Best of times, Worst of times

"It was the best of times and the worst of times";  both are writing influences. When Charles Dickens used this sentence to set the tone for Tale of Two Cities, he was prepared to feel the happiness and despair about which he eloquently wrote. Are you prepared for both emotions in your writing?

You will find a story or a character emerge from either emotional extremes if you are willing to let that voice be heard. Suffering for art is not high on the bucket list, however to write authentically about suffering you have to have first hand experience. The same is true for outrageous joy; it's a mountain top moment that takes happy to new levels.

If you think that you can only write well when feeling content, you are missing a crucial part of the human equation. Sadness is not, at least for me, a productive time but it can become a useful time. Capture words, mental images or phrases that come to mind during the extremes of sadness or joy. You may recall these feelings later, but never with the sharpness that you have when engulfed in those moments. The act of writing is therapeutic for many people, but for writers it is necessary. In a time forward when you are back in your "write mind", review those notes. What you read can be personally healing and give the words to add to your writing so that others can identify with your work, exclaiming, "that's how I feel too!"