or know about, or can imagine! if the first were true, there'd be no sci-fi or fantasy, no novels about anything the authors hadn't experience themselves...
yes that is what I also meant by what I know which should include a large amounts of wits,imagination words and thoughts. I mean anything that is true to one's ideas thoughts and behaviour as well life and the environment that surrounds one.
When I was at my very very lowest, I wasn't able to write fiction, happy or unhappy. Some mentally ill people are creatively inspired by their neuroses, for better or worse, and the products of this creativity can be anywhere between beautiful and completely nonsensical (maybe sometimes, they're both). Severe depression affects people in different ways. I was unable to create stories; it was like my mind had partially shut down and I no longer had access to certain parts of my brain. I only had the basics, eating, breathing, sleeping, observation, miserable introspection. So I wrote, not made up stories but what was really happening to me. It was all I had, and nothing else but paper and pen gave me any sense of catharsis. I wrote a 75 thousand word story with myself as the main character, and I was nothing but a fly on hospital walls. I'll never publish it, but I'm told it's pretty decent. That doesn't matter. I needed to write it. I couldn't not.
I'm sorry but I don't understand how anyone can be depressed for a few hours. There's a difference between being depressed and feeling sad I suppose writing depressing stuff when you're depressed could go either way: as someone said, it could either purge the bad feelings out, or it could give greater credence to those feelings and, in all, make them worse. I think it depends on the person
A knowledge of depression is certainly helpful. I would say it wouldn't be the same without it - making it up will often appear shallow, even if you have research. But I meant more taking yourself out of the depression before tackling it with words.
You may be closer than you think- this post made me think of, specifically, therapists. They're there mostly to bounce off how you're feeling in life, with the absolute guarantee of a confidential session. Other than giving a little input, and maybe giving your experience a fancy term, writing does the same thing- it's there to vocalize your worries, your concerns, and any other emotion, in complete confidence. Just bouncing these ideas off of a different person helps remove yourself from the equation. Once one is out of the issue, one can think clearly and find an answer to his or her problems.
If you don't have any downs you can't have any ups. Nothing to overcome then no story. Even books for children have bumps along the road for their characters, even if it's losing their favourite toy. Reading sadness doesn't have to be reading depressing. But we all experience sadness and that is an inevitable part of life that is NOT a negative.
