Does anyone else get a rush when their writing is going well? Like when you read yesterday's words and they are almost perfect and smoothing it out comes super easy. Then comes the inspiration for continuing. I'm working on a new short story and I'm kind of in love with it. I'm only about 2k words into it, but what I've got down so far I'm very happy with. I don't always feel this way about my writing. However, when I do get this sort of writer's high it usually means what I have down is pretty good. Anyway, yay for good writing days. Okay, it's back to work for me. Des anyone else experience a writer's high when things are going well? Why can't this happen all the time for me? But I'll take these good days when I can get.
It's an artist's high, you can experience it in whatever kind of art you do when things are really working. I call it the flow. When I got my flow on, life is magical. These times make everything else worthwhile.
I suppose the experience is the same for all writers, but I am very inside my head when I write. In the beginning, I have an idea what I want to say, but the thoughts are shadowed. What I am looking for is somewhere over my mental horizon. Think, and think and maybe do some pacing, and connections are made, bridges made. And it comes to you. You get over that horizon. You are able to say exactly what you wanted to say. Words and meaning flow out your fingertips. I think the writer's (or any artist's) high is borne of fruitful self-expression.
Agree with everything that's been said, I just wish that such times made up more than like, 3% of all time spent writing.
Hi Sure do! But then comes the low - editing! And the higher I got, the faster I wrote, and the more problems there are! Cheers, Greg
I had some insight I want to share here that's very relevant. It hit me suddenly while I was thinking about stuff from my blog. I think writer's high is also what's known as being in the zone, or the flow state. I also think it's what's called being in right-brain creative mode as opposed to left-brain critical mode. You shift into right-brain mode when you work intuitively. I've experienced this many times when drawing, painting and writing. When I freewrite for instance, it's a way of shutting down the inner critic, which is inimical to creativity. The more I write according to rules and systems, the more it engages the logical left brain, and the less spontaneous things get, and the less 'in the zone' I am. That's unless I have the rules or structures memorized, in which case I don't need to be in left brain mode. I can work in creative, intuitive mode and still access the information from memory. No need for logic, no need to activate the critic. I think often when I do critiques (surpise surprise) I slip into full left-brain mode and forget to be nice. I get too focused on criticizing, on dissecting and analyzing, unless I can get myself into right-brain mode. There are tricks to do this. Freewriting is one, drawing freely and intuitively is another. Meditation also works, as I can attest. I've tried many different styles—usually I just shut down the constant stream of words in my head. All negative emotion (stress, anxiety) disappears and after a while a subtle bliss wells up that gradually fills me. It's low key, but it can get pretty intense. If you focus on it and sort of sink into it, it will keep growing. These are all ways of shifting from left-brain mode into right-brain mode. I learned how to do household chores or exercise or walk around the block while meditating, and it's amazing! After you've been doing meditation for a while and got pretty good at it, you just get up and start doing simple repetitive tasks. It's easy, though you'll catch yourself starting to think in words again and again. Just shut it off each time, don't get angry or chastize yourself, be forgiving. And gradually you'll be able to remain in full wordless meditation the entire time. Then you're ready to start talking or writing in meditation. That's harder, but when you can do chores and keep the words shut off the whole time you're ready to start. It takes a while to get good, you'll keep slipping into full left-brain mode, but keep practicing. You talk slowly and kind of weirdly, like a monk or a guru. That's what they're doing most of the time, and why they sound like that. You'll talk in sort of poetic ways rather than logical analytical ways. I don't mean in rhyme and meter, but in a more poetic conception. Anybody who wants to increase time in the zone should look into it and try it out. @Robert Musil I'm lookin' at you buddy Of course you can't stay in right brain mode the entire time you're writing. You'll need to frequently shift to left brain for some sharper logic. But when you know about this you can get back to right brain mode when you want to and enjoy the benefits. It's just nice to know it can be done at will when you practice the techniques. You might need to look at a few meditation sites or get a book or something, or watch some videos. And be aware there are some weird meditation practices that probably do the opposite. Like I said, the one that works best for me is just to empty your mind of all words. It helps to 'trap the tongue' against the roof of the mouth, sort of pushed forward against the teeth so it can't move, When you're talking under your breath (subvocalizing) even if it's completely silent, you usually move the tongue as if youre talking out loud. Not alwaays, but if you trap the tongue it makes it a lot easier to switch off the words. I also sometimes need to go "Auuuummmmm" constantly in my head or out loud, depending on how hard it is to switch off. Sometimes you're all hyped up, caffeine or no caffeine, and it's pretty hard (or impossible). In right brain mode my writing gets more intuitive and flows better, and I tend to write things that I notice connect up in unexpected ways. Good ways. That doesn't generally happen if I'm writing in left brain mode. Oh, I should definitely add—when you learn how to do this stuff, you can sort of control how far you go into either side. It's isn't just a binary on-off thing, you can move the slider switch. Go three quarters into right-brain mode, then slide down to one quarter when you need some more logic, and then way up to like 90%. Of course the farther you go, the more it becomes like gibberish, so you need to reign it in to some extent. But if you want to experience writer's high for a while just to feel better or kick off some creativity, just write full nonsense for a while. When I freewrite I usually start with gibberish and shift by stages toward making more sense and having more control. I'll find the sweet spot and then just hang out there for a while. I usually do this as a warmup before I start writing for the day.
Yes, and it's wonderful. I have certain memorable 'key' sessions from my past that I return to sometimes to 'induce' a vibe in myself when I feel kinda stifled. Even just reflecting on these past sessions is intoxicating, but that's nothing compared to when the session is really banging in real time and you are absolutely killing it, words are flowing, you are feeling the action and movement and the characters are talking and thinking and the circumstances of the story are engaging, electric. Yep, I know exactly what you mean.
