Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Writing in Season


What season is it for you?


Here in western Canada, it is the dead of winter, though I know some of you are in the heat of summer! Winter may be my favorite season to write. I can cozy up to my laptop near the fire with a mug of something hot – I'll be honest; that's usually a homemade mocha! – and dream of happenings in other places. There's no need to worry about outside work on the farm, because we no longer have livestock. A walk on the country road most afternoons is all the 'outside' I need.

It's just me and my story world, day after day, and that suits me pretty fine!

In spring, outside is rather enticing, at least once the mud dries up and the daffodils poke out of the ground. The flowerbeds need a good weeding, the yard needs a back scratch (ie: rake) and, later on, it's time to put the garden in.

Still, my thoughts are often having adventures with my imaginary friends, and I scurry inside to record what they are doing.

Summer brings heat and the ever-present balance between the need to weed the garden and the incessant buzz and bite of mosquitoes. I'm not a lover of heat, so I do the minimal amount of yard work and spend most of my writing time in the living room rather than my too-hot upstairs office.

Summer might be the second best season for me to write, though. Or at least it would be if we didn't go camping so many weekends. By camping, I'm not talking about the local KOA with electrical outlets. I'm talking about sitting by a creek, miles from the nearest current (or currant) bush. I get a lot of reading done when we're camping. Sometimes character building and other story planning, but actual writing is a bit tricky when the laptop runs out of juice so quickly.

Autumn weather pulls me outside again with cooler temperatures and fewer bugs. Also the garden harvest is in full swing with tomatoes and other produce to can and freeze. It's definitely the busiest season of all on the farm. The first frost of the year is welcome to end the bounty so calmer schedules can prevail.

In 2015 I wrote in all seasons, but I got a good start in the first five months by writing three novellas and one novel. Two more novellas and then most of a novel followed in the summer and fall – a novel I finally finished the first draft of last week, though I'd intended to complete that stage in 2015.

Writing in season means something else to me, too.
I wrote a Christmas novella in August, listening to carols stream from iTunes and pretending it was ten below (Celsius) instead of thirty-five above! It didn't always work. The novel I just completed, Berry on Top, the final installment in the Farm Fresh Romance series, takes place from mid-December through mid-February, and I wrote it in October through January – a much better alignment.

What about you? Do you tend to read stories that take place in the season you're currently in? As a writer, how hard (or easy) is it for you to immerse yourself in the opposite season in your story world?

Valerie Comer's life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local food movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Valerie. I've always been able to read anything... anytime. But lately, I've been more diligent about seeking out books that take place during the current season, especially winter. It makes the story seem even more real to me. As far as writing, I love writing winter scenes during the heat of summer, when I'm hot and miserable, as it puts me in the mindset of snow, ice, and cold winds blowing...

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    1. Writing Merry Kisses in August with sweat dripping off my nose, to say nothing of gagging on smoke from forest fires, was a bit of a challenge!

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  2. Enjoyed reading your post. I do enjoy your books. I don't know that I really pay much attention to the season of the book that I am reading.

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    1. I don't pay a lot of attention to it, either, except that I read Christmas stories all through November and December!

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  3. Valerie, so much of my stories are based in the Northern Hemisphere so I'm always having to think the opposite season to one I'm in which can be a bit tricky especially if the next chapter or scene hops into the southern hemisphere. Typically, my stories are based in the middle of the year. I'm not quite sure why.

    I recently read The Girl from the Train which had some very powerful "seasonal" descriptions of winter in Poland and summer in South Africa which I found captivating. I think one of the reasons I enjoy reading a Christmas story most years is I'll read ones based in cold climes so love reading about the snow and all the differences between what we have here in Australia.

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    1. I was about to say I never have that problem of my stories flipping to the other hemisphere, but that's not true! Plum Upside Down took a quick dive from Idaho to South Africa!

      I'd think Christmas novels (and movies) would seem very strange to you southerners! Like a glimpse into a completely different world. Your Christmas reality is so unlike ours. I started to read a Christmas novella set on a tropical cruise and I just couldn't get into it. It wasn't Christmassy to me.

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  4. I'm with Ian, Valerie! Right now it's a roasting 104 degrees in Sydney. I just finished reading one of Roseanna White's spy novels and imagined the nice cool temps in it. And yes, Christmas for us is bushfires and blowflies and prawns on the barbie.

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    1. I love this glimpse into Aussie vocabulary! "Bushfires and blowflies and prawns on the barbie." Full of words I understand (other than blowflies) but not used the same way here. In Canada we have forest fires or wildfires. The word shrimp is more commonly used than prawns, and we'd say barbecue rather than barbie. Or write it as BBQ. So fun.

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  5. Whoo--I'm heading to Calgary next week--I'll be prepared for your dead of winter! I love the coziness of staying in and writing or reading in the winter. But then, I love to stay in and write or read anytime!

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    1. Last I heard, Calgary was having winter, too! So glad there's a lot of snow this year. We need it.

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  6. I'm with you on the homemade mocha, Valerie. Yes, I tend to get more done in winter because there's no yard work calling me. Summer is more difficult with mowing and hoeing, family visits and grandkids from next door, but sometimes you just have to put on headphones and disappear into your writing.

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    1. Sometimes I disappear too often! Who, me? Workaholic??? Sigh.

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  7. Interesting post, Valerie. It makes no difference to me whether it's sweltering outside and I'm reading about the snow. Nor does it make a difference to WHAT I'm writing. But it sure makes a difference to how PRODUCTIVE I am. I am in the southern hemisphere and when we have a heat-wave I hunch in front of a fan or sit on the verandah with my laptop seeking a breeze, but I battle to concentrate on my story. When sweat is trickling down my back and I keep having to spray my face with cool water, it is very difficult to bother about what my characters are doing! So what? Don't they know I'm dying over here?

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  8. Interesting post, Valerie. It makes no difference to me whether it's sweltering outside and I'm reading about the snow. Nor does it make a difference to WHAT I'm writing. But it sure makes a difference to how PRODUCTIVE I am. I am in the southern hemisphere and when we have a heat-wave I hunch in front of a fan or sit on the verandah with my laptop seeking a breeze, but I battle to concentrate on my story. When sweat is trickling down my back and I keep having to spray my face with cool water, it is very difficult to bother about what my characters are doing! So what? Don't they know I'm dying over here?

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    1. Oh, you made me laugh, Shirl! No, your characters don't care you're dying of heatstroke. Selfish things are only thinking of themselves!

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  9. Valerie, I was happy to write my spring novella during spring! Finally the seasons aligned for book #8 :)

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    1. Too fun! I know you wrote your summer Splash novella in fall for you!

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