Writers are
constantly reminded not to write about sunrises. Yet, this
morning's daybreak was so spectacular I had to tell the world -- I
wrote a blog. When I joined my study group later in the morning,
everyone mentioned the sunrise.
So why this prohibition on sunrises? In
his book The
38 Most Common Writing Mistakes, the late Jack Bickham titles one
whole chapter "Don't Describe Sunsets. . ." then adds "when you can
keep your story moving by avoiding flowery description."
And yet my experience today showed a
whole range of people who couldn't stop talking about the
sunrise. If the event was that significant, why shouldn't it be
in our books?
I think it's a matter
of context. If you write about sunrises as an excuse to show the
reader how many synonyms you know for red (crimson, scarlet, persimmon,
fuschia, ruby, wine . . . apparently I know quite a few <g>) then
the sunrise shouldn't be in the book. Your reader will decide to
dump the paperback and go out and look at a real sunrise. But if
you can make that spectacular, awe-inspiring break-of-day impact the
physical, emotional or spiritual state of your character, then it works
. . . and you get to use the word persimmon. Jack Bickham gives
an example of a usually fast-paced writer who spent several pages
describing a sunset. It worked because the hero knew his enemy
would attack after sunset. Spending all those words and minutes
describing the sky actually moved the action of the story forward,
built suspense and had the reader holding her breath as the last
lingering ray faded from the sky.
I'm not advocating that romance writers turn their
stories into expositions on the beauty of nature, that's another genre
altogether, but I think the prohibition against sunsets is one of those
"rules" that bears scrutiny. If the dewy rose, the churning ocean
or the feather soft cloud can be related to the action of the
story, then go for it, especially if you, like me and my friends, have
had a powerfully emotional reaction to
the sunrise.
