. The scene that immediately pops to min...Definitely. The scene that immediately pops to mind is someone stranded in the desert, dying of thirst. The light becomes an enemy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13832782604769370695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-34248457201318874262014-07-31T13:14:24.591-04:002014-07-31T13:14:24.591-04:00Reading your solution to the lighting in the holyl...Reading your solution to the lighting in the holyland, tempering the cheerfulness of the sunshine by inserting clouds and night scenes... I wondered if the same could be done by intensifying the light, instead of diminishing it? You know, make it harsh, unrelenting, unforgiving, shade scarce and/or the darkened rooms stark dramatic extreme in contrast to, heat being the only constant. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-23825886794914928512014-07-30T12:11:45.561-04:002014-07-30T12:11:45.561-04:00Funny how these little tweaks can be the solution ...Funny how these little tweaks can be the solution to big scene problems, isn't it?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13832782604769370695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-61123272797105411652014-07-30T12:11:19.721-04:002014-07-30T12:11:19.721-04:00It is sort of counter-intuitive for novelists. We ...It is sort of counter-intuitive for novelists. We never have to think about the physical problems of a lighting a set. But it's amazing how lighting - even if it's only in our own heads and never gets described on the page - can influence a scene for good or ill.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13832782604769370695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-5084024033338744282014-07-30T12:08:38.597-04:002014-07-30T12:08:38.597-04:00Thanks so much for having me today, Edie!Thanks so much for having me today, Edie!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13832782604769370695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-10885918158993877092014-07-30T12:01:22.500-04:002014-07-30T12:01:22.500-04:00I never thought of that. Huh. You may have just gi...I never thought of that. Huh. You may have just given me the solution to a troubling scene... Thank you!Amberhttp://amberpagebooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-52811597039009150942014-07-30T09:35:14.522-04:002014-07-30T09:35:14.522-04:00Ane, I know what you mean! It's something I ne...Ane, I know what you mean! It's something I never really thought about before now, but it makes so much sense! Blessings, EEdie Melsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03902312441667526147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-71943553717771650682014-07-30T09:33:40.995-04:002014-07-30T09:33:40.995-04:00I find this very interesting and having a lot of m...I find this very interesting and having a lot of merit. I'm going to try it!Southern-fried Fictionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17274634359952391833noreply@blogger.com