In the zone: What planet am I on?

[mount_oregano]

You may have heard about “writing in the zone.” It’s a creative state where the writer or artist becomes one with the work, in the flow, totally focused. Athletes can experience this, too.

Having been a writer for a while, I can say that this rarely happens. Most of us work distracted, even if we’re trying not to multitask. The computer advises you about a program update, the dog wants your attention, you’re out of coffee, and what’s that funny smell?

Still, it can happen. I remember one time vividly. Actually, what I remember is when it ended. I’d been working on the novel Interference, which takes place on a distant planet called Pax. I felt like I was there, living in the odd and wonderful sights, the cacophony of sounds, and the scents that carried meaning.

Then I looked up. Where was I? Not on Pax. So what planet was this? A blue sky, an oxygen atmosphere, and lots of clear signs of homo sapiens dominance. Yeah, this was Earth. In fact, pretty soon I recognized the city, the building, and the year, and remembered what I was doing there.

I still had one wisp of a question. Why was I on Earth? Why not somewhere else or some other time? The answer was obvious — but not entirely satisfying. Do I really have to be here?

Comments

[green_knight]

I can get into the zone by occupying the busy parts of my brain. Walking, cycling, and playing Match3 games like Bejewelled all let me access the storytelling part, and the connection of brain to fingers works well for me in that I don't need to _think_ about typing. (I need to pay more attention to writing by hand.)

The problem is that flow words, for me, tend to _be_ flow words. Dialogue. Angst (oh, so much angst). People shrugging in white rooms. If I want to describe locations, I need to stop and research them and find photos that highlight this angle or that (a building here, a tree there, a landscape over there). I need maps, lest I forget what other people are doing and who can see whom. So while I like being in the zone, it's not necessarily going to give me either great words or lots of them.

[mount_oregano]

I take getting into the zone as a gift, almost an accident. Most of the time I'm writing like you, starting and stopping and struggling.

[green_knight]

I try not to see it as a struggle (sometimes it is), but as going deeper and writing more deliberately. My weak points as a writer are intensified by writing fast, and by not falling into that trap, and spending more writing time on thinking and planning and working out the motivations of characters who are not on screen and soaking up settings so I can write about them properly etc etc I end up producing better words.

Not being resentful of my process is a work in progress - how I wish I could sit down and have elegant prose flowing out of my feather! - but it is what it is.

[mount_oregano]

I get elegant prose on the re-write, not the first draft.