Writing Mood

When writing, there’s always the chance that whatever mood you’re in might transfer itself into your writing.  If you’re sad, everyone in the story might be having a bad day.  If you’re angry, characters who are usually mild might suddenly become aggressive.

This is something that you can recognize and correct in revision if necessary.

I am far more worried about the opposite effect.

I have, on more than one occasion, found that whatever I’m writing affects my mood outside my story.  If someone is dying in my writing, I’m suddenly sad for no good reason in real life.  If someone was just cheated in my story, I’m going to be angry and perhaps defensive with the people around me.  I’ve looked around corners with fear that I’d just heard something, because someone I was writing about was being chased.  If my protagonist is a lonely character, I'll probably be calling up friends to go out and have people around me.

It’s perhaps a foolish and childish thing to have a hard time keeping track of the difference between reality and fiction, but when working on something intently, it can be hard to leave it behind even when your eyes leave the screen and your fingers leave the keyboard.  It’s what allows you to have that aha moment five hours later or overhear something you know you’ll be using a few pages later even if you have nowhere to write it down at the time.

I suppose if I have to choose between never letting my writing influence my mood and never getting those aha moments, I’ll choose the mood swings.  After all, they fade more quickly than the inspiration.