A mood question

[Saxon_Hart]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

 

[patientlee]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

Zoloft.

 

[lovecraft68]

When you're in that mindset write a dark piece. Most likely it will come out good because you're mood will show in the piece and more importantly its a creative way to get that shit out of your system.

Save the lighter fun stories for when you're feeling good.

 

[patientlee]

When you're in that mindset write a dark piece. Most likely it will come out good because you're mood will show in the piece and more importantly its a creative way to get that shit out of your system.

Save the lighter fun stories for when you're feeling good.

I agree. You have to go with what you've got. Zoloft keeps me even though. I feel better when I'm even.

 

[lovecraft68]

I agree. You have to go with what you've got. Zoloft keeps me even though. I feel better when I'm even.

I prefer the punching bag and working out to meds.

But the way my bodies been breaking down the last year or so.....CVS could be in my future

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I suffer from a similar issue. I, attempt, to solve it by working on several stories at once. If one isn't working, I switch.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I agree. You have to go with what you've got. Zoloft keeps me even though. I feel better when I'm even.

I have been through many a script...they all made me not really care about things. I prefer to care, even if I have trouble sleeping.

I have so many stories in process that there is always one that will peak my interest not matter what. Or I get online and go kill someone. FPS gaming is so much fun.

 

[patientlee]

Before Zoloft, I did crossword puzzles compulsively to try to keep my thoughts from circling. They were fun, but it was dysfunctional. I added it up once. I literally lost almost 4 years of my life to worrying to the point of not being able to function or being depressed to the point that I didn't function. (4 years before I was 30. It was a significant percentage.)

Depression is an illness. If you have a headache, do you take tylenol?

Here's my take on it. Zoloft (or any other med) doesn't make you feel artificially happy. Not at all. What it does is keep you from feeling artificially sad or anxious. When your brain chemicals act to make you feel bad, that's not real. Taking the med treats the imbalance that causes the bad feeling. It doesn't give you an artificially good feeling.

I don't work for a drug company, and I'm certainly not trying to talk anyone into taking meds, but if you feel badly enough that you consider putting a gun in your mouth, you need to know that meds don't give you good feelings. They take away the bad feelings.

If you've never experienced true anxiety or clinical depression, you have no idea how noisy and dark it can be inside someone's head.

The first clue I had when the Zoloft started working was that I realized how quiet my head had gotten. I never knew it was noisy until it was quiet.

I don't look back on what I missed when I was isolating myself, but I still recognize the things in my life that wouldn't be there if I hadn't gotten treatment.

Being here, chatting with you fine folks is a prime example. If I was still crazy (as I like to call it), I couldn't have organized my thoughts well enough to write a story. I couldn't have shared anything I wrote. There's no way in hell I'd be discussing anything on a forum for fear that I'd say something I'd regret and worry about it forever.

Now I live like a normal person. I say what's on my mind. If I regret it, I apologize and move on.

Obviously, I don't keep this to myself, even though I know there are some rolling their eyes and mocking. IDFC. Mental illness exists. Get over it.

If anyone wants to talk about it, send me a PM. I'm not a therapist, but I have a pretty good perspective on all this crazy stuff. Depression sucks, but it doesn't have to be your life.

 

[MSTarot]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

Use it.

If you were to Google the names of authors that have committed suicide you would see that depression and writing tend to go hand in hand.

Learn to try and put a harness on those times when you are not up. make your writing absorb the depression.

If the story you are writing is happy go lucky and you're not in the mood to write that, that's fine. Pull up a blank screen and write what that mood would have you write. Maybe some little piece that you will never do anything with will emerge.

Or if your unlucky the best thing you've ever written. Then your stuck writing in a world of darkness even when you're not feeling it. Which is almost as bad if not worse.


This is what mood writing can give you.

http://www.literotica.com/s/okay-now-what


http://www.literotica.com/s/shivering-1


They are polar opposites. Maybe even Bi-polar opposites, their scores show that at least.

