What Color Is Your Sky?

 by Charlotte Bennardo

Photo by Francesco Ungaro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blue-sky-281260/

When I see a blue sky undisturbed by clouds or planes or trees, I see infinity. And as a writer, that means infinite possibilities. I just wrote a short story about a seed pod I saw on a trail as I hiked. I heard a snip of conversation, and an idea for a novel hit me. I would need to be immortal to use all the ideas crowded my head- and the ones fighting their way in. 

Photo by Rodrigo Souza: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-thunderstorm-2531709/

 

Then there are dark skies... a portent of bad things to come. Like storms, there is no avoiding hard times, everyone gets a turn at the bottom of the barrel at some point. That's life, and writers use the experience of bad times in their writing. It helps us deal, process, and make sense of hardships. It allows our readers to feel a kinship with us because we share the same struggles and pain.

Photo by Alex Conchillos: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dark-clouds-in-the-sky-3888585/

Then, there are times when everything looks gray; we're not sure of our direction, of our work, of the next sentence. It's hard to see the next step. Uncertainty clouds our thoughts and actions, making us hesitate. We need to step back and evaluate, work through the issues, toward the light and a clear path. 

Photo by Fillipe Gomes: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-clouds-during-daytime-2093252/

Most of the time, our skies are partly cloudy or partly sunny- which means there are obstacles, but also moments of clarity. Maybe we're editing a book and suddenly realize where a revision is needed. Or maybe we're working through writer's block and get an idea. Yes, there's work to be done but like a partly sunny sky, there will be moments when our path is unobstructed. 

Photo by Ömer Aydın: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pink-clouds-3472690/

Sometimes skies burst with color-dark, light, bright, dull, soothing, energizing- kind of like the moods, emotions, foreshadowing, and depths of our characters, plots, and settings which color our writing. Just as the colors in the sky make a resplendent sunrise or sunset, variations of writing elements help us create stories that are rich and engaging. 

No matter what our 'sky' looks like, we can use what we see in what we write. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned and is working on several children's and adult novels, along with some short stories. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out, but she is happy to report she has a new squirrel tenant along with a new pet rabbit (Bad Bunny).