Let the Cold In… 5 Ways Only Winter Inspires My Writing

I hope you all are staying warm and safe out there! In my experience, winter is a time of year that makes it all too easy to feel trapped, unmotivated, uninspired, or even depressed. Any of you who have read my more recent poetry collection may have noticed that many of my poems of winter talk about how much I miss the sun. 

However, winter can also be a time of magic and wonder, and if you let it, this cold season can inspire like no other. Today, I wanted to share five ways that the winter season inspires my writing.

1. Winter night walks, particularly with the snow falling on the trees. 
I tend to have a really hard time with the short daylight hours and cold, dark, long nights. I love to walk, and I struggle when it’s too cold or too dark to go out. But there’s something really magical about going out in the dark and the cold, with that frigid fresh air, looking up at the dark silhouettes of trees against the colorful darkness of the sky behind them and snow falling all around. Especially if it’s those big, fluffy flakes of snow. 

When I was a kid, I’d deliberately look to walk after dark, because I loved the way the snow looked as it fell past street lamps. Looking into the sky at the snow falling like that always made me feel like I was floating in outer space. 

2. Peppermint hot chocolate and early mornings. 
These two things here do not have to be combined for me to feel inspired by them, but oh boy, when they come together, it’s one of my favorite winter things. I loooooove getting up early in the morning, long before the sun has even attempted to rise, turning on the lights to my Christmas tree, getting some cocoa or coffee, and curling up with my laptop or a good book. Early mornings are special to me no matter what time of year I get them, but the wintery ones always feel just a little bit more magical.


3. Sweaters and super fuzzy socks.
I feel like I don’t really need to explain this one, as I think a lot of people feel the same way, but I’ll explain anyway. Getting dressed in a soft sweater and some super fuzzy socks - especially when paired with a nice soft blanket - is an instant mood lifter for me. When I dress like this, I feel somehow more motivated to write or read, and I think that comes from feeling totally safe and comfortable. And gosh, who doesn’t love dressing like a cloud?


4. The idea of Santa in general.
Christmas time is full of whimsy and magic, and even as an adult, I still cling to that holiday time wonder. But now I get to share it. I get to share the holiday magic with my little boy, who is now old enough to really get into it. I get to watch the same wondrous glow on his face that I had as a kid every time he sees Christmas lights, or presents, or someone brings up Santa (or gingerbread. He’s super into gingerbread this year, even though we don’t ever have it at our house because I’m allergic to cinnamon). 

5. When the world is covered with fresh snow.
I love this situation when the snow is fresh and the world looks like a perfect frozen wonderland. When the snow falls like this, the world feels totally still. It’s picturesque, like an old painting, and it makes me feel like I’ve been transported to a quieter, simpler time. But it’s not just the overall picture or the feeling that I love about times when the world is blanketed in snow. I also love that everything looks so beautiful up close. 

The snow sparkles and glistens, making everything look like glitter has been dumped across every surface (without the mess). The way windows frost over in magical looking patterns, even the way those thin layers of ice form and break. It’s all just… beautiful. And I adore the way the world smells just before it snows. 

​I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my current major work in progress is Fated, the last book in the Bound Trilogy. This book pretty much exclusively takes place in winter, and it’s been fun incorporating snow into the different places they visit and the various battle scenes that occur. Because this book has such a snowy atmosphere, I’ve been grateful to have this more intentional outlook of the winter season this time around.