You, me, and every writer are "artists of words". We paint out pictures and sculpt our scenes with the same imaginations as those that use paint and clay. Your mood is going to be one of the biggest influences in your writing for as long as you write. Use it, as well as you can, to add that very emotion you are feeling into your story.

MST

 

[patientlee]

I have been through many a script...they all made me not really care about things. I prefer to care, even if I have trouble sleeping.

I have so many stories in process that there is always one that will peak my interest not matter what. Or I get online and go kill someone. FPS gaming is so much fun.

They don't make me not care, but they do make my not cry, which is sometimes a pain.

 

[lovecraft68]

Or if your unlucky the best thing you've ever written. Then your stuck writing in a world of darkness even when you're not feeling it. Which is almost as bad if not worse.

Yeah My two best works are my darkest. Broken(The published version of SWB) and Dark genesis.

Those fuckers took a toll on me. Couldn't sleep, barely ate, and my moods ranged from wanting to kill someone to wanting to sit in a corner and cry.

My wife thought I needed help so I consulted Doctor Daniels and pulled through.

But now I'm careful with what I write and when. If I don;t feel I'm in a good enough place to handle it I try to push the "bad bunnies" off for awhile.

 

[johneb87]

Sadly my mood has just been a block for my writing.

My main character is already kinda suicidal, not much change there. But for his friends that are cheerful, I guess I try to pull some of the positive energy from friends here and channel that into my characters.

 

[Hypoxia]

If I'm bummed, I don't write.
If I'm REALLY bummed, I write on these forums. Cf QUIET DESPAIR.

I have intractable medical problems. I usually do my best to work around them. Otherwise, it's too easy to just wallow. I am not clinically depressed, so there are no easy pharmaceutical fixes. Yes, it's true: Life shits on you, then you die. It's HOW you handle the shit that matters.

 

[October46]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

do yourself a favor and get help, you are from the 70's were you in the military? if so go to the VA and let them know about your issues.

 

[Swilly]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

Do those changing moods make the characters more real? If they are a reflection of you, and you're real...maybe that's not a bad thing?

Of course, that assumes the moods are manageable. If not, what PL said. Get help.

 

[_Lynn_]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

You can check here to see what others from the AH have said, but I personally suggest calling your doctor.

 

[xelliebabex]

OK, I have to be somewhat revealing of myself to set the tone for the question. I believe I suffer from depression. Most days I am fine, others it is a struggle to keep a gun out of my mouth. I'm not medicated, but I avoid alcohol when I know a down time is at hand. But that's not what I'm asking about.

My question is how do the rest of you keep you mood from changing your characters' actions. I thought I had a handle on that until I started reading my current piece. My character ebbs and flows like I have and I've had to re write huge chunks to even him out. Any suggestions?

I have found, particularly recently that having a writing buddy, someone you can talk to about teh stuff you write and find a friendly smile and some clever and witty remark from can help when I am tired and cranky and its showing in my work. Even a jibe like, "what the hell were you thinking when you wrote that will make me pull it all back together.

I am one of the minority it seems that doesn't get depressed very often and certainly never depressed enough to considering ending it all, but i have close friends who suffer from this sort of illness and i have been on the manic roller coaster of highs and lows with them. I don't pretend to truly understand it but I can see the toll it takes on everything around them.

My suggestion is grab yourself a writing buddy, even of they are a reader more than a writer and if you are worried your mood has distorted a story get them to look at it with fresh eyes and give you some feedback, its worked for me in the past when my character went on on some massacre or another of my sunshine and lollipops story.

Most of all look after yourself, and find support people to surround yourself with

 

[_Lynn_]

I have found, particularly recently that having a writing buddy, someone you can talk to about teh stuff you write and find a friendly smile and some clever and witty remark from can help when I am tired and cranky and its showing in my work. Even a jibe like, "what the hell were you thinking when you wrote that will make me pull it all back together.

I am one of the minority it seems that doesn't get depressed very often and certainly never depressed enough to considering ending it all, but i have close friends who suffer from this sort of illness and i have been on the manic roller coaster of highs and lows with them. I don't pretend to truly understand it but I can see the toll it takes on everything around them.

