Does anyone else have problems coming back to the real world after they've finished writing? Since I started writing seriously about 8 months ago I'm finding that my head is still in another place when I'm supposed to be focusing on other things. It's gotten so bad that the other day I went shopping and left my keys in the car with the ignition running the whole time I was in the supermarket. I didn't even realise until I got back to the car and couldn't find the keys in my bag! That's an extreme example, but it does seem to be one of the hazards of writing and I'm just wondering if other people have the same problem and how they deal with it.
At times, but I need an escape, so I don't mind. I"m able to focus on what I'm doing, but often if I'm in a boring situation I'll relate every single thing going on around me to my story in order to entertain myself. But when I'm with my friends, out having fun, I can focus on the real world. After I've had an intense writing spree, I feel out of it for a while. My normal word rate is 1,000-1,500 per sitting, but last night I did about 3,300 in a couple hours and everything around me felt a little surreal for a while. But I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.
It's really great when you get on a roll like that. I had a day like that last week, and when my wife came home from work and started talking to me, I had to give myself a mental nudge to get back to the present. Bummer.
Geez, it's hard enough for me to come back to reality after dreaming without adding problems with writing into the mix. But, no, I don't think so. Most of the stuff I've written has been - not depressing, but close to it - enough that I've come away emotionally satisfied and with an okay outlook on what life is like.
Afer I've been writing for a while, I find it hard to switch my brain off. I catch myself mentally describing everything around me as if I were writing about it. It's interesting sometimes, but it's a pain when I'm trying to focus on something else or go to sleep...
I am working on one main project and although I don't have any issues with returning to the real world I definately bring a bit of my created world with me. As bizarre as this sounds it reminds me of when I lived away at University. My home life/family and my university life/housemates were like two big bubbles and I would step from one to the other and feel comfortable in either. Each seemed capable of accepting me and also continuing without me for a while. They would never really merge but that was fine. This time its my real world and my created world. They can't merge and become one but I can come and go between them. I'll stop being odd now
I don't really get that 'stuck' in the writing, although of course there are times when I think about it a lot. I got lots of ideas for my last work on the train to work. Sometimes I'm a night owl so I've been known to write into the early hours. To switch off from that, I just try and get some sleep... doesn't always work.
