: Re: How can you write when you're upset? I mean exactly this. Writing needs focus, to some extent. Even if you may fall into a state were words flow naturally on the keyboard almost without effort,

@Kristi637

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Speaking as someone who has struggled with the same thing..

*If you are someone who can effectively channel upset feelings into your writing and you have something on the slate that would benefit from the emotion then perhaps shift around your writing schedule to work on that now, it may end up a bit rough around the edges but you can always come back to it and edit when you're feeling calmer.

*If you really need to work on a specific scenes that the upset/anger aren't helpful for then really you need to get that out of your system before you can write. I have a few techniques in my repitoire that I mix and match between depending on what I feel will work best:

Set myself a time limit (usually 15-20mins is all it takes) and write/type out a rant about it, really cut loose, everything you wouldn't say out loud! Then delete/burn/destroy it when you're done. Don't read it, don't dwell on it, just get rid of it.
Exercise (personally I run but whatever works for you) - often stress/tension/anger and similar will have an accompanying tension in your muscles and this can seriously impede your ability to think clearly. Directing this into physical activity can help release this tension.
Councious breathing - this takes a bit of practice first so you can employ the techniques when you need them but if you can find a nice, slow and deep breathing pattern that works for you (the actual pattern is secondary in my experience) the key is to be consciously focused on the act of breathing and to keep it slow and controlled - the most basic being 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out (if you're particularly tall you may need to make those timings longer). Basically this works by convincing your parasympathetic nervous system that you are in a calm situation - essentially reversing the typical cause and effect that causes you to breath shallowly and quickly when stressed out. There's a lot of woo and general rubbish out there on the internet claiming this can cure just about anything but if you ignore all that and stick to the basics the science is sound - this is what they advise for relieving panic attacks and the like and what's a panic attack if not an extreme example of a stress response?

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