January: Refocus. Move within.
Holidays are as chaotic as they are blissful. December is almost a writing washout for me as days are filled with making lists, checking them twice, fulfilling the merry expectations I’ve set for myself and responding to the ones asked of me by others.
When the last party invitation is met, final batch of treats baked and eaten, when the decorations return to storage, I go to my desk and sigh.
Winter is my favorite season.
The more snowy the weather, the angrier the skies, the better I write and the longer I write.
Why not Good Weather?
In good weather, the days in my neighborhood are filled with walkers, dogs with walkers, bikers, lawn mowers, etc. Cars are off to the grocery, church, wherever. I feel that scurrying.
My best writing accomplishments come when I look up and realize hours have passed when it felt like moments.
Bright sun, dry skies, active creatures can be intrusive. I become a clock watcher, forcing the words to come, anxious for a break. Making up excuses for a break.
Siren Songs.
I’ve come to believe that what is distracting me during good weather seasons is the energy people and critters give off.
Even if I see no one. Windows closed. Blinds shut. The energy waves come through the house and over my desk. Subconsciously, maybe, these energy waves are as distracting as if two people were playing ball in my room.
Siren songs calling me away.
Why Nighttime Works for Many Artists.
During the night, most people quiet down, head for sleep. It’s a time when many writers and other artists do their best work. Undistracted. Using my theory, outside energy waves are tamped, silenced.
Solitude is easier to achieve. Focus is easier to maintain at night.
The same happens to me, but I am not a night owl. Not most of the time. But the idea is the same.
Winter is My Nighttime.
Winter sunlight is cooler, darker.
Even without snow or ice, people are more apt are to be inside, settled into quieter activities from January through early March.
In winter, from morning to noon to evening, my ideas hatch faster. My stories grow quicker. My writing time increases.
My most productive writing season is winter.
“There is an instinctive withdrawal for the sake of preservation, a closure that assumes the order of completion. Winter is a season unto itself.” ~Haruki Murakami
Creating Focus and Change
The final draft of my first (as yet to be published) novel is done. Or is it? If you are a future debut novelist, you know how vague the term “final draft” can be when it applies to your own work. Or at least, to mine.
Today’s post honors Earth Day.
Sandra J. Kachurek 