Does your writing have a seasonality to it?

[Vanadorn]

After doing this sort of crap for over 30 years, I know that I am most productive with my writing in the winter and summer months - with a serious lack of "pen to paper" in the fall and spring. I mention this because I had been asked recently what is a decent amount of words per day to produce and I hemmed and hawed because WPD doesn't mean much if you're writing crap and you need to redo most of what you wrote the next day.

For me the summer and winter months it just flies with very little rewrite and when I am actually sitting down typing away 2.5k words is the norm with fits and starts that hit 4k. It's maybe a third of that when I am not into writing during the fall and spring.

Does anyone else have a seasonality to your writing? And if so, what and why?

 

[sr71plt]

Not with me. It's pretty even throughout the year.

 

[TxRad]

Mine isn't so much seasonality but where I am and what is going on. I do a lot of my writing at work during the lull times. It is quiet, except for the drilling rig sitting right outside my door, but I'm used to that noise. It becomes a background that i mostly don't notice unless it changes.

Music isn't a problem but a TV or someone yammering on is. If it is quiet and I'm not distracted by the bright and shiny, seasons don't matter.

 

[Vanadorn]

If there is a TV nearby or a conversation, I can't focus. And I can only lose my focus so many times before the day is lost and I walk away from writing for a few hours. I find it's easier to take a short break than to force myself to sit there and slave away at the keyboard.

That is part of my spring and autumn issue - would much rather be outside enjoying the change of seasons and doing stuff than tap tap tapping on the keyboard.

-V

 

[NaokoSmith]

LOL, I just squeeze in what I can in between teaching, sorting out the house, cooking, flirting ... I mean shopping at the butchers . The summer only means Piglet is on her long school holiday and so I have to get up at 5.30 if I want to write.

I write when I am burning with desire so hard that even the sweetness of sleep will not tempt me away from my writing slope.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm steady all year, maybe better in Winter because it gets darker sooner and I seem to do my best work in the dark(I mean I have the lights out when I am writing you pigs!)

But the fact I am not an outdoor person at all probably helps with that, the beach, camping etc....is not a distraction for me.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Certain settings go better at certain times. I can't write gritty, bleak cyberpunk when it's sunny and cheerful. But I'm a spurt writer anyway, so it may be a coincidence.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Well, as I haven't written a word since a few weeks after Tag-Team, I really don't think my writing is seasonal.

When I am writing, I need the TV droning on in the background, music playing in my earsphones and clear space of time. (haven't had much of that recently)

I also on a good day, pump out about 5k words or better. On a regular day probably only 3k words. On a bad day, I'm lucky to type 1k.

Lately, I've lacked motivation. I guess I should work on that.

 

[SecondCircle]

Summer is not my time for writing. Work picks up big time, both on the job and at home. The heat of summer is the flames of hell for me artistically. Keyboards, fretboards, touchscreens, and even my mind's eye all start to gather dust during this season.

I suppose the winter could be considered the opposite. The calluses on my hands and feet move to my fingertips, and my muse does look better in a frosty gown.

Spring and Fall are here and there.

 

[KlaytonFrost]

I'm more productive during the winter, simply because I have more indoors time and less work to do. It's not a "creative juices" type of thing, merely just the logistical availability of hours in the day.

 

[StrangeLife]

I strive to keep my writings so spicy that no additional seasoning is needed.

 

[Hypoxia]

No seasonal affective order or disorder here. Like others, I just need quiet. If my partner's out, good. If voices impinge on my hearing, bad. When interrupted by words, I can barely even read, let alone write. Non-intrusive non-vocal (in any language I understand) music is fine, at the right levels, as a background tapestry. If the TV in the other room is on, I power-up a white noise generator.

Day, night, summer, winter, none of that matters -- except that summer brings sounds of motorbikes on the gravel road out front, and winter heralds the advent of snowmobiles. More barking dogs in summertime, too, noising-off at passing people, bears, cougars, etc. More fire-spotting helicopters overhead. No religious solicitors pounding on our door, not way out here, nope. Feed'em to the bears.

 

[JagFarlane]

I'm more productive during the winter time, spend more time indoors around the woodstove than outside activities. TV and such generally don't bother me too much and sometimes serve as a plot bunny so when the wife is watching one of her shows is usually when I get some time to write.