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Post by Suzy on Apr 28, 2014 7:09:46 GMT -5
I was thinking about this recently while reading one of the classics. It seems to me that many authors write from a very dark place and that their deepest writing comes from some sadness or other.
I started writing during a very sad time in my life. My first novel came about because I wanted to escape the sadness and turn my mind away for a while. Not that I wanted to write about my own sadness- on the contrary. I needed to escape into happy world of my own creation, where there was romance, beautiful settings and a lot of humour. While I wrote, I concentrated so hard on my story that I put my sorrow away for a while and spent a little time in this make-believe world every day. It was the best therapy for me. I look at my debut novel nnow with great affection. Probably not my best work but there are passages there I like a lot.
During the ten years or so since that novel, I have experienced many of life's ups and downs,as we all do and I find that it's during the down-times that I have produced some pretty good writing. It's as if my concentrations is at its best when I turn to writing for solace.
Is it like that for other writers?
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Post by vrabinec on Apr 28, 2014 7:25:21 GMT -5
Not sure. I'll let you know if I'm ever happy and writing. At this point, it's all coming from the sad place. Well, maybe not sad place. Maybe drunk place.
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Post by pthylton on Apr 28, 2014 8:01:37 GMT -5
Wow, that is a great question. For me, I'd say that I don't necessarily write better when I'm sad. However, I do come up with better story ideas when I am bummed out. Probably just a case of my mind trying to escape its unhappy reality for a bit. I don't think my mood plays a huge role once I start writing.
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Post by Suzy on Apr 28, 2014 8:27:31 GMT -5
Not sure. I'll let you know if I'm ever happy and writing. At this point, it's all coming from the sad place. Well, maybe not sad place. Maybe drunk place. I might get ideas from a drunk place. But writing under the influence is impossible for me. My brain just doesn't work then. |
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Post by vrabinec on Apr 28, 2014 8:33:04 GMT -5
Yeah, my brain doesn't work when I'm drunk. But it doesn't work when I'm sober either, so I may as well be drunk.
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Post by Suzy on Apr 28, 2014 9:20:47 GMT -5
Hmmm, this kind of ties in with what you said apropos Jules Verne's house. Why would you write if you're already living in paradise? Well, maybe he got inspired by the stunning views, the wind, the sea and the feeling of infinity? Maybe you don't need to be sad to write wonderful stories?
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Post by lindymoone on Apr 28, 2014 9:32:40 GMT -5
I think... you don't need to be sad, you need to have been sad.
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Post by Victoria on Apr 28, 2014 10:17:25 GMT -5
I can't write (or do much of anything, really) when I'm sad. The exception to this is diary-writing, which I can do reams of while sad, but I stopped because I didn't want stacks of notebooks full of wailings and rants about how unfair my perfectly good life is. Now I just eat chocolate and cry until the sad goes away.
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 28, 2014 12:43:39 GMT -5
I can't write (or do much of anything, really) when I'm sad. The exception to this is diary-writing, which I can do reams of while sad, but I stopped because I didn't want stacks of notebooks full of wailings and rants about how unfair my perfectly good life is. Now I just eat chocolate and cry until the sad goes away. This describes me, too. Still trying to figure out what to do with all those maudlin diaries. Bonfire, maybe?  |
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Post by Suzy on Apr 28, 2014 13:04:38 GMT -5
I think... you don't need to be sad, you need to have been sad. Yes. And no. Because there are things that make you sad and never let go. But in a way, that makes your writing much more deep and true. |
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Post by vrabinec on Apr 28, 2014 13:20:07 GMT -5
I can't write (or do much of anything, really) when I'm sad. The exception to this is diary-writing, which I can do reams of while sad, but I stopped because I didn't want stacks of notebooks full of wailings and rants about how unfair my perfectly good life is. Now I just eat chocolate and cry until the sad goes away. This describes me, too. Still trying to figure out what to do with all those maudlin diaries. Bonfire, maybe? I threw mine out years ago, right after I started getting serious with the wife. I didn't want her finding them and discovering just how fucked up and demented I really am. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 13:22:03 GMT -5
While I have used writing as an escape from pain in the past, I can't say the quality was necessarily any better, or even as good, as what I can do when I'm feeling fine. Sometimes sadness breeds a higher motivation to create, as a coping mechanism, but it can just as easily dampen all desire to create.
