Brewing a Storm

Recently, I started writing something I didn’t expect to write. I was thinking and my thoughts seemed like an nightmarish movie playing in my head. I wanted to get rid of it so I did what I do to cleanse my thinking palate, I put it on paper….well, sort of. My thoughts poured out out of my fingertips, furiously typing to drain the storm cloud over my head. When I finished, I had what seemed like a few pages of a good idea for a book. 

Rainstorm Over the Sea by John Constable

I tucked it away in my documents folder for another rainy day. It’s been a few weeks and lately I’ve been feeling anxious to work on it. More ideas have been stirring on how to shape it and where it will all lead. The inspiration is brewing, but what I really need is another storm.

Every day brings different emotions in varying depths. Whether I’m up or down or pensive or dreamy shapes how my writing develops. However, never have I intentionally looked for a dark mood to come to create an intensive writing environment. This week will be my trial. In the past few years, I’ve made it a habit to wake up deciding to be happy. So, this week, I’ll decide to be sad. Sad and morbid with my heart heavy.

It’s a path I haven’t taken before, but I’m interested to see its effects on my project and my life. It should be a strange week, but hopefully a productive one.

I’d love some advice from other writers on how you “get in the mood” to write darker pieces.

Know Your Story, Know Yourself

My blogging has dwindled because my writing has dwindled. I have put everything on hold to find a steady job instead. Notice I say steady because freelance really isn’t when you’re a novice. However, to help myself, I asked for a voice recorder for Christmas which I’m dying to use. My husband though he was buying me a device to help me remember things like grocery items. Bless his heart.

Why would I be so practical?

My objective was to be able to be more free in my writing. It’s been difficult to allow myself time to write when I have other priorties looming. When I finally find time to sit and focus, I have to hope that I’ll be exorbitantly inspired in those few moments and hammer out some thrilling work. I think it’s safe to say we all know that inspiration has no intention of being convenient.

My brain would rather write as I speak, so this recorder could be the key to me producing more organic writing. I can carry it in my purse and whenever an idea arises, I push one button and blather on until I’ve gotten it all out. Then when the time comes to sit down and write, I already have the material. All that’s left to do is transcribe. It may be more work in the end, but I think it’s a smart way to get more quality writing.

Discovering the ins and outs of what works for you is integral to creating successful writing. As writers, we get to know our characters or topics or plots, but we should never neglect to get to know more about ourselves. There are factors that we can manipulate to get the best from ourselves like the time of day we work best, or what our environment includes. A quiet room or a park bench can have different influences on what we are working on. Realizing that a voice recorder could help me get my ideas down sooner should be a big help to my time management.

Now I just have to find the time to learn how to use it.