creative writing on fire

Igniting Passion: Describing Fire Creative Writing

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

Finding inspiration: Exploring the power of fire in creative writing

Understanding the essence of fire: symbolism and its impact on storytelling, embracing the elements: techniques to bring fire to life in your writing, fueling creativity: using fire as a catalyst for character development, creating vivid imagery: descriptive writing techniques to depict fire effectively, mastering the art of tension: utilizing fire as a source of conflict and suspense, unleashing your inner fire: exercises to ignite passion in your writing, crafting powerful endings: the role of fire in symbolism and resolution, frequently asked questions, future outlook.

The hypnotic dance of flickering flames has captivated human beings for centuries, inspiring countless tales of courage, destruction, and rebirth. Fire, in all its forms, possesses a raw power that can evoke a wide range of emotions and ignite the imagination of writers. Whether it represents warmth and comfort, fierce determination, or uncontrollable chaos, fire has the ability to add depth and intensity to any piece of creative writing. Below, we delve into the multifaceted aspects of fire and explore how it can become a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled writer.

1. Sensory experience: When writing about fire, vividly describe the sights, sounds, and smells associated with it. Let readers feel the radiating heat on their skin, hear the crackling of burning wood, and catch a whiff of the smoky aroma lingering in the air. Such detailed sensory descriptions transport readers into the scene, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the story.

2. Symbolism and metaphor: Fire carries a wealth of symbolic meaning in literature. It can embody passion, transformation, or destruction, depending on the context. Use fire as a metaphor to convey intense emotions or to illustrate significant changes within your characters or plot. By skillfully utilizing this powerful imagery, you can tap into the subconscious associations readers have with fire, enriching the layers of meaning in your writing.

Fire, an enigmatic force that has fascinated humanity for centuries, possesses a profound symbolism that permeates numerous literary works. Its multifaceted nature has made it an essential element in storytelling, crafting narratives that captivate and resonate with readers. Symbolizing both destruction and rebirth, fire serves as a powerful metaphor, igniting a range of emotions and shedding light on various aspects of the human condition.

1. Fuel for Transformation: Fire’s transformative power lies in its ability to consume and renew. Just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, fire symbolizes growth and change in storytelling. It represents the cyclical nature of life, the destruction of the old to make way for the new. This symbolism can be seen in characters who undergo profound transformations, as they face intense trials and emerge stronger, like a blazing flame unhindered by obstacles.

2. Purity and Cleansing: Fire’s mesmerizing dance often denotes a purifying force, a means to cleanse or purify the world around it. Just as flames consume impurities, fire can serve as a symbolic tool for characters to confront their flaws and redeem themselves. It represents the journey of characters who rise above their past mistakes and find a sense of redemption or closure. In this way, fire’s symbolism reminds us that through struggle and introspection, our characters can find inner peace and achieve personal growth.

Techniques to Bring Fire to Life in Your Writing

Fire has always held a mysterious allure, captivating our senses and igniting our imagination. As writers, embracing the element of fire in our storytelling can add depth, intensity, and a touch of magic to our words. Whether you’re looking to describe a blazing inferno that engulfs a village or a flickering candle that illuminates a dimly lit room, here are some techniques to help bring fire to life in your writing:

• Use vivid imagery: Paint a vivid picture in your reader’s mind by using descriptive words that evoke the sensation of heat, brightness, and movement. Engage all of the senses by describing the crackling sound of the flames, the acrid scent of burning wood, and the scorching touch of fiery heat on the skin.
• Evoke emotion: Fire is an element that often stirs strong emotions in people. Tap into these emotions by exploring the power and symbolism of fire. Highlight how it can bring warmth and comfort, but also destruction and chaos. Use metaphors and analogies to convey the raw intensity and transformative nature of fire.
• Inject tension: Set the stage for your fiery scene by building anticipation and suspense. Describe the mounting pressure, the crackling anticipation, and the gradual intensification of the flames. Use short, punchy sentences and dynamic language to convey the escalating drama and keep your readers on the edge of their seats.
• Utilize fire-related symbolism: Fire is often associated with concepts such as passion, rebirth, destruction, and purification. Incorporate these symbols into your writing to add layers of meaning and depth. Explore the contrasts between the destructive and creative aspects of fire and how it can serve as a catalyst for change or transformation in your characters.

Mastering the art of bringing fire to life in your writing requires practice, attention to detail, and a keen imagination. By employing these techniques, you can captivate your readers and transport them into a world where flames dance and flicker, illuminating the path to unforgettable storytelling.

When it comes to developing compelling characters , writers are constantly seeking new and innovative tools. One often overlooked method is harnessing the power of fire to ignite and shape the essence of a character. Fire has long been a powerful symbol of transformation and rebirth, and when used deliberately, it can drive the evolution of our characters in fascinating ways.

By incorporating fire into the narrative, writers can introduce a multitude of character-building scenarios. Here are a few ways to utilize fire as a catalyst for character development:

• Burning Away the Past: Just as fire purifies and consumes what once was, it can serve as a conduit for a character to let go of their past traumas or mistakes. The act of willingly facing their demons in the flames can allow them to emerge stronger, liberated, and ready to embark on an exciting new path.
• Fanning the Flames of Passion: Fire signifies not only destruction but also passion and desire. By incorporating fire as a catalyst, writers can kindle intense emotions within their characters, pushing them to pursue their dreams with vigor and determination. The blaze of ambition fueled by the undying spirit can serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for our protagonists.
• Forging Resilient Heroes: As fire molds and tempers metal into strong and resilient forms, it can also shape our characters into heroes. Through trials by fire, characters can be tested, pushing them beyond their limits physically, mentally, or emotionally. These transformative experiences force them to confront their fears, hone their strengths, and emerge from the flames as heroes with unwavering resolve.

Embracing the symbolic power of fire within storytelling offers endless possibilities for character development. By infusing your narrative with the transformative nature of fire, you can ignite a journey of growth, self-discovery, and triumph for your characters that will keep readers mesmerized until the final page.

In order to effectively depict fire in writing, it is crucial to use descriptive techniques that create vivid imagery and engage the reader’s senses. By employing these techniques, you can transport your audience to the scorching heat and flickering flames of a fire, making the experience come alive on the page.

Here are some powerful descriptive writing techniques that can help you depict fire effectively:

• Similes and metaphors: Compare the fire to other objects or experiences to highlight its intensity and nature. For example, you could describe the flames as “dancing like wild serpents” or “consuming everything in their path like a ravenous beast.”
• Sensory details: Engage the reader’s senses by incorporating detailed descriptions of sight, sound, smell, touch, and even taste. Describe the flames as “licking the air with vivid hues of orange and red” and the crackling sound they make as “a symphony of snapping twigs and popping embers.”
• Personification: Grant the fire human qualities to create a deeper connection with the reader. The fire could be described as “hungry for destruction” or “dancing in rapturous joy.”
• Emotive language: Use words that evoke strong emotions to intensify the portrayal of fire. Phrases like “roaring inferno,” “devouring heat,” or “scorching fury” can help the reader feel the intensity and power of the flames.

By using these descriptive writing techniques, you can effectively depict fire in your writing, enabling your readers to experience the heat, ferocity, and mesmerizing beauty of a burning flame.

Fire, an element that has captivated humanity since its discovery, holds immense potential as a tool in storytelling. When harnessed correctly, fire can be the catalyst for gripping conflict and suspense, intensifying the emotional rollercoaster for readers and viewers alike. In this post, we will explore various ways to master the art of tension using fire as a powerful narrative device.

1. Symbolism and metaphor: Fire can be more than just a physical entity; it can represent deeper themes and evoke powerful emotions . Utilize fire as a metaphor for destruction, purification, or rebirth, depending on your narrative’s needs. Symbolic imagery of fire engulfing a crucial object or location can create a sense of impending doom, leaving readers on the edge of their seats.

