: Does writing in a certain mood change how a writer writes? I'm not sure if this is right for this part of Stackexchange, but since there is no psychology section, here we go: I'm currently

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Everything about you on a particular day influences your creative output. Not only mood, but also how tired you are, what drugs you have been taking, whether you are hungry or not hungry or have eaten way too much food, whether you have worries or not, whether you feel rushed or not, what location you are writing in. That is why you see a lot of writers (and artists and other creative people) carving out a quiet, neutral room to work in so that when they go into that room, they go into a neutral place and mood, apart from the details of that particular day, apart from the world, and then they can shift high or low in mood and intensity as required by the subject matter of the work they are doing.

What you are doing by writing the same story while in different moods reminds me of the following art project, where the artist painted the same self-portrait multiple times while under the influence of different drugs. Included here as food for thought about how state of mind influences creative work.

Bryan Lewis Saunders — Under the Influence

You might want to experiment with any or all of the above factors. Like fast for a day and then write your story, and then eat 10,000 calories in a day and write your story.

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Yes... before writing, writer feels the emotions of the character thats been depicted into the story. Its a role of a writer to create emotions of the character and personally feel the emotion and be into the character while writing. If you as a writer don't feel the character, readers will never be able to feel. So its important to be in the mood and emotion of the character while writing and it does effect your writing... :)

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I would say yes. I found a short articles for you to puruse at your lesure:
www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/a-positive-mood-allows-your-brain-to-think-more-creatively.html
I have noticed when writing poetry or music, I tend to do my most prolific work when I am upset. I write down everything I can and use that mood as fuel. When I am in a happier mood and reread what I wrote, it is usually garbage, but I am able to do some good editing.

I hate to answer with a completely subjective answer, but that is what I have found.

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It does impact how you write, and possibly your ability to write, but not always in a predictable or positive sense.

At first it might seem that it's easier to write about a particular emotion when you're experiencing that emotion. Not necessarily. Let's assume that you can somehow work yourself into that emotional state without it seeming strained or artificial. (I'm glossing over that, but recognize the ability to do so is remarkably difficult unto itself.) Does that really give you any value when it comes to portraying that emotion?

For first-person stories, perhaps, but even then it will require significant editing. People undergoing an intense emotion tend to get wrapped up in that emotion, but you don't want that kind of directionless anger, depression, or what have you in a story. There should be enough to get a sense of it, but getting lost in it means you run the risk of losing the narrative, and therefore the reader's attention.

In third-person I'd say it's almost useless. Unless you're going to let the character's thoughts take over the narrative in some subtle way, there's no point. You need to remain firmly in the mind of the narrator, even if your third-person story follows characters (or possibly just one character) closely.

That said, it is helpful when it comes to writing about intense emotion to have experienced that emotion, but the key here lies in past tense. It's hard to describe something when you're currently experiencing it, but far easier when it's a memory. After all, intense emotion is more often than not an inhibitor of logical thinking, which isn't very helpful when you need to sit down and pump out a story.

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I guess the correct question would be "Is having your text affected by your mood good or bad?"

I have no doubt that what the author is feeling affects the way he writes, just as anybody in any kind of job will be affected in their performance by the way they are feeling. It's normal to a certain point.

The problem is that what you feel might affect your work in different ways, and it's up to you to use what is good and leave out what is not.

I always heard that Interview with the Vampire was written after the death of the author's daughter and, in fact, I see a really good book with a good deal of emotion in it. If that is true, I can see aspects of that death of a child in its pages (if it's not, writing is subjective anyway). I would say that Anne's emotion was good for the text and she knew how to deal with it.

On the other hand, I see people start to do a lot of crappy text because they are depressed. A common mistake is to write about what you are feeling and forget that other people will read it and need to achieve what you are feeling. A book is not a diary.

So, everything has a good and bad side.

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I am reminded of the anecdote about Dustin Hoffman torturing himself for Marathon Man because he was a "Method" actor, so he'd look as tortured as his character. Lawrence Olivier looked at him and said, "My dear boy, that's why they call it acting."

Whenever we write, unless we're writing an autobiography, we are always putting ourselves into someone else's mood, experience, mindset, etc. So while you can take notes when you're in a particular mood to use for later, just because you're depressed doesn't mean you'll write brilliant prose from the POV of being depressed. You may just be too depressed to write anything.

That is, in fact, "changing how a writer writes," but not, I think, in the way you meant.

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