Why is it hard to write in January and February? by Lorna Clark

 

Each New Year I plan to write every day. Each January, I fail. I struggle to write much at all that month or in February. Is it just me? Or does it affect other writers as well?

Research on the internet, suggests I’m not alone and the reasons given make sense to me.

Here’s what’s usually going on:

Our brains are tired after Christmas. Adrenaline keeps us going in December, but the Christmas holiday breaks that routine. Our brains are tired and we feel stodged up and lazy. January 1^st is the wrong time to make resolutions as we’re still in recovery mode and creativity hates being rushed out of convalescence.

There’s also the problem with short days and low light levels. I always feel much more motivated to write on a summer evening than I do on a cold dark winter evening. I don’t have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but I still lack motivation.

Apparently, many writers have a natural creative cycle and output peaks in certain seasons, while other seasons are for rest. We all need rest – think of the beautiful rose, which would not bloom without its winter rest, or the hedgehog who hibernates all winter and comes out in spring, ready to mate and produce offspring.

Finally, winter narrows the world. We are less likely to go for a walk, less likely to meet people and it seems as if the scenery is dull and unchanging. Ever day feels like the last one.

But today, I saw snowdrops in flower, and they indicate that the seasonal bleakness is thinning.

So, for now, I will stick to writing for just a few minutes each day and taking the weekends off. I’ll move my desk to the lightest place in the room and I’ll vary what I’m doing daily: writing, outlining, revising, research etc. I’ll read more, to feed my hungry brain and then, on March 1^st, I’ll make my resolutions for the year.

We’re not broken in winter, just temporarily running on low.

God rested on the seventh day, gave nature a time of resting and expects us to have rest periods too. We can feel guilty about our low production in the dark seasons or take His time of resting with gratitude.

Lorna lives in Norfolk and loves the countryside. She is a licensed Lay Minister in her local church. She has published two cosy crime books and is working on a book of stories relating to each Sunday’s lectionary readings.