Dear Madam Vailed

Last week the ever interesting, Madam Vailed kicked off a new 'Dear Alysha' which you can read by clicking the link. The topic is emotions and writers.

Dear Madam Vailed

I'm with you 100% on this one. In order to write my word sauce I need to be in a calm state of mind. Angry, and shit gets messy. Sad, I can't focus. Overly happy...well I'm probably drunk as well at that point in which case you can add angry, and sad together for that outcome.

When I think I write my best, is when I go into the scene neutral. Alysha, the writer isn't present in my conscious mind at all, only the story. That is hard to achieve when you're feeling full of one or more emotions. It's when they all disappear is when the magic happens for me.

I also concur with the sensation of going into a scene with one emotion and coming out another. That has happened more times than I can recall. I go in to write a death scene and emerge the other side feeling as if I just went three rounds with Mike Tyson. Or I could go in looking to write a negotiation and come out traumatised because the characters decided to flip me the bird and go their own direction.

But we all know that's when it's really fun. That is, after I've come down off the roof and stitched myself back together emotionally.

It doesn't seem to matter what the end state is, unless I enter the scene without strong emotion then nothing good happens. Period.