How I wrote a book - Part 3: Why you should write when your in a bad mood

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my new post regarding moods. We all know that: We have bad days, we have good days, we suffer and things happen in life that can devastate us. We also have incredibly happy times. Can you use these emotions to improve your writing? Sure you can and this is how I do it:

As introductory words I like to say that the development of my book took quite a while (ok, I admit: it took years). So during these years a lot of things changed. I finished my studies, I started working, I did my bar exam (yes I am a lawyer…) and my doctor’s degree. Very positive things indeed. But also my long term relationship broke, I burnt out and had to quit my job after a crying fit that lasted more than a week, where I just could not stop crying and was scared to go back to work.

What did it do to myself and my book? I had a writing blockade. I was tired. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I stopped feeling anything and didn’t care and of course then you are not able to write as writing is all about feelings (in my opinion). There was no way of continuing with my story. I wasn’t able to smile, I was shattered and hurt and all I did was crying (of course when I was alone as I didn’t want others to see my weakness as for some other people I have quite an amazing life).

But when you go through bad times in your life, you need to pick yourself up and try to put back the pieces. How did I do that? I took some time off and traveled a lot. I grounded myself and somehow found my happiness again. And I restarted the book project and I think that this period of my life helped me to write a better book.

So know you think, ok poor you why should I care? In my opinion writing can help you to overcome bad times and write an even better book. Try to put your emotions into words, write them down and fill your story with all the pain and beauty of your life. It has two advantages to use your emotions: First, writing them down is a way of letting them go. It releases the pain from your system and clears your mind. Second, your reader will feel your characters even more as your writing in my opinion becomes more realistic.

How do you incorporate emotions in your story? By writing things down I don’t mean that you write down what happened to you and why you feel the way you feel (but do that if it helps you to deal with your demons). Use your emotions to make your characters deeper, make the dark parts of your story even darker and the bright ones shine like a diamond. Remember the feelings you felt and describe them, let your readers participate. Show them your world. It does not mean that you reveal everything about you as the reader usually does not know your personal story, but it will help them to get lost in your book, cry when some of his favorite characters dies and also feel love and marvelous happiness when reading the pages you sucked out of your unstable mind.

So this is my recommendation to all writers out there:

Use your emotions, channel them so that they don’t destroy you but help to write the best story you have ever written. Make something beautiful out of bad times. Remember to smile!

Kisses,

C.J.