I love personification. It is one of my favourite writing techniques.

Perhaps this is because of the vividness it brings to your writing, as well as the idea that you can give life to your settings in a way that is only possible using this technique. Plus, it’s fun!

At the Storymakers Club, we practised personification by writing weather reports. We wanted to add a unique touch to the usual method of reporting the temperature, and the predictions of sunshine, rain or storms, etc. We brought the weather to life by imagining the sun, clouds, rain or wind, with personalities of their own and how they might think or behave.

Here are some examples of what we came up with:

Today, the sun will battle with the clouds in a war that will have households turning their lights on and off throughout the day.
Due to the blustering wind, heavy, dark clouds will sweep across the skies in a pattern of ash-grey and white, with a hint of blue peeping out on occasion.

Today, the sky will be cold and unwelcoming, pouring forth an endless stream of drizzling rain. Keep your lights on because the chances of there being any sunlight are very slim.
Don’t let the darkness lull you to sleep because if you do, the thunder will laugh in your face when it booms through the sky later, followed by the lightening that will flash in the sky, disturbing your slumber.

Personification works really well when describing the weather.

Everything is still and calm as if already in preparation for a blazing hot day, when it will be too hot for any movement whatsoever.
At the moment, the sun is hiding behind a thin blanket of wispy cloud, but the air is warm with the promise of what’s to come.

An early morning burst of rain has done little to freshen the ground, though the plants will be glad of the reprise from the sun’s intense gaze. Now, the clouds have parted, having unleashed their load to leave a pale blue sky that is like the sea on a calm day.
The plants and trees are silent and unmoving as if conserving their energy for the scorching day that is sure to come.

What do you think? Gives an interesting image, doesn’t it? Which is exactly what personification is supposed to do.

Try it next time you have to write a description of a setting.

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