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In Which I Self-Diagnose...Myself
Dec. 19th, 2010 03:27 pmSo, NaNo 2010. It's not going to happen for me this year. (Not that it's a big deal. I did it for fun last year, and ended up finishing at 46K.) Between having surgery/getting sick on the first day and pure laziness, I just haven't been in the mood to write. Pontificate, yes. Writing existentialism? Hells to the yes. Here's what I've discovered:
I'm pretty sure I have reverse-seasonal depression. That is, I don't get "depressed" during the winter, but I seem to have a lack of motivation during the summer. Which is odd because it isn't like I'm an outdoors-y girl. In fact, I probably go outside more in the winter (granted, it's shoveling snow off the driveway) than I do during the warmer months. I hate the heat, so maybe that's what keeps me in a crummy mood all summer. But I would think the heat would chain me to the desk, in the air conditioned house, and write about "cold things." Go figure.
However, just because I feel like I don't write enough during the summer, summer seems to be my "novel-thinking season." While avoiding my (somewhat) NaNo piece, I browsed through my potential novel notes. Between June and August, jotting down notes for potential novels goes through the roof. Typically there's three ideas, where one or two really shine and create a whole cast of characters and plots and themes. Sometimes that lone idea gets folded into the plot of another, or it vanishes from thought. On the opposite spectrum, manuscripts I start in the summer tend to stall out once autumn rolls around. September is when I usually pick up steam again. Again, go figure.
(And damn those Shiny New Ideas. I've begun to admit that I have an obsessive nature--which is probably a good thing seeing as I want to be a writer--but it's so toxic when I'm trying to write one story while a SNI is bullying its way to the forefront of my brain. But that's another topic unto itself...)
Anyway, it's nice--and super comforting--to know writing during the summer has been nonexistent going back two years. Seems to be my pattern and not just an anomaly this year. I know what to expect. I have to be more ambitious in the other nine months.
I'm wondering if anyone else is like this. Like, are there months where you seem to be more productive writing-wise versus plot-note-wise? I know every writer has their own system--I just wonder if theirs is as odd, or messed up, or obvious as this reversed-seasonal depression thing I've got going on.
I'm pretty sure I have reverse-seasonal depression. That is, I don't get "depressed" during the winter, but I seem to have a lack of motivation during the summer. Which is odd because it isn't like I'm an outdoors-y girl. In fact, I probably go outside more in the winter (granted, it's shoveling snow off the driveway) than I do during the warmer months. I hate the heat, so maybe that's what keeps me in a crummy mood all summer. But I would think the heat would chain me to the desk, in the air conditioned house, and write about "cold things." Go figure.
However, just because I feel like I don't write enough during the summer, summer seems to be my "novel-thinking season." While avoiding my (somewhat) NaNo piece, I browsed through my potential novel notes. Between June and August, jotting down notes for potential novels goes through the roof. Typically there's three ideas, where one or two really shine and create a whole cast of characters and plots and themes. Sometimes that lone idea gets folded into the plot of another, or it vanishes from thought. On the opposite spectrum, manuscripts I start in the summer tend to stall out once autumn rolls around. September is when I usually pick up steam again. Again, go figure.
(And damn those Shiny New Ideas. I've begun to admit that I have an obsessive nature--which is probably a good thing seeing as I want to be a writer--but it's so toxic when I'm trying to write one story while a SNI is bullying its way to the forefront of my brain. But that's another topic unto itself...)
Anyway, it's nice--and super comforting--to know writing during the summer has been nonexistent going back two years. Seems to be my pattern and not just an anomaly this year. I know what to expect. I have to be more ambitious in the other nine months.
I'm wondering if anyone else is like this. Like, are there months where you seem to be more productive writing-wise versus plot-note-wise? I know every writer has their own system--I just wonder if theirs is as odd, or messed up, or obvious as this reversed-seasonal depression thing I've got going on.
