WUI

Hey there,

I am angry. The reasons to which I am angry are irrelevant, although they do tie into what I talked about yesterday. The more important matter is: does it affect my writing? I know for sure that it affects my writing schedule. Usually I procrastinate heavily before sitting down and continue where I left off the day before (or before that, or before that), but on days like these I am so under the influence of my emotions I let everything fall to the side in favor of writing. In fact, I cannot wait to finish this blog in order to write.

Does it affect what I write I wonder though. I believe more and more as writing continues to fill the majority of my daily schedule that it is a highly subjective and easily influenced activity. In that I mean to say that almost all of the baggage I carry with me at the moment I sit down behond the keyboard translates in one way or another onto the page. If I feel happy, I write mischievious interactions between characters. If I feel charged up (on caffeine and sugar) I have a tendency to describe everything as an action scene. And when I'm angry I have a tendency to have the characters be rebellious. The only exception is when I feel down or depressed I don't write at all.

So where does that leave the consistency of my characters or storyline? It would be one thing if I could write a quarter or even one-tenth of a book within the confines of each mood, but my mood swings are so turbulent at times that it seems that over the span of a single conversation between characters a speaker could go from tranquil to aggressive. How do I keep my emotions out of the writing process? And should I even attempt that? Maybe that's how most writers create great passages. Or maybe, like shooting movie scenes, I should write out of order, matching plotted scenes with the mood I am in. Maybe come editting time, I will re-read emotionally charged chapters thinking like one does when one writes an angry e-mail to someone one day, only to completely fail to relate to it the next.

Anyway, once again I feel I am exploring a little part of what fascinates about the writing process, while learning a little bit more about myself. And all thanks to this WUI (Writing Under Influence).