2. Setting the stage: Fire’s natural intensity and ability to spread quickly make it the perfect tool for building suspense. Whether it’s a raging wildfire consuming a forest or a single candle flickering ominously in a dark room, use the environment to heighten tension. Describe the crackling sound, the swirling tendrils of smoke, and the searing heat, immersing your audience in the moment and making them feel the protagonist’s fear and desperation.

Writing is an art form that requires a certain level of passion and creativity to truly captivate an audience. If you find yourself in need of a little spark to reignite your writing prowess, look no further! Here are some exhilarating exercises that will help bring out your inner fire and inspire a renewed sense of passion in your words:

• Unleash your imagination: Take a moment to close your eyes and let your mind wander. Visualize scenes, characters, and emotions that make your heart race. Allow your thoughts to drift and flow without any constraints. Jot down the vivid images that come to mind and use them as fuel to infuse your writing with passion.
• Explore unfamiliar territories: Step out of your comfort zone and dive into unfamiliar genres, subjects, or writing styles. Challenge yourself to write a poem, a short story, or an article on a topic you’ve never considered before. Embrace the unknown and let the excitement of discovering new avenues fuel your writing with an electrifying energy.
• Find inspiration in everyday life: Look around you and absorb the beauty of the world. Pay attention to the intricacies of nature, the emotions of the people you encounter, or the little moments that often go unnoticed. Allow these experiences to seep into your writing, infusing it with a renewed zest for life and a sense of authenticity that resonates with readers.

By engaging in these invigorating exercises, you can rekindle the flame within and unleash your inner fire onto the pages of your writing. Remember, passion is contagious – if you write with fervor and enthusiasm, your readers will undoubtedly feel it, making for an unforgettable reading experience.

In literature, fire has long been a powerful symbol, capable of conveying a wide range of emotions, themes, and ideas. Whether it appears as a destructive force or a source of warmth and illumination, fire serves as a catalyst for change and transformation in storytelling. Through its association with destruction, rebirth, and purification, fire often plays a central role in shaping the resolution of narratives.

One of the primary symbolic functions of fire is its ability to represent destruction and chaos. As flames consume everything in their path, they mirror the conflicts and challenges that characters face. The destructive power of fire can serve as a metaphor for the inevitable destruction of old ways of thinking or outdated institutions, paving the way for new beginnings and fresh perspectives. Moreover, fire’s capacity to reduce objects to ash signifies the eradication of the old and the opportunity for growth and renewal.

• Rebirth: Fire’s ability to destroy not only represents the end of a story but also allows for new beginnings.
• Purification: Fire purges and cleanses, serving as a transformative force for characters and their surroundings.
• Light and Illumination: Fire’s warm glow and flickering flames provide a source of light and enlightenment, guiding characters towards resolution.

As readers, we are captivated by the symbolism of fire and its profound impact on storytelling. By understanding the multifaceted role of fire in literature, we can appreciate the intricate layers and themes that authors strive to convey. So next time you encounter flames dancing across the pages of a book, take a moment to reflect on the power of fire as it shapes the resolution and symbolism of the story.

Q: What is “Igniting Passion: Describing Fire Creative Writing” all about? A: “Igniting Passion: Describing Fire Creative Writing” is an article that delves into the art of describing fire through creative writing. It explores various techniques and tips to bring the essence and intensity of fire to life on paper.

Q: Why is fire such a fascinating topic for creative writing? A: Fire has always held a deep fascination for humans since ancient times. It represents both destruction and creation, power and warmth. As a symbol, fire evokes a wide range of emotions, making it an ideal subject for creative writing.

Q: What are some key elements to consider when describing fire? A: When describing fire, it’s important to tap into the sensory details such as the colors, textures, and sounds associated with fire. Additionally, exploring the feelings and emotions evoked by fire can create a powerful impact on the reader.

Q: How can one effectively convey the visual aspects of fire through writing? A: To effectively convey the visual aspects of fire, writers can use vivid and descriptive language. They can illustrate the flames’ dance, the shimmering glow, and the way fire throws long shadows. Incorporating similes and metaphors can also help readers visualize fire more vividly.

Q: How does sound play a role in describing fire? A: Sound is a crucial element in describing fire. The crackling of flames, the hissing of wood, or the rhythmic popping can create a soundscape that transports the reader into the scene itself. Choosing words that mimic these sounds will help engage the reader’s auditory imagination.

Q: How can writers capture the emotions associated with fire in their descriptions? A: Writers can capture the emotions associated with fire by exploring the varied feelings that fire evokes. It can symbolize warmth, vitality, and passion, or represent danger, destruction, and chaos. Describing the emotions of characters impacted by fire can also immerse the reader in the scene.

Q: What are some writing techniques that can enhance the description of fire? A: Metaphors, personification, and onomatopoeia are a few techniques that can enhance the description of fire. Metaphors compare fire to other elements, making the description more evocative. Personification can give fire a life force, attributing human characteristics, while onomatopoeia can recreate the sounds of fire through words.

Q: Can you provide any writing prompts related to the topic? A: Certainly! Here’s a prompt: “Describe a scene where a bonfire illuminates a group of people. Explore the colors, sounds, and emotions associated with the fire, and its impact on the characters.” Staying true to the theme of fire, this prompt encourages writers to ignite their imagination and experiment with their descriptive skills.

Q: Any final tips for writers looking to master the art of describing fire? A: Practice is key! Writers should take time to observe fire in various settings – from a cozy fireplace to a raging wildfire – and jot down their observations. Additionally, reading written works that beautifully describe fire can be a source of inspiration and guidance. Embrace experimentation and let your creativity fuel your descriptions.

In conclusion, exploring the art of describing fire through creative writing allows us to ignite our own passion for storytelling, drawing readers into a world of warmth, intensity, and wonder.

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How to Describe a fire in creative writing

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KathySteinemann.com: Free Resources for Writers

Word lists, cheat sheets, and sometimes irreverent reviews of writing rules. kathy steinemann is the author of the writer's lexicon series..

500+ Ways to Describe Fire: A Word List for Writers

Fire, Flames, Inferno …

Since ancient times, humans have known about fire. We have feared it, welcomed its warmth , and harnessed its power.

John Wesley said that if you catch on fire, people will come for miles to see you burn. He understood the intrinsic attraction flames represent for most people.

The Greek philosopher Plutarch said that the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

One of Ray Bradbury’s characters in Fahrenheit 451 voiced his thoughts about fire: “It’s perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did. … If you let it go on, it’d burn our lifetimes out. … It’s a mystery. … Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. … Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical.”

Would your WIP benefit from a few flames?

Careful selection of adjectives reveals opinions .

An arsonist might refer to a structure fire as irresistible, majestic, or resplendent. However, a fire fighter might view it as catastrophic, devastating, or uncontrolled. Maybe a couple in love would gaze at the flames in a fireplace and consider them beautiful, cheerful, or romantic. An ancient priest?  Perhaps his fire is ceremonial, holy, or sacred.

Choose descriptors with care, researching the definitions if necessary. For example, pyrotechnic refers to grandiose displays such as fireworks or a rock band’s lightshow, while pyrotechny , although sometimes used interchangeably with pyrotechnic , more correctly refers to the use of fire in alchemy.

Beware flammable and inflammable . Some readers will think the first word means “to catch fire easily” while the second means “impervious to fire.” But these words share the same definition: “easily set on fire.” Better to stick with straightforward words such as combustible and fireproof.

In addition to the words in the following list, you can create many adjectives by adding -ing or -ed suffixes to verbs.

