There is always that first day in the year when the sky is blue, the air is warm, and there is suddenly a foretaste of summer – that day when you can go out for the first time not only without a hat and gloves, but even without a coat.
Write about such a spring day. How does your character feel? Can you use a day like this to get in touch with your character’s hopes and aspirations, to change their mood, or to inject a hopeful note into a darker narrative? Go out for a walk yourself, take your notebook to the nearest park. Make notes, describing the colour of the buds on the trees, the smell of the air, the scent of your skin after the sun has been shining on it, the sounds of the birds, the sensation of warmth and light.
Maggie Hamand is a journalist, novelist and non-fiction author