You hear it all the time… writers and readers referencing books where the setting is such a pivotal part of the story that the town or city where the book is placed feels as alive as the protagonist. But what about the season? Can the season in which a story occurs be used to enhance your novel, too?

Last week, my son and I took an impromptu trip to New Hampshire to purchase a summer home in the town where my husband was raised. Before the trip, I’d only been to New London, which is located about a hundred miles northwest of Boston, in the summer. I knew the experience would be different due to the season. Maybe even snowy.

I grew up in New Jersey. I remembered Easter snowstorms. I recalled the snow melting fast, buds and leaves on the trees, pastel floral Easter dressers, wearing patent leather Mary Jane shoes, seeing robins and bluebirds, and having the overall sense that spring had arrived despite the snowflakes and the lingering chill in the air.

But when I cruised into New London, I was thrown. Patches of snow remained on the ground, and according to the local radio station, another dusting was expected that night. My rental car kept signaling me to watch for ice. The temperature on the dashboard said thirty degrees. I’d expected all of this. It wasn’t the cold and snow that rattled me. It was the bleakness.

The trees were bare. Even at midday, the sky looked gray and gloomy. Instead of wearing cheery pastels and florals, the few locals we encountered sported dull-colored sweatpants, ski jackets, and heavy boots. No Easter bonnets. Just wool beanies. There’s a college in New London. I’d expected to see students bustling about. We didn’t. Our inn was deserted. Ice still covered the lake. My son and I attempted to hike, but the trail proved to be too icy. A chain blocked the entrance to the local cemetery we wanted to visit. When we climbed over it, we noted that branches covered the ground, and many of the headstones had fallen over due to storms. Dead brown grass blades jutting through the snow.

When we looked at the property we intended to purchase—a red single-story set on an acre within walking distance of town—my agent said, “Bear in mind, you’re viewing this house at the bleakest time of the year. It’s beautiful here in the fall. Color and leaves everywhere.  Winter is breathtaking. Like a wonderland.  And you know how the summer is… idyllic, postcard perfect.”

FYI, I made an offer on the property. I understood that I was seeing it at its gloomiest. But the whole experience got me thinking about season and its potential impact on my writing. I decided that if I didn’t simply treat season like a detail that my readers needed to know, my novels could be improved. Many authors have used the season to elevate their writing. I’ve listed a few.

Summer—The Lake House by Kate Morton

Autumn—Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Winter—Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosna

Spring—The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Below are five ways season can enhance your novel.

1. Use season to create a mood that mirrors your protagonist’s current mental state or your novel’s themes. If your protagonist is dealing with grief, consider setting your book in the winter. If your story is about rebirth, go with spring. You get the picture.
2. Utilize season to influence your character’s choices and actions. Maybe because it’s winter and the roads are snowy, your character opts to leave for the airport early, and as a result of this season-related choice, she has a chance encounter with her future husband or the devil incarnate.
3. Employ season to create obstacles. If your character is on a hike in summer, she could get overheated and dehydrated, which could weaken her and prevent her from making it back to the trailhead. Or maybe it’s spring when she’s hiking, and the wildflowers trigger her asthma, or maybe the spring snowmelt causes a stream to grow into a river, which she has to figure out how to cross.
4. Take advantage of season and add visuals and details to your story to make it feel more vivid and real. If it’s summer and your character is sunburned, describe the redness of her skin and her pain. If it’s fall, describe the crunching and rustling of the leaves beneath your protagonist’s sneakers as she hurries to her first college class.
5. Let season mark your story’s progression, like in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. In his novel, Nick Carraway arrives in Long Island at the start of the summer of 1922, and he leaves in the fall.

I hope this helps. Thanks for reading my post. If you have ideas about using season to strengthen your novel, please share them with me.