A and B ablaze, accidental, aflame, alight, angry , benign, beautiful , blinding, bright, brilliant, brisk, brutal

C capricious, catastrophic, celestial, ceremonial, cheerful, cheery, chemical, clean-burning, cleansing, close, coal, cold, concentrated, constant, contained, cozy, cruel

D dangerous, dead, deadly, deliberate, deliberately set, dense, destructive, devastating, disastrous, distant, divine, dormant

E effulgent, electrical, elemental, empyreal, endless, enraged, erratic, ethereal, everlasting, evil, expansive, explosive

F to H feeble, fiendish, fierce, forked, furious, gas, ghostly, glorious, greedy, harmless, hazardous, heavenly, hellish, historic, holy, huge, hungry

I impure, incandescent, incessant, indefatigable, ineffectual, inefficient, infernal, infinite, innocuous, insatiable, intense, invincible, invisible, irresistible

L and M latent, life-threatening, liquid, live, luminous, magical, majestic, malevolent, malignant, massive, memorable, merciless, molten, monstrous, murderous, mystical

N to P noiseless, noisy , open, out-of-control, Pentecostal, perpetual, persistent, phantom, phosphorous, pitiless, pleasant, portentous, potent, purgatorial, purposeless, pyrotechnic

Q and R quenchless, radiant, radioactive, random, rapid, ravenous, raw, red-hot, relentless, resplendent, righteous, rolling, romantic, ruthless

S sacred, sacrificial, savage, silent, sinister, slow, sluggish, small, smokeless, sporadic, subterranean, sulfurous, suspicious, swift

T and U terrible, thermonuclear, thick, torrid, unceasing, uncontrollable, uncontrolled, unending, unexpected, unholy, unquenchable, unremitting, untamed, useful, useless

V and W vehement, vicious, vigorous, volatile, volcanic, wanton, warm, wasteful, wayward, welcome, white-hot, widespread, wild, wondrous, wood-burning, wrathful

Similes and Metaphors

Many similes and metaphors border on cliché. Try to replace them with more direct terms ( except in dialogue ). For example:

hot as fire: blistering, boiling, broiling, searing, sizzling, torrid

like a house on fire: fast, speedy; dynamic, robust, vigorous

spread like wildfire: disseminate or circulate rapidly

fire of passion: ardor, fervor, fever, hunger, lust

fiery anger: fury, outrage, rage, wrath

Many fuels produce colorful flames. Pyrotechnic displays take advantage of this fact.

blue: butane, copper chloride (cuprous chloride)

green: borax, (laundry additive, ant traps), boric acid, copper sulfate (cupric sulfate)

orange: calcium chloride, sodium chloride (table salt)

pink: potassium chloride

red: lithium chloride, strontium chloride, strontium nitrate

yellow: barium chloride

Carbon monoxide burns orange or yellow, whereas a properly functioning gas stove will burn blue. Hot candle flames are light blue, cooling to yellow, then orange, and finally, red.

See also 1000+ Ways to Describe Colors .

Characters and/or objects might:

• add paper, coal, or wood to a fire
• blow on a fire
• build a fire
• bury a fire, embers, or coals
• cast fireballs
• cloak a fire
• conceal a fire
• cook over a fire
• cuddle next to a fire
• discharge tendrils of fire
• douse a fire with water, dirt, or sand
• dry hair, body, or clothing in front of a fire
• escape a fire
• extinguish a fire with water, dry chemicals, or sand
• feed a fire
• fight a fire
• find a fire (perhaps by monitoring thermal images from an aircraft)
• fireproof an object
• fling fireballs
• fling tendrils of fire
• gaze into a fire
• hurl fireballs
• ignite a fire
• kindle a fire
• light a fire
• nestle next to a fire
• put out a fire
• quench a fire
• set fire to something
• set something ablaze, aflame, or afire
• shoot fiery arrows
• snuff out a fire
• snuggle in front of a fireplace
• spit-roast meat over an open fire or hot coals
• squat next to a fire
• stare into a fire
• stir a fire
• stoke a fire
• tend to a fire
• throw wet sacks over a fire
• torture someone with fire
• toss something into a fire
• warm oneself by a fire
• watch a fire
• worship fire

Fire or flames might:

A and B advance, ascend, assault, attack, bake, belch, besiege, blacken, blanket, blast, blaze, blister, blossom, blow out, boil, burn (down, out), burst (out, through)

C carbonize, cascade, cast a glow, catch, cavort, char, chase, cleanse, combust, confuse, consume, cook, coruscate, cover, crackle, creep, cremate

D and E damage, dance, decimate, deflagrate, deluge, destroy, devour, die, eat, embrace, engulf, enkindle, explode

F fizzle (out), flame (out, up), flare (up), flash, flicker, fly, follow, frighten, fulgurate

G to I glare, gleam, glow, gorge, grope (for), gush (up), harden, heat, hiss, hurdle, hurtle, ignite, illuminate, immolate, incinerate, inundate, invite

K to M kill, kindle, lap, lash, leap (into life), lick, light (up), linger, loom, mesmerize, move

O to R overtake, overwhelm, play, pop, purify, race, radiate, rage, rampage, reach (for), retreat, rip through, roar, roast

S scintillate, scorch, sear, shoot, simmer, singe, sizzle, smoke, smolder, snake through, snap, spark, speed, spill, splutter, spread, sputter, start, surge, swallow, sweep (over, through), swelter, swirl

T to W tear through, threaten, twinkle, wander, whip, whisper

Many water words can also be applied to fire.

There is a huge difference between a campfire and a wildfire, a fireball and a firestorm. A few nouns that could replace fire include:

A to W avalanche of flames, ball of fire, blaze, bonfire, brushfire, bushfire, campfire, conflagration, curtain of flames, fireball, firestorm, flames, forest fire, grassfire, inferno, sea of flames, sheet of flames, tsunami of flames, wall of flames, wildfire

Props, whether objects, events, or people, add to a storyline:

A accelerant, alarm, alert, ambulance, arson, arsonist, ash, ax

B backdraft, barbecue, barricade, bellows, blister, blowtorch, boiler, bomb, bottle bomb, brazier, broiler, bucket brigade, burns, bush, butane

C C-4, candle, chain reaction, charcoal, chemicals, chimney, cigarette butt, cinders, clinkers, coal, combustibles, combustion, cookstove, cremation

D and E dynamite, embers, EMT, explosives

F fire brigade, fire department, fire eater, fire escape, fire extinguisher, fire hose, fire insurance, fire pumps, fire ring, fire screen, fire striker, fire trench, fire triangle, fire warden, fire watch, firebrand, firebreak, firebug, firecrackers, firedamp, firefighter, fireplace, firestop, fire-suppression system, fireworks, flame-keeper, flamethrower, flammability, flash, flashover, flashpoint, flint, foam, fuel, fumes, furnace

G and H gas, gas lamp, gas leak, gas stove, gasses, glare, glow, grill, halon, hearth, heat, heat sensor, heat signature, heater, heat-resistant clothing or uniform, hellfire, hoops of fire, hose, hose nozzle, hydrant, hydrazine

I to K IED, ignition, illusionist, incandescence, incendiary device, infrared energy, insurance adjustor, insurance investigator, intensity, investigation, jet, jet fuel, kerosene, kerosene heater, kiln, kindling

L to N laser, lava, lighter, lighter fluid, lightning, logs, luminosity, magician, magnesium, matches, meth lab, microwave oven, Molotov cocktail, napalm, natural gas, necromancer, nitroglycerine

O and P oast, odor, oil, oil drum, oil tanker, origin, oven, paramedic, petrol, petrol bomb, petroleum, plasma, police, potassium, prevention, propane, propane tank, pyre, pyromania, pyrophobia, pyrotechny

