Say it's a really hot day in your novel. in fact, the whole chapter is going to be caught in a big heatwave. My chapters are 30 to 50 pages so keep that in mind. How many times do I have to somehow mention how hot it is? How often does the reader need to be reminded that it's really hot. This chapter has nothing to do with the weather, I just turned up the heat on everything and I like what it's doing to this part of the story. I'm just not sure how much mention of this heatwave is too much or too little. Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.
I think it depends on what it does to the characters, and how it affects the plot. A character who hates the heat will bring it up more often than a character who likes it. Also, heat changes throughout the day and evening. Is it oppressive, steamy, sultry, does an afternoon wind kick up that feels like a blast furnace, does it make one of the characters nauseous, does a gentle breeze blow throughout the day and then stop at night at the time everyone is in the kitchen making dinner and doing dishes, making the heat seem worse? That sort of thing.
You can't post something with that title when people are freezing to death!!! I read a book series where ever book was one season. Every season was extreme in it's own way. The hottest summer, most rainy fall and "no signs of stopping"-snow in the winter. They mentioned it ALL the time through each book. It was annoying. I'd say don't mention it too much, but add some hints throughout the chapter if you feel like it's needed. Some annoying character can complain a lot, or someone could just dab the sweat of their forehead. Where is that damn water? Do I feel a headache coming on? - I can't think of heat right now, but add some subtle reminders where it feels natural. Oh, and whatever the plot is about - it will probably be harder on your characters to do whatever in extreme heat. So if they struggle due to heat, mention it.
That's what I was thinking. I wanted to make everything this slightly more difficult. But I don't want to. keep stating the obvious... that it's really hot. And sorry about the title. Don't worry, there is snow all over the place where I live. Maybe this is some sort of way for me to seek out warmer weather. In the book you read that overdid it with the weather, how often would you say it came up? Like every page? Every five pages? If my chapter ends upon being 40 pages and it's established early on that it's hot... shoot... I kind of just realized I may have already overdone it...
What are the characters doing over those 40-50 pages? How long does it take for them to do that? Are they in a room for an hour? Or are they in a cabin for a week? An hour over 50 pages is about a page a minute. So, is somebody going to remark how hot it is every minute? Perhaps not. Maybe they'll huff and puff about every five pages while they eat their dinner. Or maybe they are engaged in a heated argument over the phone and won't notice how sweat drips over their forehead once every 20 pages. If the 50 pages cover a space of several days, how often would a person complain about the heat depends on the person and their activity. It's not just a stamp you stamp on the page at regular intervals Just think what the character is doing in this particular paragraph, how the heat is affecting them and is it noteworthy to include that in the story.
Yeah, it's hard to know when too much is too much. I think you should state it early and then - like in a sauna - throw some water (well, hints of weather in this case) on it when things needs to heat up a bit. It was a few years since I read them, but it felt like it was in most new scenes. Not ALL, but most. You start a scene and then "The office felt stuffy, but she knew that it was just as hot outside." Next scene "The air stood still and she felt the sweat dripping down her back" - or whatever... it was just so, SO much weather.
For me, personally, in my opinion, not speaking for any other person in the world, it comes down to the variety of ways you tell me, and it can be quite various indeed. You can lay it flat: It was a hot summer. You can give me things I associate with a hot summer: The shimmering vibration of cicadas was omnipresent. (In the U.S. at least, the loud song of cicadas is a hot summer thing.) You can give it to me in dialogue: "Teddy, I'm not gay, but if you could somehow fix the air conditioner and get it running, I'm yours for the night and I promise to be enthusiastic." I won't feel like you're beating the dead horse if you just switch it up.
It is. In my lifetime I've lived in two extremely hot Mohave desert towns. The hottest temperature I've endured is 123F, and planes were grounded because they couldn't get lift. And last fall, I was in L.A. for the heat wave, which came with humidity. @deadrats , feel free to ask me anything. I despise hot summers.
It would be best to just lightly pepper throughout your chapters to keep it relevant to the story, if it is necessary to the plot and to keep it from being forgotten. Just have they character complain about being soaked in sweat, or being thirsty, or getting a sunburn/tan.
I'd vote for heat actions and sensations? Uncomfortable sweaty dampness. Pedestrians pausing in the shade. Happiness at entering the air conditioning. Thirst, and dumping alll the ice in the glass. The hundred-degree rule for letting the badly behaved dog into the house. Squinting. Where are my bleeping sunglasses?! Squinting. Where's my mesh visor? Move over. Yes, I love you, but stop touching me. Dumping the end of the bottle of water over your neck. No, the grass can just grow. Let the city cite me. I don't care. I'll think about doing that after it's dark.