My suggestion is grab yourself a writing buddy, even of they are a reader more than a writer and if you are worried your mood has distorted a story get them to look at it with fresh eyes and give you some feedback, its worked for me in the past when my character went on on some massacre or another of my sunshine and lollipops story.

Most of all look after yourself, and find support people to surround yourself with

I understand it all too well, as shown in my blog and on the depression thread here.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

They don't make me not care, but they do make my not cry, which is sometimes a pain.

Yeah, until I stopped, I hadn't cried for a long time. Now, I do. I also find myself getting angry, before not so much...I didn't care.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I have found, particularly recently that having a writing buddy, someone you can talk to about teh stuff you write and find a friendly smile and some clever and witty remark from can help when I am tired and cranky and its showing in my work. Even a jibe like, "what the hell were you thinking when you wrote that will make me pull it all back together.

I am one of the minority it seems that doesn't get depressed very often and certainly never depressed enough to considering ending it all, but i have close friends who suffer from this sort of illness and i have been on the manic roller coaster of highs and lows with them. I don't pretend to truly understand it but I can see the toll it takes on everything around them.

My suggestion is grab yourself a writing buddy, even of they are a reader more than a writer and if you are worried your mood has distorted a story get them to look at it with fresh eyes and give you some feedback, its worked for me in the past when my character went on on some massacre or another of my sunshine and lollipops story.

Most of all look after yourself, and find support people to surround yourself with

Now that the teamwork challenge is over I have found that there is now something missing each day. I really enjoyed working with my partner. I brought a calmness I haven't felt for a long time.

 

[JKendallDane]

It's not been quite two years yet since I was diagnosed bi-polar...something, based on my history, the doctors said should have been discovered at least thirty years ago when I was in college. One month on "zombie meds" and I went back to dealing with the depression on my own, but with the new-found knowledge of what signs to really watch for as ones that demand professional help. My advice there, SH, would be to talk with a qualified doctor and make sure what you are feeling, isn't on the wrong side of the danger fence.

I wouldn't be all that concerned about having a character suddenly go rogue on you or take you down a dark path. Sure it's a pain in the ass to bring them back to where you want them, but perhaps that's also your muse watching over you to make sure YOU don't follow them.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

Thanks for the concern and suggestions. I'm iffy about chemical help...I had a dear friend who was put on Prozac. I considered going and getting help when she told me how much it helped her. Long story short, she took her own life just before I was going to see a Dr. I figured I'd lived with it that long why risk being pushed over the edge I'd only peeked over.
Once again thank you for the advice.

 

[SamScribble]

I have yet to meet a writer who was entirely ‘sane’. The same is true of the visual artists and musicians that I know. If your created characters get a little out of your control, you can always haul them in later. Deep editing and rewriting are your friends.

Perhaps more important is how you manage yourself on a day to day basis. In my experience, the most important support is a friend or two with whom you can be entirely honest. ‘Just talking’ really does help. (And don’t forget to return the favour when you can.)

If all else fails, yes there are meds. But just because the vets – oops, doctors – prescribe something, doesn’t mean that the particular drug is right for you. Give it a go. But make sure that you let your doctor know what is happening. If it ain’t working, there’s usually something else.

Good luck. You are not alone.

 

[HeyAll]

I think of a very basic description of the characters beforehand. ie is the person smart, naive, prudish, shy, outgoing, seductive, strong, ect...

Then when I write, I think of how that character would reasonably react in a certain situation.

For instance, a shy book nerd isn't going to just snap at someone and start screaming. A shy book nerd would likely have a meek response.

So in that way, my personal mood has zero effect on a story I'm writing.

 

[xelliebabex]

Now that the teamwork challenge is over I have found that there is now something missing each day. I really enjoyed working with my partner. I brought a calmness I haven't felt for a long time.

It was nice wasn't it, I hadn't expected that side of co-authoring something, I am hoping to remain writing buddies with my partners from that. Though I am guessing it wouldn't work for everyone.

My advice still stands find someone you trust with your stories to help you through when they go a little off track from where you thought they might go.