R rescue vehicle, retardant, risk, rocket, Roman candle

S sacrifice, shovel, siren, smell, smoke, smoke detector, smoke signals, soot, sorcerer, sparks, sparkler, speed, spontaneous combustion, sprinkler system, sprinklers, suppressant, swath

T to V thermal camera, thermal imager, thermal images, thermal radiation, tinder, TNT, toaster, toaster oven, torch, trees, trench, victims, volcano, volunteers

W to Z warlock, water main, welder’s mask, wick, witch, wizard, wood, woodpile, zip fuel

Clichés and Idioms

Too many repetitions of fire in your WIP? Locate phrases such as the following and replace them with shorter alternatives.

fire in one’s blood: ardor, fervor, passion, zeal

fire of life: elan, enthusiasm, gusto, vigor, vivacity

to fight fire with fire: counter, fight back, get even, retaliate

to go up in flames: be destroyed, burn, combust, disappear, explode

to light a fire under: coerce, impel, induce, prod, push, urge

to pass through the fire: desensitize, harden, inure, test, toughen

to play with fire: endanger, gamble, jeopardize, risk

too many irons in the fire: inundated, overwhelmed , swamped

trial by fire: gauntlet, ordeal, stress, test

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12 thoughts on “ 500+ Ways to Describe Fire: A Word List for Writers ”

I’m trying to create the right atmosphere for a character who escapes a burning facility as the last survivor of a great tragedy, and the flames she’s watching in the distance are a bright, neon green color.

She also has to listen to the factory workers and her previous Master and Creator burn to the death, the latter of which she feels deserves it.

Good luck with your scene, Rhonda. I hope you found a few words and phrases here that helped you.

Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe!

Wow, so helpful. Writing a fantasy, involving many fire related ceremonies. Thanks so much, you truly are a saviour.

Thanks, Ana. Good luck with your fantasy, and stay safe!

It’s great to see all these words related to fire in one place, but I don’t see the sense in putting them in alphabetical order. Surely ordering them in any other way would be more productive?

Thanks for stopping by, Peter.

How would you reorder them? 🙂

I love word lists. Thank you!

🙂 Any words you’d like me to research, Leslie?

Gee, Kathy, you are an angel- the Cheraubim kind with a flaming sword. Just last evening, my husband and I were discussing ideas for my next murder mystery, involving the third husband of his great aunt, The poor man died in a bonfire in his back yard. (His two predecessors passed away under rather questionable circumstances as well.) I’m book-marking your post. Thanks!

Thanks, Mary! Your novel sounds intriguing. I hope you find a few ideas here.

As ever, a great post and a great resource. Thank you 🙂

Thanks, Simone. This post got me all fired up. 😉

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27 Ways to Describe a Forest Fire: Words and Tips

Last Updated: September 19, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lydia Stevens and by wikiHow staff writer, Luke Smith, MFA . Lydia Stevens is the author of the Hellfire Series and the Ginger Davenport Escapades. She is a Developmental Editor and Writing Coach through her company "Creative Content Critiquing and Consulting." She also co-hosts a writing podcast on the craft of writing called "The REDink Writers." With over ten years of experience, she specializes in writing fantasy fiction, paranormal fiction, memoirs, and inspirational novels. Lydia holds a BA and MA in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. There are 19 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 29,107 times.

Forest fires are among nature’s greatest spectacles, which means that describing them can pose some challenges. How do you capture their color, heat, and intensity on the page? What words should you use? We’ll give you 27 strong words and synonyms to use when describing a blaze, as well as tips and samples to help you tame that fire and put it into writing.

Things You Should Know

• Use strong adjectives to convey the scene, like "blazing" or “scorching.”
• Including descriptions of the fire based on the 5 senses can help ground a reader. Describe how the fire and the area around it looks, smells, feels, sounds, and tastes.
• Study how other writers write about forest fires to inform your own writing and give you inspiration.

Words to Describe a Forest Fire

• You can also compare the forest fire to a place like Hades, a mythical setting that really establishes a vibe for a reader.

• Other good words are “conflagration” and “combustion.”

• “Searing” is a similar word that conveys the heat and damage a forest fire can do.

• Other effective figurative phrases like “ocean of fire” or “wall of flame.”

• Try something like “The forest fire devoured everything in its path” brings it to life and makes it more animated, like it has a mind of its own.
• Also try describing the fire as “hungry” or “greedy,” to give it a sense of personification and action.

• A similar term is “apocalyptic,” which is a strong adjective that offers a sense of doom.

• Words like “renewing” or “natural” help to convey a forest fire’s beneficial aspects.

• Another idea is to describe the trees or embers as “exploding,” to lend a more violent tone to the scene.

• Forest fires also “gleam” or are “blinding.”

• For example: “The forest fire’s smoke emitted a smoggy haze over the city that sat downwind of the blaze.”

• “The smoke from the fire stifled the fleeing animals and caused them to choke.”

• You might also say a fire “glowed” or “churned.”

Tips to Describe Fire in Your Writing

• Make a list of adjectives for each of the senses and try to incorporate some of these into your writing to really bring the scene to life.
• A fire might look bright or intense.
• A forest fire might smell like charred wood, or even just like a campfire.
• The area around a forest fire can taste like ash or smoke.
• Forest fires roar and crackle, which are great words to describe the sound.
• Finally, a forest fire is hot, of course–so hot it can scorch or sear whatever it touches.

• If you want the fire to come across as scary, try using words like “devouring” or “apocalyptic.”
• If you’re trying for a lighter or more optimistic mood, try words like “cleansing” or “renewing.”

• Readers make the best writers, because you're learning vocabulary that you may not have known before.

Example Descriptions of Fire

Expert Q&A

• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/inferno
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/blaze
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/scorching
• ↑ https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/sea%20of%20flames
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cataclysm
• ↑ https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ecological-benefits-fire
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/burst
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/glare
• ↑ https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/experts-forest-fires-and-smog-332148
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/smolder
• ↑ https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/portfolio.newschool.edu/dist/2/14941/files/2017/06/WRITTING_5enses-209gmgv.pdf
• ↑ https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/mood
• ↑ https://selfpublishing.com/setting-of-a-story/
• ↑ https://reporter.rit.edu/views/does-reading-really-improve-your-writing
• ↑ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shardik/exKEDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
• ↑ https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/20/1007478/california-wildfires-climate-change-heatwaves/
• ↑ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/178/178-h/178-h.htm
• ↑ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-be-better-at-death-ep-450/
• ↑ https://files.gabbart.com/200/little_house_on_the_prairie__pdfdrivecom_.pdf

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19,903 quotes, descriptions and writing prompts, 4,965 themes

forest fire - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

• animals in the forest
• boreal forest
• forest department
• pine forest
• protecting our forests
• river in a forest
• saving our forests
• tongass national forest

The forest that was once so alive now chills me. In this thirty degree heat I'm actually shaking. The trees that sheltered so many with their spreading canopy of green and provided so much are now lifeless sticks of charcoal, no more vibrant than the old lamp-posts in the city. The unfettered light illuminates the scorched ground and still that smell of burning lingers despite the rain. They couldn't beat us in court so they brought cheap petrol and a five cent matchbook. Who will stand in the way of their progress now? If I were to close my eyes I would still see the virescent mosaic above, I could feel the humid air and hear the sounds of the frogs. But I won't, I can't. This reality was cruel enough the first time when we stood mute before the flames, I don't think I could survive that again.

The fire will take what is alive and sacred to us and cast it as confetti into the sky, first glowing red before cooling to black. By the morrow we will stand on the ashes and pray for the spirits of our brother and sister spirits who dwelt in the trees, pray that they found a safe harbour.

