You may need to be in the proper mood to do a lot of things, but you don’t require a specific mental state to write. Admittedly, certain extreme states such as blind rage preclude writing or anything else of a non-violent nature, but these verge on mental aberrations, and I’m not referring to them. Likewise some forms of clinical depression are debilitating, but anything which is not extreme can either be overcome or even used.

Those writers who claim they need to be in a perfect state of mind are generally looking for an excuse to avoid facing pen and paper or a computer screen. In fact, some forms of emotion can even be useful. For example if you’re angry with a spouse, co-worker, child, or anyone else, you can take it out on a character in a fight scene. Mind you this might be a little tricky if you happen to be working on a romantic comedy but even in those there is usually a villain of sorts and while the fight scene might need to be subdued, suitable snarky comments along with perhaps a bit of innuendo or even hostile language can suffice.   

If you truly believe proper mood is essential to write effectively there are various methods by which it can be obtained. Any number of meditation techniques can still the mind. The trick is not to spend too long acquiring the desired state of calm or going too far. You might feel it necessary to eliminate extraneous thoughts, but the exercise won’t be productive if you fall asleep. Another technique is to use imagery. Close your eyes and imagine a white sandy beach under a clear blue sky with a warm sun and waves lapping against the shore, or possibly a woodland glade with a stream running through it. It’s easy to do and can quickly relax you. Whether it prepares you for writing is something else.

If you’re not good at closing your eyes and imagining calming imagery there are plenty of videos on YouTube which can provide material for this sort of thing. Some have calming music, some images without sound, and many a combination of both.

 

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On the other hand, if you require a more focused mental state, try box breathing. For four seconds each, breath in, hold, breath out, hold and repeat. In theory this is supposed to prepare you to accomplish just about anything. Whether it works for all things I can’t say. It is, however, a quick and fairly easy method of relaxing.

In terms of mental states, I believe the most important attribute for writers is curiosity. The five ‘w’s and ‘how’ are the key tools needed to craft a story. An earnest desire to know what comes next will drive you to explore both situations and characters. This is something only you can figure out because the entire book is generated from your willingness to explore new ideas, feelings, settings and character interactions. Curiosity not only gets you started but keeps you going. Without it you are lost. In addition, curiosity and energy tend to form a positive feedback loop. Curiosity energizes thereby facilitating greater levels in questioning.

It is possible to write in just about any mood short of a full mental meltdown. Precisely because it is your story, your interest will keep you going. The illusory requirement to be in the proper mood to write is an impediment writers sometimes generate in order to avoid actual writing, usually because they’ve gone down  an incorrect path and are unwilling to continue but still refuse to admit to an error. Back up a step and ask yourself what might your protagonist or pretty much any character do next. Then follow this path. True, it might lead to a dead end or at the very least force you to revise your plot outline, but at least you’ll be moving forward. If you find yourself meeting resistance, allow your characters to take the next step. It may not be what you want them to do, but once they’ve taken that step you can get a better idea where the blockage is. Here’s a hint. It’s in you, not in your characters and not in your story.

In summary it is generally possible to write despite your emotional state because writing will change that state to something positive. If you feel too angry, sad, frustrated or whatever to begin, take a couple of minutes to calm you mind. Then turn your attention to the story. The latter will carry you through.

 

 

This guest post was contributed by Doug Lewars. Doug is not necessarily over the hill but he’s certainly approaching the summit. He enjoys writing, reading, fishing and sweets of all sorts. He has published fifteen books on Smashwords.com.