Long is This Winter of Our Discontent - A Writer's Survival Guide

The reality is that we're discontented with this winter. Will the gloom never end? Of course, those of you aware of where I live are probably scoffing at the minimalist winters we on the Gulf Coast experience. Scoff all you want, it's still been a lousy winter by anybody's standards.

No matter where you live, all of us are living through more cold, rainy/snowy days than we're used to or want to including my crazy Aunt that complains when Lake Ontario hasn't frozen thick enough, whatever that means, I mean frozen is frozen in my opinion.

Frozen enough for you Auntie?

The plus of all this yuckiness (and yes there is a plus) is that when the  weather is bad, we're stuck inside and inside is the best place to write. Oh I know, some writers wax poetic about writing on a sunny hillside, but unless they're using paper and pencil, it ain't happening. The glare on most laptops (including my beloved Mac) makes it impossible to write outside. Since we're forced indoors, we might as well write. I am doing just that and am getting some good stuff written.

Well, actually, I've been revising and struggling with passive voice for some bizarre reason. Passive voice has never been one of my writing problems, overuse of conjunctions is my major writing snafu, so why I'm suddenly stricken with the passive voice bug is a mystery, a lazy, meandering, passive one for sure.

Anyway, as I was saying before obsessing on my newest writing nemesis, let's use this loathsome winter to energize our writing. I realize it's hard to stay focused and positive when gloomy cold lingers outside our windows. Still, it's what we need to do, it's what I need to do.

And for my good friend freezing in her drizzly world of snow and dark skies and cold temperatures--you've got nothing else to do, you might as well get writing and remember: