"Rain, Rain, Go Away"

I live in the northwest. People often say it rains all the time here but those who say so must not actually live here. Or else they're forgetting the blissfully long spring, summer and fall when blue skies are abundant! The fact is there are numerous places in the country which receive more annual rainfall than Seattle. Isn't it funny how people like to talk about things they know nothing about? Sort of like when I hear a group of local, unpublished writers whine about how all the best agents and editors live in New York. Such ignorance is not becoming of any aspiring author. Or maybe people talk about the alleged incessant rain as a feeble attempt to justify their sour moods when all they see as they look out the window is gloomy dreariness. Please don't hate me if you really do suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder...I'm talking about those individuals who just want to complain about something. Anything! So they blame their entire day on the weather. I'm not sure what they do when something goes right on a rainy day. Who gets their wrath then? Or do they just give glory to the sun gods hiding behind the hovering clouds? Anyway, maybe people talk about how much it rains in Seattle because they don't have anything more interesting to discuss. Sort of like writer's going on and on about the challenge they're having writing a query letter when they haven't even finished the manuscript.

Yes, today it's raining in the Puget Sound. But I like the rain. I like everything about it. So unless it rains for forty days and forty nights straight, with no sign of stopping, I'll welcome it. If it's raining where you are (or even if it's not) and you need a diversion, try this simple writing exercise. For fifteen minutes write down as many metaphors for RAIN or RAINDROP as you can. No right or wrong answers, just whatever rain is to you. Then pull out your manuscript and read five pages you haven't read recently, checking to make sure you have at least one good metaphor per page. Here are a few to get you started:

• Rain is an invisible, sneezing giant
• Rain is an exploding comet from a meteor shower
• Rain is run-off in reverse
• Rain is a musical composition
  
• Raindrops are kisses
  
• Raindrops are ballerinas doing pirouettes from the sky
• A Raindrop is a looking glass
  

Hope this gets your creative juices soaking wet!