We west coasters may be teased as wimps, but we’re accustomed to balmy rainforest-type conditions here. When temperatures take their first winter plunge we shiver and complain. This weekend blustery winds blew our first short lived snowfall into skiffs and drifts, and layered nearby mountains in a wardrobe of white. Most of the snow in town is gone now but our thermometer is on the way down to -7oC tonight (about 18oF).
Winter conditions play a big part in a recently revised manuscript where my protagonist escapes dangers in his city life to become the winter caretaker at a remote northern fishing lodge. As I hunt for words to adequately describe the beauty of this first blast of winter it makes me wonder how effectively I described the fictitious northern winter in my story.
Does weather or climate play a significant role in your work-in-progress? Do you use detailed description or tuck in bits of relevant references to convey its effect on the story and characters?