And then it spreads. Suddenly your son is crying and your daughter is acting out. Would that have happened anyway? Or is it a reaction to your dark mood?
Writing is like that. You start writing in one direction, and your mood or your thoughts influence what you write. Call this artistic sensibility. Call it inspiration. Whatever you call it, mood is reflected in your writing and in your life.
Does this mean a happy scene was written while the author was on cloud nine, high on life, or whatever other cliche suits? No.Does this mean a depressed and bloody chapter was birthed while the writer was in the doldrums, down in the dumps, or maybe smashed out of his mind? Uh, no.
But it's there. Mood is apparent. And right now, I'm in a bad one. But writing this helped!
*The cat picture is from this site, and the Grumpy one can be found at this interesting blog.
My posts tend to reflect my current mood, as I'm not the best at hiding it (downside to being transparent). Best bad mood remedy:
ReplyDelete1. Favorite comedy (novel or film)
2. Some ice cream (impossible to feel bad and lick ice cream at the same time)
3. Capped off listening to your favorite easy listening CD.
oh, and since you can do this:
4. Tell any male who interrupts you that you're having "women's problems." Not sure why, but it's our version of conversational kryptonite.
I know, isn't it weird. I think it's something subconcious that happens in the sleep state that makes us wake up eithe rhappy or grumpy. I'm a little grumpy today as well. :P
ReplyDeleteMusic affects my mood. Sometimes I listen to certain music to set the mood in writing. Other times I have to listen to music in an attempt to get me writing a scene that has a certain mood.
ReplyDeleteI dream of reality - and I wake cynical.
The cat pic made me smile.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture. But, I agree with what you say. No matter how hard I try, editing and writing is changed by my mood.
ReplyDeleteCD
This was like blog therapy!!! I woke this morning in a rotten mood and absolutely no reason for it! What's in the air around here???
ReplyDeleteWriting helped me too, and reading this. Thanks for that...hope you're doing well!
Music affects my mood and oftens puts me in the right frame of mind. However, I've not discovered anything that beats apathy. That mood tends to stick.
ReplyDeleteAll true...and in my opinion the strongest reason for not sticking to a daily writing word count. If I'm in a bad mood, then that's going to come across in my writing and I don't want that (unless I happen to be writing a scene with lots of emotional conflict). I'd rather wait until the mood swings back the other way and be more productive (because I won't have to re-write the bad mood piece).
ReplyDeleteNo grumpy here today. :)
Sometimes those moods strike out of nowhere. Hope it doesn't stay long - good luck :)
ReplyDeleteMichele, I'm feeling exactly like bot of your picture buddies. It's just seems to be my day for it.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow will definitely be better.
I hate waking up grumpy. And you're right it does spread.
ReplyDeleteI don't have to be grumpy to write a grumpy scene. But I do think the scenes we write can affect us. When I wrote a very tense sense with a lot of emotion, I was crying most of the day. Call me wacky, but it's true.
Glad we were here for you to vent at! I agree with Alex JC, apathy is a tenacious SOB!
ReplyDeleteMood is certainly apparent; it's also highly contagious. Glad to hear that your writing helps!
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