Why hello there lovelies!
I wanted to shed a bit of light (no pun intended) on one of the most obvious tools in writing, yet one that is either under-used, or completely blown out of proportion when it comes to descriptions. Lighting.
To me, the lighting in a scene, and the way it's written, is like the colour of a piece of clothing; change it, and the mood subverts.
This is something that an author needs to be aware of, not just for their readers, but most prominently, for themselves. Because if the mood is set for the author themselves, the process of writing the scene becomes slightly easier.
However, the truth is that there isn't a select set of lighting effects for a select type of scenes. Instead, it's what the author decides to focus on about the lighting that allows it to colour the scene the way the author wants to, while also providing a clearer picture for the reader.
For example: A clear sky with a blazing sun, shining down on a field of white flowers.
The lighting in this scenery is going to be very bright, with little shade, and possibly providing a good amount of heat.
To some, this may be a relaxing, beautiful day of playing some games amidst the flowers. To others (me), this may be a day filled with head-aches, a sun-stroke, and constantly shielding one's eyes with their hands. Or something in between.
So, if the author wants to create a happy childhood memory, they may choose the first interpretation of this lighting, and use words with a more positive connotations. These would be words like: clarity, colourful, and brilliance. If they want to create discomfort for a character sensitive to light (again me), they may choose the second, and use words with a more negative connotations. These would be words like: blinding, scorching, and piercing.
This would be a more character-driven mood decider, but there are others.
Another example: the reddish orange glow from a fireplace.
This is my personal favourite, and one I use quite a bit in my work-in-progress 'Frosted Bells and Burning Windows', which takes place around Midwinter in a version of the world where magic and folklore never left. It is also an element of my scenes my beta readers comment on the most.
Because of the cold, winter season the story takes place in, and the many dangers posed by creatures appearing around Midwinter, the fireplace is one of the few things that offers warmth and comfort to the characters. Therefore, it becomes one of the elements representing the family bonding and cosiness people typically feel around that time of year. However, that doesn't mean this light can't be used in a more eerie way. Anyone who has been in the presence of light produced by fire, even if it's just a candle, knows that the light isn't steady. It fluctuates and moves over the surfaces it touches, unlike sunlight, which just beams over the earth.
So, another way I have used this light is when a few of girls in the orphanage, the Girl House, gather around the fireplace to listen to their older sister telling them a scary story, to add to the unsettling feeling.
"She saw their fiery rays, morphing and flickering over the other couches along the chocolate brown, wooden walls and the row of slender, shimmering windows, giving a burning shine to their faded burgundy and brownish yellow colours.
She noticed how their empty seats looked deceptively occupied by the dancing shadows, playing and stretching over the curves of the cushions and pillows, which stood in a rectangle around the now beige carpet, whose original colours were all but distant memory of the past."
-Chapter 4. Evening Peppermint
These two examples show how a certain light can be chosen, and what can be focused on the create a certain mood.
Here are some bullet points to think about: -Lighting colours
-Ray piercing strength -Light steadiness
-Shadows
-Ray reach over the space
Thanks for reading, lovelies!
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