Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Dark and Stormy Night

It's pouring rain outside today. The skies are dark and gloomy... there's a definite chill in the air.

I'm sitting in a familiar foreign place, surrounded by what I don't know, and what I dream about everyday.

Half the time I don't even make sense to myself, let alone anyone else.

Today I am broken. Small pieces. Fragments of what I normally am.

It sounds bad, right? Surprisingly, it's not.

Sometimes I find it the best place to be. It's the place where you reflect, where the thought process takes on a life of its own. Where the words transform on the page... they become more than just words. They hold a deeper meaning.

So what should you do? Use it to your advantage!

Take that dark mood and those swirling emotions and write. Sure, it's the opposite of happy, but it's still beneficial. Just in a different way.

I do some of my best writing in this place. Maybe it's where I do most of my soul searching.

This is also the best place to write those particularly difficult scenes--you know the ones, right? The ones that tear at your heart, and stump your fingers. The ones you have to erase and re-do over and over. The ones that are so hard to get right because they need to be conveyed just so.

Sometimes all it takes is a dark and stormy night...

What about you guys? Does the mood you're in affect your ability to write? Do you find it easier to write gloomier or difficult scenes when you're also in a likewise mood?

20 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's why I use music to put me in just the right mood.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Mood definitely has an impact on my writing. Like Alex, I also use music.

Unknown said...

I can't write with music most of the time. I do have to say, your voice was very strong. I still can't tell if you were writing or actually sad. Well done.

Mood can affect how you write, you it is important to take note of it. Come back to your work when you can write what you need to. You are right, sometimes we need to capture the mood.

Draven

vanyelmoon said...

Absolutely! If my mood or emotions change, so does my writing. I am working on a suspense and I have to wait until my mood is right to put fingers to keyboard.

Jolene Perry said...

I put off writing a particular scene until I had finished the whole rest of the book. I sat in front of the fire place, and wrote til about 2 am, and got my chapter done. I cried like three times. So, yeah. I sometimes do my best writing in that place.

Mina Burrows said...

My mood has been a challenge for me these days. It hinders me as opposed to helps. But I still try...

Joanne said...

I guess it depends on how I'm really feeling. If something is distracting me in my life, such that it needs my attention, I have to take care of that before I can really focus on my words.

Christine Rains said...

Dark moods definitely help me write. I also feel more productive during those times.

Sandy said...

Sometimes a down mood just makes me want to curl up in my sweats with hot tea, cookies, and my laptop, and just write.

Lydia Kang said...

You're right. Every dark moment can be filed away for use in our writing, in one way or another. The tiny silver lining to even the worst situations.

Sarah Tokeley said...

My mood very definitely affects my writing. Sometimes, even in a good way :-)

Miranda Hardy said...

I agree we all need those "Dark and Stormy" nights every once in a while. I love the energy and emotion that comes out of them.

Terri Tiffany said...

Oh most definitely yes. I was able to write the hardest part of my book the other day because I was in one of those moods and it worked:) Good to hear from you and to see you are still writing!

The Happy Whisk said...

Glad you're able to get something good out of your Dark and Stormy Night.

Janet Johnson said...

Mood definitely affects me, but like you, I can get good stuff done when the emotions are swirling. :)

Claudia Zurc said...

OMG! I totally understand what you're saying. Living in an extremely cold place like Montreal, gray and rainy days make me write for sure. I think my best stories were written under these circumstances. I think it's cathartic.

Lisa Gail Green said...

I love that! "Sometimes it takes a dark and stormy night." Usually when I'm really in that place, I like to write poetry. But yeah, making something good from those feelings is the best way to deal with it. Plus good material!

Krispy said...

Mood can affect so much in my writing, and yeah, the gloomy mood helps when writing a gloomy scene. Way to turn negative energy into something positive!

Unknown said...

Totally know what you mean! You hit it right on the head!

Channeling "dark energy" into writing can absolutely put some depth to emotional scenes. When I wrote the final scene of my first draft, I was in that kind of mood. And I cried. I haven't reread it, but I have a feeling those desperate feelings I had that day are there in the words.

Thanks again for an awesome post!!

Jeremy Bates said...

if i get tired, but think i should keep writing just to get words down, ill often say screw it because i know what i put down wont be any good the next day

i really have to me "in it"