It's dark. It's cold. It's February in Minnesota, and the house we moved into this fall doesn't have a fireplace. Translation: I need me some heat! So, here's my writerly challenge for the day...

Warm up your writing.

Hold on. I'm not advocating steamy sex scenes. Let's get creative, people! I'm talking metaphors and symbolism such as:

Color
Incorporate reds, yellows, and oranges into your writing today. Different shades. Variations of transparencies. Maybe how a color makes one of your characters feel. Think of all the meaning that Nathaniel Hawthorne gave to the Scarlet Letter. It totally worked for him. Last I checked, that book is still selling like HOTcakes (sorry...couldn't help myself).

Objects
Okay, so the sun is a gimme. Let's move beyond that. Other objects that could symbolize heat are a smile, a mug filled with a hot beverage, a sweater, or even a book. But don't simply think concrete. What about abstract concepts like freedom or liberty or forgiveness? Those are all hot topics to explore as well.

Personalities
Create a new character that's a hot-head, able to lose his/her anger in a flash. Or if your cast is already set, put one of your established characters into a 'seeing red' mood for the day. On the flip side, perhaps one of your characters is going to be particularly lovable, exuding some heart-warming feelings.

That ought to get you started. I'm sure you'll come up with even better ideas to convey warm and fuzzy feelings to your reader today. At any rate, you ought to break a sweat just thinking about how to write heat into existence.