The sun has been savage all season long, rising above the pleasant temperatures that are normal to an oven-like sear. The forest has been tinder try for weeks, every fallen piece of wood bleached and dehydrated, almost as good as scattered kerosene. Now the wildfires rage sending billows of black smoke into the sky and giving us a blood-sun. The firefighters work endlessly, the army has been called in, water is dumped from old bombers and all the rest of us can do is pray.

The forest will be gone by dawn leaving a jungle of charred stumps. Though the mourning will go on for some time, the yearning for that dappled shade and the noises of the creatures who dwelt there, what comes next will be strong grasses and the mammals that graze. This is the way of life, this is what happens when lightening strikes parched undergrowth.

The smell of smoke has us moving right away, no time for the belongings, family only. Our only chance is to out-run the flames and that'll be hard enough on the forest tracks. So once we're all in Harley guns the engine and we pull out faster than gangsters in a movie.

There is nothing for it but to head for the bunker. Soon the air will be too smoky to breathe and hot enough to scorch the skin. As we sit in the dark, air masks over our faces, we hear the flames as they devour all that we have built these past few years in the forest. Everything is wood, so everything is gone.

The fire burns like a temper, as if the leaping flames have a terrible anger toward the living world. It moves faster than a person can run though the deer stand a strong chance, moving swiftly as they do. The air smells and tastes like bonfire while the horizon glows orange beneath the smokey wind-dragged plume.

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• Education and Communications
• Writing Techniques
• Descriptive Writing

27 Ways to Describe a Forest Fire: Words and Tips

Last Updated: February 2, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Lydia Stevens and by wikiHow staff writer, Luke Smith, MFA . Lydia Stevens is the author of the Hellfire Series and the Ginger Davenport Escapades. She is a Developmental Editor and Writing Coach through her company "Creative Content Critiquing and Consulting." She also co-hosts a writing podcast on the craft of writing called "The REDink Writers." With over ten years of experience, she specializes in writing fantasy fiction, paranormal fiction, memoirs, and inspirational novels. Lydia holds a BA and MA in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. There are 19 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 7,280 times.

Forest fires are among nature’s greatest spectacles, which means that describing them can pose some challenges. How do you capture their color, heat, and intensity on the page? What words should you use? We’ll give you 27 strong words and synonyms to use when describing a blaze, as well as tips and samples to help you tame that fire and put it into writing.

Things You Should Know

• Use strong adjectives to convey the scene, like "blazing" or “scorching.”
• Including descriptions of the fire based on the 5 senses can help ground a reader. Describe how the fire and the area around it looks, smells, feels, sounds, and tastes.
• Study how other writers write about forest fires to inform your own writing and give you inspiration.

Words to Describe a Forest Fire

• You can also compare the forest fire to a place like Hades, a mythical setting that really establishes a vibe for a reader.

• Other good words are “conflagration” and “combustion.”

• “Searing” is a similar word that conveys the heat and damage a forest fire can do.

• Other effective figurative phrases like “ocean of fire” or “wall of flame.”

• Try something like “The forest fire devoured everything in its path” brings it to life and makes it more animated, like it has a mind of its own.
• Also try describing the fire as “hungry” or “greedy,” to give it a sense of personification and action.

• A similar term is “apocalyptic,” which is a strong adjective that offers a sense of doom.

• Words like “renewing” or “natural” help to convey a forest fire’s beneficial aspects.

• Another idea is to describe the trees or embers as “exploding,” to lend a more violent tone to the scene.

• Forest fires also “gleam” or are “blinding.”

• For example: “The forest fire’s smoke emitted a smoggy haze over the city that sat downwind of the blaze.”

• “The smoke from the fire stifled the fleeing animals and caused them to choke.”

• You might also say a fire “glowed” or “churned.”

Tips to Describe Fire in Your Writing

• Make a list of adjectives for each of the senses and try to incorporate some of these into your writing to really bring the scene to life.
• A fire might look bright or intense.
• A forest fire might smell like charred wood, or even just like a campfire.
• The area around a forest fire can taste like ash or smoke.
• Forest fires roar and crackle, which are great words to describe the sound.
• Finally, a forest fire is hot, of course–so hot it can scorch or sear whatever it touches.

• If you want the fire to come across as scary, try using words like “devouring” or “apocalyptic.”
• If you’re trying for a lighter or more optimistic mood, try words like “cleansing” or “renewing.”

• Readers make the best writers, because you're learning vocabulary that you may not have known before.

Example Descriptions of Fire

• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/inferno
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/blaze
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/scorching
• ↑ https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/sea%20of%20flames
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cataclysm
• ↑ https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ecological-benefits-fire
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/burst
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/glare
• ↑ https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/experts-forest-fires-and-smog-332148
• ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/smolder
• ↑ https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/portfolio.newschool.edu/dist/2/14941/files/2017/06/WRITTING_5enses-209gmgv.pdf
• ↑ https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/mood
• ↑ https://selfpublishing.com/setting-of-a-story/
• ↑ https://reporter.rit.edu/views/does-reading-really-improve-your-writing
• ↑ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shardik/exKEDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
• ↑ https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/20/1007478/california-wildfires-climate-change-heatwaves/
• ↑ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/178/178-h/178-h.htm
• ↑ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-be-better-at-death-ep-450/
• ↑ https://files.gabbart.com/200/little_house_on_the_prairie__pdfdrivecom_.pdf

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the creative minimalist

Fire — Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

7 May 2021 by Darren Leave a Comment

A Fiction Writing or Journal Prompt exploring ‘fire’ to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

It’s a cliché but very apt right now, there is no smoke without fire.

Writing Prompt Expanded

A golden rule in writing is to avoid clichés. The thinking behind this is simple, using an overused phrase is lazy. Writers should be creative, therefore don’t use something that someone, or many ones , have used before. However, we do use clichés because they are so often true and convey meanings that are easily understood by many. In this prompt, we are using a cliché, intentionally, and intentional use is fine, permission granted.

This prompt is all about cause and effect, the fire is causing smoke, what the smoke and the fire are though is up to you…

• Is your smoke real or a metaphor for something?
• How do you notice the smoke?
• Can you use all your senses to describe the smoke?

The prompt works well for all genres of fiction, so you’ll have your creative muscles stretched to pin down an idea. If you are using this as a journal writing prompt, you could use it to explore actions in your life. What is the fire that causes you to act the way you do? Quite often we focus on the symptom and not the cause and then wonder why we struggle. What is the fire that perhaps needs putting out, or at least damping down? Enjoy the creative writing time, but remember, in general, avoid clichés like the plague .

In the next couple of days, I’ll be posting about a change in these creative prompts, until then…

As always, these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose or a prompt in your journal. If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments, use the hashtag #ffwp or tag me. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. namaste d xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by  making a donation of any amount.

Sign up  for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on  Instagram  |  YouTube  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest

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Girl on Fire

A boyfriend's brain injury tests a relationship's future...and its past

WHEN I FINALLY GET HOME from the hospital at 2 AM, I change my clothes, touch matches to candle wicks, and crawl into bed. My boyfriend’s dog, Tashi, snarls, farts, digs in the sheets, gnaws on the comforter. She won’t settle unless I’m touching her, so I bury my fingers into the loose skin and short fur of her neck. Eventually, she begins to snore while I stay awake, watching the tea candles burn slow and steady on the nightstand; just last night, Quinn and I talked in bed together by their light. I stare at the candles until, one by one, they run out of wax, extinguishing as if the flames were being swallowed, and I’m left in a dark room creaking open with the sounds of daybreak. Somewhere around 6 AM, I get dressed, make coffee, put Tashi in her kennel, and go back to the hospital. 

