Writing with PMS

Heads up, ladies who write and have PMS.

I’m one of them. And I’m on the mean reds train that stops to cry at every slow song, every tragic news story and every success story for any writers who are successful – and aren’t me.

I know I have PMS because of the reasons I just listed: In the last few days I’ve cried (and I mean sobbed) whilst listening to Rihanna’s song Stay on the radio. This morning after a brief walk, I sat on the porch and listened to Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind, and I could barely get up to come inside and continue with my day. What happened at the Boston Marathon continues to haunt me (with or without PMS – I’m crying…).

I feel lost. I feel hopeless. I feel like I’ll never get there.

And then I ask myself – well, where the eff do you want to go? what’s with all the pressure, woman?! I can’t answer myself. At least not in any kind of solid, knowing, positive way…and that’s how I know. I get that my hormones are pushing me to think and feel way outside of my…well, self. Pushing me to question every thought I have, every step I take, every email I read.

Reading about a mom-of-three who wrote a YA novel in one month, self-published on amazon and made the New York Times Bestseller list, like five minutes later did not sit well in my weakened confidence PMS state of mind.

Her name is Colleen Hoover. Here’s her story.

I should be happy for her! I should get her e-book and read the hell out of it. Tell all my friends. And certainly let it be a lesson to ME that there is definitely success to be had via self-publishing.

…enter mean reds. One month? She wrote her novel in one month? I’m going on year five with mine….and ain’t no Hollywood producer knockin’ on my door for the rights to make it a film. Wallow. Wallow. Self pity. Self pity.

How can I use these nasty feelings and over-ripe emotions to my writing advantage?

Write poetry:

Balls I say
Balls to broads
Who write novels in days
While I mutter alone in a mean red haze

No…that’s not helping.

Remember my character traits and use them for a character in my next book:

Character traits of mother in mid-thirties with PMS:

irritable
bloated
crabby
self-loathing
depressed
oh, alright – bitchy

Starting to feel better….

My point is this:

Being able to accept and harness our emotional states can be beneficial to our writing lives. Take note of how you’re feeling in your deepest, darkest, hardest moments and reflect on how your experience of life can translate into your writing.

You go, Colleen. You go.

Be positive even in the midst of hormonal challenges.

Or write it out. That’s what I do.