Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 6, Issue 5 | Page 9

Morgan’s Corner
Morgan’s Corner

MORGAN ST. JAMES, EDITOR

Morgan St. James, Editor

Editor

WOW! IT IS “ONLY” 90 DEGREES
IN LAS VEGAS TODAY
September 15, 2016. Las Vegas NV. I got to thinking how funny it is
that our attitude about things changes as time passes. It doesn’t
Cont’d
page… hours, days, months, years or even decades.
matter
if it next
is minutes,
Somehow our minds do that flip-flop thing and very often nothing is as
it seemed only a short time ago.
Living in Las Vegas where HOT during the summer is normal, I
thought this phenomenon of changing attitudes based on time passing
would be a good example. Something that we, as writers, can use in
the attitudes of our characters.

;

After a pleasant spring, the temperature climbed at a steady pace.
Then came the day when it hit ninety. “OMG, did you hear what the
temperature is going to be today? Ninety! Well, in that heat I won’t be
going out to do much and I’d better close the Levelors to keep the sun
out and turn up the air conditioning.”
Time passes. The ninety becomes triple digits, sometimes as high
as one hundred twenty. It doesn’t cool off at night like it did earlier in
the summer. Break out the reflective shield to put across the
windshield and crack the windows whenever you decide to brave the
heat. Don’t wear shorts if you can fry an egg on the leather or vinyl
seats in your car whenever the car sits in the sun for awhile.
More time passes. Made it through yet another summer, and the
beautiful weather we enjoy in fall is almost upon us. In all honesty,
though, I still prefer enduring the heat to extreme cold. After living in
Chicago until I was thirteen, I simply don’t do cold. We lived walking
distance from Lake Michigan, and even to this day I’ll never forget the
feeling of the wind blowing off the lake and slicing through my body
like a frozen dagger. Yep, I’ll take the heat any day.
So here is it September 15, the latest issue of Writers Tricks of the
Trade is publishing, and it will ONLY be 93 degrees today according to
the weather app on my phone. “Better turn down the air conditioning
and enjoy this cool day. Maybe I’ll put the top down on the Mustang.”
See what I mean. Time changes your attitude.

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WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

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SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2016