Back in September, I published Emotional Beats: How to Easily Convert your Writing into Palpable Feelings. As promised, I will be posting the book on my blog. So, here is the next installment, continuing Part 3 of the book: Other Beats. This chapter deals with:

Light

Emotional Beats | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

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One of my hobbies is photography, and I still remember something a photographer friend and teacher once told me: even with the best film and camera, your photograph will only be as good as the light available to you. Here are some ways to capture its infinite variations:

  • The pitiless afternoon sun filtered through the rose-clad lattices, throwing rhombi of light onto the table.
  • The sun sent the first shy rays across the plain.
  • A few stray rays of sunlight filtered through gauze curtains to caress the wall across him.
  • Sunlight fell across the pavement, making the dust glitter.
  • A shaft of sunlight split down the middle of the room.
  • The slice of light through the door expanded and cut across the floor.
  • The crystals took the slanting sunshine and threw brilliant rainbow shards of light onto the ceiling.
  • The empty room was draped in shadows that deepened with the onset of dusk.
  • He withdrew his green flip-top lighter, the tell-tale ‘click-zip’ of the lid and striker echoing into the darkness.
  • The sky was hinting at sunrise.
  • Every once in a while, a streak of runaway light escaped through a gap in the clouds in a feast of fuchsia and orange.
  • Dawn painted the sky in party colors.
  • Stretching, she watched the sun filter through the trees.
  • The low morning light rose like smoke from the night grass.
  • The sun was still shining, a beam here and there piercing the gray that lay solidly overhead.
  • The river reflected the soft violet of twilight.
  • The diving summer sun was still baking the concrete rooftops. In the distance, his house basked under its relentless rays.
  • Bands of pink blended into the dark purple of the horizon as the day rose.
  • Sharp-angled blades of sunlight sliced open the heavy green canopy above, bleeding lemon-yellow splashes of warmth and light into the cool shade of her private oasis.
  • He pulled her into a splash of orange glowing off a candle.
  • Cool blue dripped onto the stage from lights burning high above.
  • Slivers of afternoon sunlight sliced through the green canopy overhead and left its lemon-yellow glow here and there.
  • Evening tossed its gauzy gray over the city, dulling even the silvery shine coming off a low-slung moon.
  • He faded into shifting shadows stalking corners where the candles weren’t meant to reach.
  • The orange flash of a spun lighter scattered those shadows for a moment.
  • A kerosene lamp flung its awkward yellow haze against the low-slung ceiling.
  • Morning tripped into the room gray and grimy.
  • Fire milked an orange glow from a candle burning somewhere in the back.
  • Kerosene fed the hungry flame in a lamp atop a modest kitchen table.
  • Moonlight spilled in, splashing everything with its silver shine.
  • They fell into a puddle of dirty yellow light.
  • He watched her undress in a puddle of light coming from his lamp.
  • Lemon-yellow sunlight splashed against the pulled share and gave shape to the man on the other side of that locked door.
  • Pulled shades blotted out the glow of a gas lamp from the street below.
  • Sharp white light stung her eyes.

Next week: Other. View all posts on the subject, or buy the book on Amazon – free on KU!