But when I am at my best emotionally is when my writing generally hits its peak. I'm just pretty much better at everything when I'm emotionally sound.
As lindymoone noted, I think that one's writing isn't improved by being sad but by having experienced pain at some point in your life. It deepens your writing, informs it with insight that only suffering is likely to bring. And it increases your ability to empathize, in many cases, which obviously will benefit your writing.
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 28, 2014 13:23:17 GMT -5
This describes me, too. Still trying to figure out what to do with all those maudlin diaries. Bonfire, maybe? I threw mine out years ago, right after I started getting serious with the wife. I didn't want her finding them and discovering just how fucked up and demented I really am. Yeah, I sort of don't want my kids reading mine one day. I'd rather keep my hyper-extended bratty-angst-ridden-teenager phase to myself. Good lord.  |
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Post by Victoria on Apr 28, 2014 14:06:23 GMT -5
I threw mine out years ago, right after I started getting serious with the wife. I didn't want her finding them and discovering just how fucked up and demented I really am. Yeah, I sort of don't want my kids reading mine one day. I'd rather keep my hyper-extended bratty-angst-ridden-teenager phase to myself. Good lord. I don't think I'd ever actually throw mine away. I'd hate for anyone else to read them, of course, but that whiny butthole is just as much a part of me as the mature and beautiful specimen I am today (  ) and, if nothing else, they show how far I've come. I also like to think that they might help me to write characters of that age in the future, although I certainly couldn't base an MC on my teenage self without causing reader-on-book violence. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 14:13:01 GMT -5
Frankly, when I'm sad, really sad that is, I can't write at all.
I find I do write somewhat better when I'm in a melancholy mood.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 14:16:08 GMT -5
I can't write (or do anything worthwhile) when I'm sad. But I write like a demon when I'm mad!  |
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Post by Suzy on Apr 28, 2014 14:18:06 GMT -5
I can't write (or do anything worthwhile) when I'm sad. But I write like a demon when I'm mad! I do that too! And then I'm really fired. But sadness, even if not immediate can put some very deep feelings into your story. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 14:22:11 GMT -5
I can't write (or do anything worthwhile) when I'm sad. But I write like a demon when I'm mad! I do that too! And then I'm really fired. But sadness, even if not immediate can put some very deep feelings into your story. Yeah, but, like others have said, I prefer remembered sadness and preferably happening to other fictional people.  |
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Post by Suzy on Apr 28, 2014 14:32:34 GMT -5
I do that too! And then I'm really fired. But sadness, even if not immediate can put some very deep feelings into your story. Yeah, but, like others have said, I prefer remembered sadness and preferably happening to other fictional people. But if you have never experienced sadness, could you write about it convincingly? |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 28, 2014 14:36:23 GMT -5
Yeah, I sort of don't want my kids reading mine one day. I'd rather keep my hyper-extended bratty-angst-ridden-teenager phase to myself. Good lord. I don't think I'd ever actually throw mine away. I'd hate for anyone else to read them, of course, but that whiny butthole is just as much a part of me as the mature and beautiful specimen I am today ( ) and, if nothing else, they show how far I've come. I also like to think that they might help me to write characters of that age in the future, although I certainly couldn't base an MC on my teenage self without causing reader-on-book violence. LOL. You're a better woman than I am, S. I thoroughly deny any relationship to the WB (whiny butthole) who wrote my diaries. I'm sure my body was taken over by aliens. Alien hormones, maybe.  |
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) and, if nothing else, they show how far I've come. I also like to think that they might help me to write characters of that age in the future, although I certainly couldn't base an MC on my teenage self without causing reader-on-book violence.