I think it’s hard to know what’s too much. It’s like trying to see the back of your head without a mirror. Just write it and give it to people for critique. Find a novel you like and read the chapter that’s about it being hot and see how they do it.
The Longest Hot Summer by D.D Rats Sidewalks sizzled that summertime. Men melted in their motorcars. Woman wafted the white handkerchiefs and wished for water wistfully. D Rats squinted from under his sombrero. And watched an execution in progress outside the jailhouse. Only the geckos gathered on the walls waiting, the people probably pissed at the precipitation that had not precipitated. The prisoner provided a boiling boiler suit, the heat like a hell he would surely sample soon. Behind him came the sheriff in his stride. He shivered, the sheriff shivered under his woolly hat, his overcoat from North Face, his salopettes, and the pretty mittens. Something was not right about this sheriff.
You've suffered through heat before, right? What were you doing? How did it feel? How much did you notice? Now, translate that to your characters.
It's all about relevance to the story, not reminding the reader. Other folks have posted the details, no need for me to repeat them or add to them.
Sounds like the sort of person who's going to be asking for home repairs quite often, but will never seem to have the money to pay for them
Frankly, after writing that post, I allowed my mind to wander its saucy way to an unlikely - but not completely improbable - scene wherein Teddy does quietly fix the air conditioner, sans fuss. The owner of said AC finds himself unexpectedly in Teddy's debt. Teddy, of course, doesn't press the issue. I mean, who would take those words literally? But the summer has been brutal, without mercy. The shEEeeeEEEeeeEEEeee of the cicadas outside is hypnotising. Boys will be boys when left to their own devices and under the thrall of swelter and good weed. I guess that would be a mention as the arc of a scene. How hot of a summer would it be to make you switch sides, even for just an inning, out of appreciation?
This is maybe technical, but we had a very hot 10 days a few years ago. And this led to a lot of cooling equipment breaking down. Shops couldn't have all their shelves and boxes running. The cool technician I spoke to had been working for eighteen hours. Some restaurants had to modify their menues. In the old times even railroad tracks could be bent. Garbage started to smell.
I wouldn't keep telling it so much as working it into the details -- I love the opening sequence to Weekend at Bernies where Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman are walking through the park and a mugger comes up with a gun demanding their wallets. Andrew McCarthy says 'it's too fucking hot', smacks the gun away and keeps walking. You could work it into gestures, thirst, sweat, clothing, complaints about the air conditioner, fan etc. Location can really be utilized.
Most of the things people have said seem very pragmatic and helpful. I suggest an approach. Before that, my advice, for what it's worth, is that the fewer times you mention the heat (or any other constant) the better. Optimally just once. The approach: YOU are the character(s) in the story. If the heat (or any other factor) is that important, you the character must put yourself where the action is and note what you see, feel, hear, smell ... If you are really in the character's shoes you've already done it. The narrative writes itself. People and things are conditioned by their surroundings, they change. Describe them in heat (that's not a joke). Most of the contributors to this thread have given examples of how they move, react and feel in the heat. I'd suggest you relive your own experience of heat. Some ideas: How did it affect colours? Brighter or duller? The sky blue or grey? the colour of water/grass/your companion's skin/eyes/hair; ... How did it affect texture? Leaves? Flowers? Lettuce, bread and other foods? The washing on the line; a sheet of paper; your hair/skin ... What sounds were there? Besides the cicada were the birds noisy or silent? Voices, traffic, planes, children ... What about the air? heavy, light, still, moving, dust, shimmering ... And smells? earth, wood, sweat, rotting things, rubber, tarmac ... Other things such as wood twisting or shrinking, reflections, peeling paint, interference in communications, things melting ... I remember going into a church where one of those huge candles that stand near the altar was leaning over in an elegant curve, the unlit wick pointing down ... What do you think the weather was like?
In July and August, Osaka doesn't get below 80f/27C at all. Not even four in the morning, which is usually about the coolest hour of the twenty-four, and it's usually in the 90s whenever the sun is up. Depending on the circumstances, that A/C would have to be on full-blast for a long time before I'd even think about heading out to bat, pitch, or field even for my usual team, let alone the possibility of playing catcher. Mrs. A and I have something we call a "summer hug," where we stand at arms' length and touch fingertips. That sort of thing plus a hike up Mt. Kinsey? Better luck showing up with an electric blanket and a smile in the winter, I'd say.
I can't imagine the want to get up close and sweaty with anyone increasing with the heat. When I'm suffering through a hot summer, I want nothing less than skin on skin contact.
