In the month I've been AWOL, I've had a few adventures and more than several author-ish conversations with Bill (the man-candy)that have proved to be interesting. And since he's an English major, fellow nerd, and definitely a good writer about a couple different aspects of writing. One such talk was on the back roads to my grandparents house two hours away.
"Writers can't do shit when they're happy! All the best work they do is done when they're depressed about something!" he declared after informing me in an incredibly non-serious manner that our relationship was a happy thing and thus, cramping his style for any/all of the papers he was going to have to write in the coming semester of school. I begged to differ, it's not a matter of being depressed. To me it was a matter of being able to channel the proper emotion at the proper time. The debate was inconclusive but it did make me ponder.
I think he made a good point when he said (in less words) depression is like mothers' milk for authors. We live for the slumps that send us into a frenzy of writing and emerge from it with some serious catharsis. But I disagree with the idea of anything awesome that was ever written (with the exception of Poe, we all know he was a sad person all the time)stemming from the darkest corners of the human mind.
Honestly, being constantly depressed isn't healthy. I'm talking mostly to those of us that just deal with the emotional slumps that are totally natural. Times like that I've definitely cranked out some wonderful stuff and I've also written some of the most awful drivel ever that will never see daylight. And on occasion I'll just crank up mood-inducing music and have at it. That's usually my preferred method, you get all the benefits of the mood, without having to sink into an awful slump.
Bill and I eventually agreed to disagree and turned to other things and I made a mental note to use that conversation in a blog post. I'll most likely be posting a few more of our nerdy conversations and dissecting them from a writers' standpoint when they happen. Until then I'm going to get back to work and start coming up with more posts.
