Dame Lili
I actually never thought about it until the Selkie looked at me over dinner one evening and said, “You didn’t know that? You get all your work done in the winter. It’s like you’re powered by rain.” (Or something to that effect.)
I’m not sure whether it is the rain and the fact that there’s nothing to do outside (except drown, of course, this being the Pacific Northwest and all) or whether it’s just that I’m physically so uncomfortable in the summer. I hate the heat, I dislike sweating, sunshine makes me feel odd. Plus there’s all that activity outside during the summer–the kids like playing, and I like being with them. It seems too busy to settle down.
In winter, however, I turn inward. Seeing the stories inside my head gets easier. The sound of rain on the roof makes me happy, and the chill outside makes me the perfect temperature inside. Plus, there’s the longer nights, and night-time is when the static of so many people doing their daytime thinking goes down. I have always functioned better at night. (Which makes the fact that at least one of my children is a morning person verreh ironic.) Of course I cram in the work whenever I can, it being the way I feed myself and the little darlings, but I’d be a fool if I didn’t notice what times were easiest for me. I try to arrange my life so I have the prime writing time open.
Which brings me to my point. My dear fellow writers, are you a winter or summer writer? Morning or night? Does temperature or weather matter to you? How do you arrange your writing schedule to take advantage of that, or do you?
I’m curious, you see. My besetting sin.
And now, it’s raining pretty heavily. Which means it’s primetime for me. Off I go to write…
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I always seem to get fired up in the Spring. Glad you asked this question. I was just wondering about this, and how the Dames would answer it the other day. And I was wondering if it was just me that seems to be seasonally affected, or if other writers feel the same way. Thanks!
Night time. Definetly. I can’t concentrate during the day
And I like it when its cold. I prefer winter, texas winter, the rainy-coldish days.
I am definitely a night-time person–I fully intend to one day be nocturnal. I prefer the heat to the cold, but October is perfect for me.
I’ve never thought about this.
Well, I do function better at night. I don’t know why; I just seem to get less distracted. Usually, I can’t write if I’m cold, so I guess I need to feel warm. But the whole seasonal thing? I’ll have to look into that.
I’m definitely a creature, um… writer of the night. I like the silence and the solitude. I like thinking that I’m creating, while everybody else dreams away. Then I get to dream during the day, when they are working
I’m definitely a fall/winter writer. Basically any time when it’s not nice and sunny outside because, when it is, I feel guilty for staying indoors (here in Germany, we don’t get many nice days). But I have to get my writing done in the morning. Sometimes if I get a good streak going, I can branch over into the afternoons but morning is my creative time and it’s when I get the most done.
Definitely a fall/winter night-writer; warm/hot weather makes me migraine-prone and bloat worst than ten-day old corpse, which there’s plenty of year round here on California’s central coast. It’s much harder to get motivated during those spring/summer months. Blech!
I’ve discovered in the past few months that I love writing before and as the sun comes up. No music other than the waking birds, and perhaps a kitty prrrp. Fall is here, cool air coming in thru the window, and the novel I’m working on just pulls me right in.
I used to be a night writer. But that was a long time ago, back when wine and cigarettes and drama were my friends.
But now, cool weather, the dark before dawn, and the sound of kitties biting one another’s heads is so very very Yes . . .
I’m mostly a winter writer because summer is garden season. I do quilt in the winter, but I find I end up running back and forth between the sewing machine and computer as new ideas pop into my head. Must be the hypnotic action of the needle going up and down that sets my mind adrift.
High summer is also writing season, as I hide from the hot weather in my basement office. If I had to live in a hot climate I’d keep vampire hours, but for now I’m a morning person.
Am a nighttime writer. I also love the feel of ‘daytime think static’ dissipating.
I’m not sure about weather in terms of my writing. This is my first year in a state where I actually have all four seasons.
So far spring and autumn seem big writing months for me, too many allergies to go venturing outside. Winter I am guessing will be the big-mamma season for writing. I love bundling up and feeling the cool air press in on me.
Mind you, I like the cold, not BEING cold. ^_^ So we’ll see.
Since I moved to Maine–where in Winter it’s frequently below zero for weeks at a time, at least at night–I find myself settling in for a long Winter’s writing session, too. It’s so much more enjoyable than being outside.
But I think it is genuinely a typical human response to become more contemplative, more inward-looking, during the winter.
I don’t write as well when it’s nice out because I usually want to be outside during those times. Otherwise it depends on how tired I am. I prefer to write at night, however on my current schedule I write in the morning, before work as I’m exhausted by the time I get home. Seasonally just depends.
I don’t have a choice right now about time, I take it when I can get it. That means, sometimes in the afternoons for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or so(my son is not a consistent napper) and then sometime after 7pm while my son sleeps and until my husband guilts me to bed
As for seasons, I’ve only been in the fall so far, so I have no idea if seasons will have an effect on me.
I wish I was a night writer. Really. But I’m more of a morning or afternoon writer, especially when there is sunshine. I love the sun. At night I like to cuddle and read. It’s sad really, and quite boring:)
I could just give summer a miss altogether, writing or not. Hot weather makes me crabby.
Winter and spring seem to be my lovely cold weather and rain/snow writing times.
Fall is my favorite time of year. Its also our busiest time to be out and about. I seem to be doing more reading than writing at the moment; so many tempting new releases recently.