Creating Atmosphere
Atmosphere, for me, is less about describing a place than creating a feeling. I want the reader to feel the rain coming before it falls, sense that something is wrong before there is any reason to know it, and hold their breath when a character walks toward something they should probably run from.Atmospheric storytelling involves using sensory details to evoke emotions. In Hawai’i, the sights and sounds enrich the narrative.
The goal is immersion—that wonderful moment when the world outside the book disappears. If I can make a reader feel the heat, hear the ocean in the darkness, worry about someone who doesn’t actually exist, and perhaps even forget their own troubles for a little while, then the story has done what I hoped it would do.
Local lore, weather, and geography give a story its emotional landscape. A sudden tropical storm, a mountain hidden behind clouds, an old story everyone on the island knows—these details can create anticipation, unease, wonder, or dread without announcing themselves as clues. When place and emotion become inseparable, the setting stays with the reader long after the plot is over. That, to me, is what can make a story unforgettable.