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Pass Her By
Pass Her By

by SunshineOrange in Lyric Poetry
Young Writers Society Forum Index » Writing Tips

This thread was created on November 20, 2005
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Atmosphere
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Fool   View This User's Portfolio
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:13 am    Post subject: Atmosphere Reply with quote

Right o folks, i have a problem. I need atmosphere. I'm in the mist of a short story that will rely heavily on the atmosphere i create. So, my problem? How do i create a dark atmosphere?

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My only trick- write to dark music. It works, at least for me it does (more than I'd want it to, sometimes Razz).

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, when I read my "dark" pieces, I listen to the corniest music possible so that I can see if the writing can really affect me, LOL.

What makes you think of dark mood?

I'll tell you what makes me think of it:

Dull colors, not quite black, more of a dark gray. Bland colors.
Crumpled paper, rustling along an abandoned road.
Red hues tinging the sky (sunrise and sunset are usually pink, lol)
Overcast days
The color white.
Pain.
A symbol of childhood that is not nostalgic but mocking.
When I'm ignored.
Tears.
Sighing.

So! Some of these are for the atmosphere, some of these are what the characters will do. In order to create a dark atmosphere for my novel FREAK, I used several of these in the first chapter. But really... compile a list saying what you think is dark and use them for your own story.

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can always go to your local library and check out some dark books to see how other writers do it. Or if you have a gothic friend you can always have them recite their entire vocabualry and see what comes out. *Coughs* (That was a joke...a stupid one though.)
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:15 pm    Post subject: Re: Atmosphere Reply with quote

Fool wrote:
Right o folks, i have a problem. I need atmosphere. I'm in the mist of a short story that will rely heavily on the atmosphere i create. So, my problem? How do i create a dark atmosphere?


are we talking sad-dark, ominious-dark, or dangerous-dark?

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 2:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The atmosphere can be perfectly fine if you want and you can have your main character find flaws in everything and look poorly upon it.
A story that I'm writing is about a man that has his beautiful newborn daughter, but he hates her because of every tiny flaw she holds; he's quite a psychotic profectionist.

That's just an idea, but there are plenty of ways to make it plain Dark, you can make the air reek of an uncertain stench of something dead, make the Sun small and almost completely unexposed, but I think the main trick is how you play it off in your character's mind.

Good luck!

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