TIS TOO COLD TO WRITE.....

Or is it? How does the weather affect where and how your write? In the warmer weather do you sit outside under a tree, feel the sun on your limbs and happily write away....enjoying the bird call, the buzz of bees and the gentle sway as a summer breeze comes through?

So what happens when it cools down? When the days are shorter, darker and so much colder? Do you hibernate away under layers of clothes, attempt to stay warm and hardly venture to pen and paper?

I very rarely venture outside to write. Occasionally I could be found on the deck, perhaps under the umbrella, cold drink in my hand, pen and paper by my side. I was MEANT to write, but rarely did. There was always too much to enjoy, to see or even to do...I'm the kind of person that sees the weeds and knows the lawns have to be mowed yet again.

So it is my writing desk that I sit at to write. (Perhaps though it would do me good to get outside, no matter the time or the season and see what happens when taken out of my known comfort zone---thought filed away for another day).

In summer the room is hot...as yet we have no air conditioning, so we open windows and doors and hope for a cooling breeze. Living in the hills does mean we are cooler than the suburbs down below but some days...

And in the cooler months when the fog swallows the mountains and the sun doesn't put in an appearance, I can either rug up (have been known to have the lap rug wrapped tight around me) or even better still have the fire going from last night.

But I was curious about how the way I write changes with the seasons. I don't know if I could write a piece set in the heat of a scorching summer on a morning when I was struggling to feel my fingers and toe.

And in those cold dark days when there is day after day of heavy rain, and I can't get out in the garden....I find that quite depressing.

I've noticed that my writing style does change.

In the warmer months it tends to be more fun, more quirky and playful, a lot lighter.

In the cooler months...

it becomes darker, intense and more atmospheric.

I don't think we can help but be affected by what is around us. It is after all such a strong influence.
There are those mentally attuned to the changing seasons, (SAD seasonal affective disorder) that become depressed during the colder months- so surely that has to affect every part of your life- creativity included.

I have found that during the autumn, my writing becomes more retrospective....I look at the decay of relationships, of memories. I also tend to have a huge discussion with myself about what I'm doing and frankly why.

Hopefully I'll find the right answer before winter settles in and I'm dragged down even further.

Here's hoping for a short cold season....