FIRE IS MORE COMPLICATED than fuel consumption, more nuanced than hunger and heat. Fire gulps oxygen and sheds light and, in a chain reaction, converts whatever’s burning to something else: straw to ash, wood to charcoal, paper to dust. When something burns, it changes shape, color, weight, and density, and this forced change is fire’s true legacy. The shift can be as fast as a brush fire sweeping over a grassy plain, slow as a log embered in a campfire, but ultimately, burning irrevocably turns an object into something other than what it was.

The aftermath of a fire is typically easy to recognize. You can see the difference between a living tree and a charred stump, but when something inside a person burns, the change is not so recognizable. On the street, no one will look twice. Your family won’t mistake you for anyone else. Your friends will think you’re wood when you’re really charcoal.

“DO YOU REMEMBER that night at Drakes Beach with the bioluminescence?” I ask Quinn. We are lying beside each other in his hospital bed, which has a huge net around it so they can lock him in when a nurse or visitor cannot be present. In late July, he was hit by a truck and suffered a substantial brain injury, and although it’s September now, he is still too unpredictable for conventional accommodations.

I want Quinn to remember, clearly, as I do, the night we went to Drakes at midnight to go skimboarding. When we pulled into the parking lot, the breakers were illuminated in bright bands. The waves seemed to thrum with electricity, like lightning-bolt whales cresting from the dark water.

“Is that from the moonlight?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“It might be bioluminescence,” I suggested.

“You might be right, kiddo.”

In the ocean, I swam past the crashing waves to where I couldn’t touch the bottom. I cupped sparkling water in my hands, and it glowed against my palms. I poured green-blue ropes back into the Pacific and couldn’t stop laughing. When I kicked my feet below the surface, the churning water glowed. Quinn was not as enthralled by the bioluminescence as I was; he told me the best part was seeing me happy, but he was worried I’d drown in the riptide.

Now, in the hospital, I ask, “Do you remember that night at Drakes Beach with the bioluminescence?”

“Vaguely,” Quinn responds.

I cannot tell if he is bluffing. The doctors still do not know how permanent his brain damage is; that will take at least a year to assess. Some nurses have said it’s probably permanent, that I should think of Quinn as a soldier who was hit in the head by shrapnel from an improvised explosive device in Iraq, and others have assured me he’s young and strong and will recover quickly. But I need him to remember things now. I need him to remember that night at Drakes Beach. I need him to remember the first time we kissed, the trips we used to take to San Francisco. I need him to remember the night we went camping, when a fox acquiesced to eat chunks of PowerBar from our open palms, and the time he slept on the couch because Tashi and I were taking up the whole bed and he didn’t have the heart to wake up either of us. The memories we once shared were pulled from him like teeth and now stick into me like shards. I can’t comprehend holding them alone.

Lying beside him, with nurses constantly pattering past the door, I try to jog his memory. “I remember you taped a glow stick to my ankle so you’d be able to see me if I got carried out to sea. And I remember you were wearing a lifejacket since I refused to put one on, and you said one of us had to wear it. You also had this sixty-foot throw bag—”

“It was a fifty-foot,” he says flatly, his voice conveying neither self-pity for forgetting nor joy for remembering. I can hear the nurses and doctors talking in the hallway over the screens of their desktop computers. Inside room 110, Quinn’s breathing is even.

“You had a fifty-foot throw bag,” I correct, “and while I swam, you stood chest-deep in the water. Later, you said you’d been waiting to get tagged by a shark, wondering what the hell you were doing. But it was so incredible. The bioluminescence was so amazing. And you made it safe for me to be there, with the lifejacket and glow stick. You were watching out for me while I swam.”

I start to cry. Tears fall on Quinn’s chest. He holds my body closer, and part of me wants to scream because I feel as small and finite as wax in a tea candle. I know I am limited and burning, that I can’t sustain this schedule—constant visits to the hospital and skipped meals and procrastinated graduate school work and sleepless nights—forever, but I miss him, desperate and wild, and I want to do whatever it takes for him to come back as he was.

I cry and Quinn holds me and we kiss. For the first time in a month and a half, we kiss on the lips, and he’s warm and calm, and it is as beautiful as the bioluminescence glowing on his wetsuit when he walked out of the ocean beside me, sparkling like the cosmos. 

“I WANT SOMETHING with low overall volume and a high alcohol content,” I tell the bartender, my elbows propped on the counter. There are Christmas lights above the bar, the floor slants at a harsh angle by the pool tables, and my best friend, Gelman, has just put my favorite Black Sabbath song on the jukebox. I’m trying hard to feel slightly more human and less like myself.

The bartender gives me something with vodka and lime. Even the smell of vodka makes me cringe, but I gulp it down in two swallows. Last night, I stayed in the hospital with Quinn and caught sleep in intermittent twenty-minute intervals between the hours of 2 and 5:30 AM.

“I want another low-volume, high-alcohol-content drink,” I say. It’s a Wednesday night, and besides Gelman and me, there’s only one other person at the bar. I drink something pinkish, then something greenish; then Gelman orders us tequila shots.

“Are you trying to get wasted or something?” the bartender asks, tattooed forearms swilling a napkin around an empty glass.

I don’t know it yet, but in a week, Quinn will start to come out of it. He will begin speaking in full sentences and will be able to eat solid food.

“It’s been a long month,” I reply. “I’d like another.” He sets down the glass and pours vodka, Kahlúa, and tonic water in layers over ice.

“What’s this?”

“A Mind Eraser,” the bartender says, topping it with a straw. “This shouldn’t be a problem for you, but drink it all at once.”

I’VE BEEN RESEARCHING GREAT FIRES RECENTLY. I started by learning about what causes death by fire. Then I began reading about people who’ve been burned, then cities that have burned. I’m trying to remind myself that real fire feels different from this internal snap-crackle sensation of being consumed.

In 1788, New Orleans burned. A fire broke out less than a block from Place d’Armes (now Jackson Square), and in five hours, it turned eight hundred homes and public buildings to ash. It devoured the town hall and church, and the only two operational fire engines in New Orleans were dusted to hot scrap. It was after this fire that the quick-burning wood buildings, dry structures that crumpled to chapped cinder, were replaced with the brick walls, wrought iron balconies, and wide stone courtyards that are now emblematic of New Orleans architecture.

In 1547, Moscow burned. Gunpowder stores exploded, and the June air heaved with smoke. Russian author and historian Nikolay Karamzin wrote, “The fire flowed like a river. . . . The crackling of the fire and the cries of the people, from time to time, were drowned out by explosions of gunpowder.” Seemingly solid architecture was proved impermanent; stones splintered, iron screamed red, and copper melted. The fire was unnatural, witchlike, in its fury. It was thought that the insane blaze was catalyzed by the Tsar’s grandmother, who allegedly flecked the streets with water in which human hearts had been steeped. More than eighty thousand people were displaced, and while the city shook with fire, their cries echoed among the cinders.

In 64 AD, Rome burned. The flames pooled in level spaces, rushed up hills, then charged down toward the flats once more. Four of Rome’s fourteen districts were unharmed while seven were left to hot wreckage and charred ruins. Three were completely obliterated, nothing but ash over blackened streets. Desperate, some Romans—their houses burned, their food burned, their families burned—lay down in grass fields and waited to burn, too. 

IF HE DOESN’T RECOVER , I sometimes whisper to myself, especially at night when I’m drinking beer and the house is empty and Tashi is staring at me with heartbreakingly bored, wet eyes, then I’ll run away with his dog . I’ve been thinking South Carolina or Mexico or Maine. I research apartments in Myrtle Beach on Craigslist, start trying to speak Spanish with the guys at work to practice. I cry and sing along with “Boston” by Augustana.

When something burns, molecular bonds are rearranged. Carbon atoms are given away. Old ties are broken. Energy is released in the form of heat. It escapes into the air around the flame. It has to go somewhere. The atmosphere absorbs it and disperses it, and it spreads as evenly as possible through the universe.

