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The Forces of Nature in Your Stories
by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Nature plays a big role in stories. They make characters more real because their actions/behaviors can be caused in part by nature.

In fact, if you ever find yourself stuck as to how to describe one of your characters, add a force of nature in your character description. Describe how your character behaves or reacts during a bad (or good) weather.

Take for example a few movies where forces of nature were vital. Imagine how the characters and the plots would change if the following forces of nature were taken away:

• the tornado in the Wizard of Oz
• the lightning in Phenomenon (John Travolta)
• the volcanic eruption in Dante's Peak (Pierce Brosnan)
• the icebergs in the Atlantic in Titanic (Leonardo diCaprio)
• the avalanche in Vertical Limit (Chris O'Donnell)

Copyright © 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

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