Writing and the Weather

The weather here in Arkansas has been all over the spectrum -- we have 80 degree days one day, and two days later it's 30 degrees and sleeting.

My favorite writing weather is snowy and cold. I bury myself in my writing chair under a giant duvet, drink coffee, and write. The cats sleep on my feet. The dog curls up on the sofa where he can keep an eye on me. The day rolls wonderfully on.

This winter, though, we had no snow, and no long stretches of cold weather. More than once, we've had to put the AC on at night in order to sleep -- this was in January and February. Plus, the lack of long cold stretches mean the bugs don't ever really die off.

Between this and the terrible flu and my new terrible schedule, I'm finding it hard to write productively.  I'm looking for a way to snap out of this slump.

One thing I'm trying is I now get do all my prep work and paperwork at school. This is easy to do, since I have three days on campus, most of which time is spent in my office -- not teaching, I mean. (I can't go home since Dr. Skull and I have only one car, and he's almost always at work on these days. He drops me off at 7:00 a.m. and picks me up at 4:00.)

Another thing I'm trying is to just write SOMETHING every day, even if it's just a paragraph.

I need more strategies, though.