I sometimes want to escape, too, to slip away as quiet as smoke. I don’t know how to rebuild with wrought iron, or how to comprehend this situation as natural, or how to lie down and let it take me, so whenever a nurse or caseworker asks me how prepared I am to care for Quinn, I start fantasizing about Interstate 10. When Quinn hallucinates, I imagine highway towns with diners and gas stations and people who say “Howdy.” As I burn and my bonds rearrange and I become something I wasn’t, I think about how it would feel to drive my Honda Civic all night long, over dark stretches of open road, with nothing but a full tank of gas and Tashi in the backseat. 

AFTER SPENDING FIFTY-TWO DAYS in two different hospitals, he’s been released to his parents’ house. Here, there are no nurses. Here, Quinn and I sleep in the same bed when I stay over. Here, I tell him, No, thank you, I’m not hungry , and he comes back from the kitchen with an ice cream cone or corner of cornbread or cup of coffee for me anyway. We smile at each other across the dinner table; I keep my hand on his knee almost constantly, as if he might escape.

Sitting on the back porch a few nights after his arrival, Quinn asks me, “Did you sleep with anyone?”

Did you sleep with anyone? I’ve imagined what I’d say to this question, imagined him asking if I’d cheated, and even imagined him knowing instinctively that I’d crossed some lines. I never imagined explaining myself, so I say, “No, I didn’t sleep with anyone.” It is easier than telling him what happened.

What happened is that after the bar, I came on to Gelman. I tell Quinn I “almost kissed someone” when in fact I pushed Gelman onto the bed and took off my dress. I tell Quinn I began to cry when it happened, and this part is entirely true: when we were about to have sex, I started to sob gut-shuddering, full-body dry-heaves, spilled tears onto my best friend’s chest, while I repeated over and over, “I want Quinn back. I want Quinn back.”

There’s silence between us. Listening to the crickets in Quinn’s parents’ yard groan and creak, my arm still resting on his leg, I take a deep breath and, in a temporary wave of honesty, say, “I’ve been thinking about running away.”

“From me, or with me?” he asks.

“With you.” 

THE NEXT NIGHT, in the quiet, cupped dark of his bedroom, Quinn tells me he loves me. I tell Quinn I love him, too, and we kiss. Outside, it begins to rain. A quiet pattering bounces off the concrete back porch and hot tub cover; it taps against the wide squash leaves in his parents’ garden.

“Quinn, do you love me because you remember me taking care of you after the accident, or do you love me from before?”

The rain picks up. I sometimes feel like a stranger with him; his memories of me before the accident are fragmented. He remembers the night I had a panic attack, remembers teaching me to do dive rolls over woodpiles in the backyard, remembers getting dinner in the city one night, and what he remembers of Drakes Beach is his fifty-foot throw bag and standing chest-deep in cold water, waiting for one of us to get attacked by a shark.

“I just know I love you,” he replies. It is simple and sad.

I get out of bed and walk over to the window.

The hardest part is knowing I can’t go back. Like New Orleans or Moscow or Rome, I will never be what I was. There will be no returning, no refitting of the original boards. There are no original boards left. At first, I just missed Quinn, desperate and wild and wanting harder than hell for him to come back to me as he once was. I wanted him back in the kitchen while I made dinner. I wanted him opening me a beer and analyzing my problems while I sat on the counter, leaning far toward the right to stir a pot of tortilla soup on the stove. I wanted him back in the workshop, teaching me how to cut metal or helping me make fire poi or looking over my shoulder while I soldered pieces of stained glass together. I wanted him back at Drakes, bathed in bright greenish lights and the clean smell of salt.

Outside, the arbor above the path to his parents’ garden is draped with a string of colored lights. I put my palm against the glass, beginning to realize that even if Quinn can come back, I might not be able to. Who I was before, like those centuries-old structures that no longer exist, might not exist anymore, either. Through the rain, the arbor lights twinkle like flames. In the raised beds holding tomatoes and squash, solar lights stick out of the dirt like candles.

25 of the Best Words for Writers to Describe Fire

By: Author Hiuyan Lam

Posted on Last updated: October 20, 2023

Categories Vocabulary Boosters

The perfect description of an incident with fire will make your readers feel more engaged and appreciative of your writing. However, finding the best words to describe fire more pleasantly and vividly can be a tough process.

Here are some examples of words to describe fire that will help you make the best out of your descriptions of fire.

Words to describe flames

  You will want your readers to create an image in their minds when it comes to how the flame looked. You can consider using any of these words to describe fire.  

Words to describe blazes

  You can let your readers have an experience of how fire can blaze with a lot of heat using these following words to describe fire.  

Words for wildfire/brushfire

  You can plot a scene using the following words to describe a fire; you can use these words to describe a fire that spreads over natural vegetation in a wild way.  

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25 of the Best Words to Describe Heat and Hot Weather

Words for smoke (caused by fire)

  Smoke comes in different forms and smells; you can describe this to your readers using the following words to describe fire.  

Words to describe sounds of fire

  You can try bringing out some sound effects of fire using the following creative words to describe fire in your writing.  

25 of the Best Words and Phrases to Describe Rain

Words to describe the smell of fire

  Here are some words that you can use to describe the different smells that are produced from fire’s smoke.  

  Words that describe fire make it easier for you to explain to your readers how intense and dense the fire was.   You also let them picture how it looked, smelled, or sounded. You can use the words to describe fire above in your next novel, article, or blog about an incident with fire.  

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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Setting Thesaurus Entry: House Fire

April 24, 2010 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

Smoke (light & white, drifting at the ceiling level in a haze to start, then billowing plumes darkening to sooty black as plastics, oils, chemicals, varnish and paint etc are consumed), flame, coals, flames licking the walls and sweeping across the ceiling, fire ropes chewing…

The crackle of flame, the woof sound as something catches fire quickly, plastics melting and dripping into hissing puddles, the creak and groan of timbers contracting, cries for help, glass breaking, roof caving in, floor groaning, someone banging on a door, shouting…

Smoke will pick up the smells of what’s burning and at what stage. Walls, wooden furniture, etc will have a smokey campfire-ish smell at first, plastics a sharp, acrid smell that will burn the nose and throat, but as the fire progresses the smoke will grow…

Gummy, acrid ash coating the tongue, phlegm, the occasional gulp of fresher air if leaning out a window to breathe on a second story or above window

rubble underfoot, cutting feet on glass or wood splinters, searing burns, intense heat, blistering palms from touching something too hot, pressing a towel or shirt to the mouth and nose in an attempt to breathe cleaner air, wrapping shirts around hands to protect..

Helpful hints:

–The words you choose can convey atmosphere and mood.

Example 1: I crammed myself tight into the corner so the flames couldn’t find me. Mr. Bear’s hard plastic nose dug into my chest but I didn’t dare loosen my grip on him. Across from me, the dolls on my shelf began to change, their fine blond ringlets shrinking into black frizz and then crumbling into dust. They stared at me, black bristles poking out their heads, their smiling faces shifting and drooping, crying plastic tears. I pushed my face into the soft fur of Mr. Bear and pretended I was at Grandma Hiller’s, hiding in the linen cupboard, waiting for her to find me…

–Similes and metaphors create strong imagery when used sparingly.

Example 1: (Simile) As Mary lay there, her face pressed to the warm floor boards, she pulled in a final, reedy breath. Time slowed, and darkness began to close in on her like the heavy velvet curtains that signalled the end of a theatre performance…

Think beyond what a character sees, and provide a sensory feast for readers

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers , a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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Reader Interactions

May 31, 2021 at 11:17 pm

Thank GOD I found this!! I was searching high and low for ways to help me describe what a character was smelling when it came to a burning building (and the internet was NOT being helpful!). I have the Setting books and one of your others as well. So when I saw this was by you guys and it had the other stuff with it, too, I rejoiced!

