If I skip a day of writing, I feel as if I skipped a day of brushing my teeth. Minus the bad breath. My husband claims he can always tell if writing has gone well or not. And he’s right — writing directly affects both my mood and my worldview.
If I don’t write or if writing doesn’t go well on a particular day, I feel unsettled and unbalanced. And really, really grumpy. Suddenly, the house feels too messy to stand. Everyone seems to have developed really annoying habits. I obsess over the drip in the kitchen sink. My socks feel too tight.
But if writing goes well, then I walk around and smile at everyone. Everything is sunny, and I want to hug the world. In other words, I feel like me.
So I try to write every day, and I keep writing through the bad writing days so that I can get to the good writing days quicker. My husband thanks me for this.
Wow, your blog entry was like hearing my thoughts echoed out loud. My writing totally effects my mood, for better or worse.
But do you ever have the opposite happen? Does your mood effect your writing? Personally I find that if I’ve had a bad day or if I’m particularly stressed, suddenly my characters want to yell at each other. It’s hard not to let it ruin the flow of the scenes. Funny how that works.
I think only other writers understand this. Writing becomes almost like a drug, and if we don’t get our fix, watch out! Of course, there’s always my second drug of choice: Chocolate. But heaven help those around me if I don’t get one or the other, preferably both.
Watching the countdown clock for Ice. Hmm, do I feel a chill in the air? :)
Shannon: Yeah, I’ve had that happen. That’s one of the reason that I tend to do a million drafts — it helps even out those blips that are due more to my mood than the characters’ moods. Do you have any techniques for dealing with that?
Judi: I keep a secret stash of writing chocolate by my desk. Always. And every time I start a new draft, my husband brings me home a bag of Raisinets. One of the many reasons why I love him. :)