Sunday, January 24, 2010

All weather capability

Avalon authors come from all over the world, from different time zones, continents, and climates. This month, one from our group (was it you, Fran?) wrote that it's freezing cold outside . . . good weather for writing, as she intended to stay indoors, safe and warm, all weekend. Another author from Australia (I think it was you, Noelene?) wrote it was blistering hot but that it wouldn't bother her as she intended to stay indoors, cool and relaxed, and write all weekend.

An editor once said that authors seem to write all summer and submit all winter, or so a friend told me. I wonder . . . The weather has a strong influence on me, on my mood, and even on my capacity to work. When it's cold, I don't just start to shiver, I become miserable. And I mean miserable, clenched together into a tight ball, hating the world. I learned that when the heating stopped for three days one winter. When my nose tip starts to freeze, the fun is over.

On the other hand, I can stand heat much better. When I lived for several months in Indonesia, I learned that I had to walk slowly to work if I didn't want to arrive drenched in sweat. I moved differently, I lived differently, carefree. Dressing took mere seconds, I could wear the same shoes and clothes all through the year, a dish of fruit made me happy . . .

Right now, in the midst of an unsually cold winter with loads of snow, I take an extra five minutes to don my outdoor gear whenever I leave the house, have exchanged my handbag against a rucksack, so I can carry around extra shoes for the office, can't bear the thought to eat anything cold and plan way ahead in case we get so snowed in that I can't reach the supermarket anymore (it has never happened but I'm not one to leave things to chance, much to the chagrin of my more relaxed husband). In short, everything is more cumbersome in winter!

On the other hand, it gets dark by four thirty, and that leaves plenty of time to write. In the summer, we often have BBQs in the garden and don't even notice that it's already ten p.m. My life-style changes with the season, and so does my way to work. In summer, I hate to go indoors to write, so I sometimes take the laptop outside . . . but the distractions are there, I can't deny it . . . How about you? Do you have a season that's particularly distracting from work? Do you know from experience that there are months when you get very little done . . . or a lot? How does the weather influence your output?

5 comments:

Sandy Cody said...

Good question. I get much more writing done when the weather is bad and I'm not tempted to go outside. Having said that, I have to add that I'm glad I live in a place where the seasons change. A new seasons always prods me to begin anew, to set newe goals for myself.

Elisabeth Rose said...

I can write in any season. The weather is irrelevant really except in winter I wear my sheepskin slippers and have a blanket over my knees, sometimes even fingerless mittens. At the moment however it's stinking hot so I have to keep getting up for drinks of water.
Either way I love the view from my window and I am most comfortable working in my little study rather than outside or away from home.

Loretta C. Rogers said...

Beate, I thoroughly enjoyed your article. I tend to be a little tense during hurricane season when the winds howl and the community suffers multiple brown-outs (which is hard on the computer.)In Florida, we have a lot of electrically storms(no rain, just horrendous lightning) which means shutting down the computer until the weather passes. Generally, Spring is the season that calls me outdoors. I love the extended daylight hours, so when I write in the Spring, it's usually after 10 p.m. Otherwise, I sit in my small office that overlooks a spring-fed creek and create.

www.lorettacrogersbooks.

Beate Boeker said...

I loved your comments . . . it's so interesting to see how different our worlds are. Loretta, I'm like you . . . in spring, I have to be outside! We never have electrical storms over here - it must be a scary experience. No hurricanes, either, and it's very, very rare that the electricity fails. Enjoy winter and summmer, wherever you are!

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