I write best when I’m not writing
Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. –Robert Benchley
What a wonderful quote, and true.
Why is it that writing is easier when I really ought to be doing something else? Not to mention that writing gets about as hard as it gets when I’m supposed to be writing.
I’ve made time for it. I have all my equipment at hand. My book-in-progress is just waiting for me to write another word, another sentence, another page.
It’s true. I write best when I’m not writing. While lying in bed in the mornings the words form into a sprawling narrative, perfect in almost every way. Then I have to write them down, and I can’t explain how hard that is.
An author once told me (not personally, but through her written words in a self-improvement book I’d rather not name) that I could learn to enter a state of flow any time I wanted by following a few of her tips.
I tried.
I couldn’t.
And she hasn’t written that many more self-improvement books the last time I checked. Said self-improvement book now appears to be out of print.
At any rate, I’d love to be able to enter a state of flow every time I sit down in front of the computer to write. I know it exists. I’ve been there before. And I want a return trip. Maybe a commute. So I keep trying new techniques to get me there.
Breathing
Breathing hasn’t helped. I mean, it’s breathing. I breath to live, and spending too much time thinking about it gives me a strangely sharp sensation of suffocating.
So, breathing techniques, out.
Candles
Candles do smell nice, however, they don’t particularly make me want to write faster, and they never seem to offer much in the way of relaxation for me when I’m at the computer. Or the table. Or my desk. I do enjoy them while I’m in the tub, but does it put me in-the-flow?
No.
Uninterrupted Time
Having large blocks of time available are supposed to help. And they do. But often this just gives me the freedom to demand too much of myself and there goes the flow. Flow depends on focus, I think (I’m no psychologist). Without focus, I can’t become absorbed by my writing and I never enter a state of flow.
I’m going to boldly step forward as say that I don’t believe it’s possible to train myself to instantly enter a flow zone.
But I do believe I can help myself get there through a back door.
Focus and concentration are the single most important factors, in my opinion, when you’re trying to get into a state of flow.
Focus, but don’t concentrate.
I’ve found that if I stay focused, but don’t think too much, I’m much more likely to stay on track, avoid distraction, and begin to experience the free-flowing state of being that makes writing fun.