April 26, 2010 at 12:08 am

*shivers* I can hear, smell, and see this. You are amazing! Thank you for the list.

April 25, 2010 at 8:33 pm

I think it’s cool how you called out the different smells for different materials – you have such a well-rounded approach to description

April 25, 2010 at 6:36 pm

Bish, Ouch is right. I would never wish fire upon anyone. Such a terrible force.

Shannon, you crack me up. And yes, do send it on–I’d like to see how it turned out. 🙂

Julie, I’m glad I got this one right. I’ve asked a few people to look it over in the field to make sure I didn’t miss anything huge.

Martha, so glad you found your way over here and the post is just what you needed. 🙂

Dean, you are on a roll! Buy a lottery ticket!

Mary, Thanks!

Stina, LOL!

April 25, 2010 at 4:03 pm

Gee, where were you when I was working on my last book? I had to torch my house just to figure it all out. 😉

April 25, 2010 at 10:52 am

This is another great post, Angela. I’m impressed by all the good work you put in on these.

The image of melting dolls’ faces will stay with me for a long time!

April 25, 2010 at 9:59 am

Am I lucky today!! first, I got paid for some drawings, then a friend I haven’t seen for a long time called and this!! I found a blog really worth following..

So I’m now a follower and bookmarked this page so I can come back anytime I want… easily.

More Power!!

April 25, 2010 at 7:17 am

I was referred over here by a gal in RWA during a discussion on desription and the senses. Wow, am I glad I made the trip.

Just in time too! The opener on my new ms is a fire scene… and look what to my wondering eyes should appear?? lol.

Awesome post! I’ll be stalking your blog for sure.

April 24, 2010 at 9:51 pm

My husband is a firefighter and can relate to your mood words. Great stuff!

April 24, 2010 at 8:44 pm

See how you are? You post things like this, and I become utterly dependent upon you! ha ha ha. You really are a blog I couldn’t live without.

P.S. I have 1-2 more days worth of work and then I think I’m ready to query. If you want to see the final version (just for fun – no crit. obligation) I’d be happy to send it to you. 🙂

April 24, 2010 at 7:08 pm

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Stesha Member

Smoke, burning building.

Discussion in ' Research ' started by Stesha , Feb 11, 2016 .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); I have two characters escaping a burning building. I haven't been in a house fire since I was 5, and while I can vaguely remember some of what that was like (and no, my kids won't be hiding under the bed while the walls fall on them) and I've found some videos and research to help me along, I'm having trouble remembering what it physically feels like. So if anyone has any medical or personal experience with this, or can point to a source, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!  

GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); I was a rooming house/apt manager when a severely intoxicated tenant fell asleep in bed with a cigarette. The fire had been burning a while when another neighbor came and got me, none of the smoke alarms were going off yet. I grabbed the keys and a fire extinguisher and she went to the hall phone to call 911. Smoke was coming out around the door. I unlocked it. Stupid advice: they tell you not to open the door if it's hot. What do you do if there's someone inside? I yelled at him to come out, he moaned. Fortunately he was by the door. You do stupid things, I sprayed the fire extinguisher at the door. Advice you can use: don't assume you know how to work a fire extinguisher. It wasn't intuitive that you squeeze the handles together. I pushed and it didn't move, eventually figured it out. So spraying the door didn't do any good. I have no idea why I did that. Moving on. He didn't come out but I could hear him. I opened the door, fortunately there was no flashover. I pulled him out and shut the door. If he hadn't made it off the bed to the door, I have no idea if I could have gone inside and gotten him out. Now as for the smoke. I had that door open maybe 30 seconds at most. This was in the basement of a two story house with an attic apartment, so it was fairly large. In that 30 seconds or less the hallways, stairs, landing, anything open, filled with so much smoke you could not see your hand in front of your face. The basement hall was relatively clear as the smoke all went up. I went up and out to tell the fire fighters where the fire was and I had to feel my way to the front door. The smoke alarms finally went off. The people in the attic apartment climbed out the fire escape because there was so much smoke they had no way to know the fire was contained in the basement. To this day, whenever I see a fire in a movie it's annoying. People are usually in a room with flames around. It isn't like that. You cannot see anything in a fire, and I mean nothing. In the aftermath, he had heat burns in his lungs but did OK. The bed was burned completely through and the floor had started to burn. The heat melted the TV. I think there was more smoldering than flames because only that patch on the floor and the bed were actually burned.  

Jeff Countryman Living the dream

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); What it physically feels like depends on the age/maturity/current-psychology of the character, I think. Everyone experiences the same thing (ie a fire) but have different actions and responses and memories. I have a solid medical background but can't answer your question as posed. I doubt anyone can - the answer lies in the character him/herself rather than a 'blanket' experience.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); I'm not talking emotional reaction - I do mean actually physically. Like, what happens when you inhale smoke? What does that feel like? Stinging eyes? That sort of thing? Thank you, GingerCoffee for the big reply! That's a very good point about the smoke. I had forgotten just how much smoke would be present and what the visibility would be.  

JadeX Senior Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); I've never been in this particular situation, but I do know how smoke can irritate the eyes, and have encountered such eye irritants before. Your eyes hurt like you've got sand in them, your tear ducts water up. Tears flood your eyes and make it hard to see. At first it's blurry, then it gets blurrier, and when your eyes have absolutely flooded the tear drops will actually distort your vision - you know how water bends light? Exactly like that - your eyes are covered in a bunch of bubbles that all bend light differently, so it can be a bit like looking through a kaleidoscope. That could make it difficult to walk, you can get dizzy and disoriented from not being able to see properly. You'll want to be wiping your eyes constantly but it won't quite be enough, the tears just keep coming. Eventually the skin around your eyes and cheeks will start to feel inflamed/irritated, as tears can be somewhat acidic (especially if caused by a major irritant). That's just about the eyes, from the smoke. I've never actually been in a building that was actually on fire, so I don't know about what might happen elsewhere in the body. Some good research might be to read/watch interviews of 9/11 survivors - people who were in the towers, especially the upper floors. Talk about a burning building - why not go with the most dramatic example? Hope this helps!  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); Thank you, JadeX! I don't think I can brace myself up to go through 9/11 testimonies, but I did manage to dig up some accounts of people who have escaped forest and home fires. I think I have a rough idea, and probably enough to push on and get this chapter finished. I was definitely wrong on some key details the first time I wrote it - so thank you everyone for your input!  

Startled Crow New Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); Stesha said: ↑ I have two characters escaping a burning building. I haven't been in a house fire since I was 5, and while I can vaguely remember some of what that was like (and no, my kids won't be hiding under the bed while the walls fall on them) and I've found some videos and research to help me along, I'm having trouble remembering what it physically feels like. So if anyone has any medical or personal experience with this, or can point to a source, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you! Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); Startled Crow said: ↑ ...I actually smelled the smoke on me for several hours after that even after showering it off. ... Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_88ab80cb2127039f822f6b5efdd1548b'); }); Startled Crow said: ↑ ... The feeling was like 10 cigarette smokers taking a hit and blowing it right in my face at a close distance... The smoke took my breath away, made me cough and it stunk of something fierce. I actually smelled the smoke on me for several hours after that even after showering it off. Another thing I can remember is the smoke being filled with insulation fibers from the attic, which also happened to seek my lungs right out... That cough was slightly painful and itchy all at the same time... breathing and even talking was a bit difficult after that for a few hours. I hope that helps... Lesson here? If you have access to SCBA, wear it! Click to expand...

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