The opposite of writer's block

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Judg

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I've hit a sweet spot in the last week. After months and months of writing being a labour (dealing with an unresponsive agent had something to do with it, I'm sure), I've lately been on a real roll. Writing has become fun, so much fun my normal distractions irritate me. I want to get back to writing. And it's been a wonderful place to be.

I don't know how long this is going to last, but I'm taking advantage of it. When I have to go out to do errands, I take a notebook and take a lunch or coffee break while I'm out to get some more writing down. Normally public places distract me way too much for me to be able to write.

I'm not sure I can put lightning in a bottle, but the key seems to be that I've gotten to know my characters, and I know what I want to have happen quite clearly in my head.

Or maybe because for the first time I'm writing a couple falling in love. I'm not used to doing that kind of thing (the writing, I mean) and I'm finding it some of the easiest writing I've ever done. Who woulda thunk it? I always thought it would be really, really hard. This story demanded it though, so I plunged forward.

Anybody else in that sweet spot? What did it for you?
 

Darzian

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Good for you Judg! I've encountered such periods (albeit rarely) but they rarely lasted more than a few days. Always make max use of them.

I think it's got something to do with the way Jupiter and Mars are positioned on those nights.........
 

poetinahat

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I thought the opposite of Writer's Block was Reader's Block... :rolleyes:

(gives self an uppercut)
 

backslashbaby

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Congratulations! I love it when that happens. I wish it happened more for me. Usually it's just a day here and there, but it's very fun :)

I'm hoping I'll get more of that once I get a better grasp on the whole story and the characters. I know so much could change where I am right now. I like it better later, even if the playing around part is its own kind of fun.
 

Judg

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LOL! Come on everybody. I need your secrets so I can unbottle your lightning when mine runs out. If I'm going to make a career out of this, finding painless ways of increasing my output would be invaluable. I'm such a slow writer under normal circumstances.

I find going back to reread has been a help too. This makes sense to me. When I used to do knitting and crocheting, I loved to stop every now and again, lay the piece flat and just admire it for what it was so far. Gave me good feelings about what I had accomplished. So going back and rereading chunks has helped me a lot, especially when one of those nasty little voices in my head tells me what a load of crap I'm writing. Going back and actually enjoying what I've written helps shut them up.
 

TheAntar

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I've had similar flashes, though its been awhile.

Might be odd, or might be normal, I'm not sure, but one thing I know definitively: Other people reading my work makes me want to write more.

If I finish a short story and just let it sit, I get tired/bored and don't want to write again for a bit, until the batteries recharge.

But if I share the story, get some feedback, rewriting becomes a pleasure. But even better, when I was writing my novel I had an alpha-reader, and the instant I hit the last period on every chapter I'd be IMing it to him.

The motivation was amazing. I hammered out the second half of my novel in 10 days. Obviously rewrites and edits followed, but nothing kept me moving along quite like that alpha reader, anxiously asking me if I was done the next chapter yet!

Too bad I can't seem to recreate that situation, as that second half of my novel remains not only my most efficient writing time, but also my best writing to date.
 
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My secret? Discipline. You may have read some of my posts, Judg, where I talk about the muse not gracing me with her presence - I have to go out into the streets, drag her home by the hair and chain her to my laptop.

The only thing that gets me in the zone is pushing, pushing, pushing. The first thousand words of any day are, for the most part, work. After that it becomes fun. Once I get past 2k, it flows.

So really, it's habit. Or a routine. Both of which are words that suggest a bad case of the blahs to me, so let's call it discipline instead. Training oneself to write, as if it were a muscle. Through use and training, it becomes easier to summon that potential and get yourself in the zone.
 

MattW

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The Zone.

There are unpredictable circumstances that let me get there, but it's like tunnel vision and inspiration all at once. I think it is some kind of self-hypnosis.

It doesn't happen as much as it used to when I write, but it almost always happens when I'm working on a program, a simulation, or a very detailed spreadsheet.

It's different that disciplined work. It really feels like time elongates and shrinks at the same time. Anyone else get that feeling?
 
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The Zone.

There are unpredictable circumstances that let me get there, but it's like tunnel vision and inspiration all at once. I think it is some kind of self-hypnosis.

It doesn't happen as much as it used to when I write, but it almost always happens when I'm working on a program, a simulation, or a very detailed spreadsheet.

It's different that disciplined work. It really feels like time elongates and shrinks at the same time. Anyone else get that feeling?
I don't think it is.

You talk about self-hypnosis and I think that's what discipline is. Convincing yourself you can do this and will do this. It becomes a way to train yourself (hypnotise yourself?) to expect 'the zone' and know it's coming.
 

Ken

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... have experienced something related, call it a cousin 3rd removed if you will. I occasionally get consumed in a project, similar to your own current state, Judg. But it often isn't any easier going than at other times. It simply needs to be done, so the struggles are less wearisome, and when I encounter blocks they stand before me like challenges to be overcome and I confront them with gusto crying, "Make way knave before I run you through!" Well, not entirely with so much confidence as that ;-) // Keep writing and don't worry about running dry. Eventually that'll happen, but now that you've got the swing of things you'll be back in the saddle again in no time flat :)
 

truelyana

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LOL! Come on everybody. I need your secrets so I can unbottle your lightning when mine runs out. If I'm going to make a career out of this, finding painless ways of increasing my output would be invaluable. I'm such a slow writer under normal circumstances.

I find going back to reread has been a help too. This makes sense to me. When I used to do knitting and crocheting, I loved to stop every now and again, lay the piece flat and just admire it for what it was so far. Gave me good feelings about what I had accomplished. So going back and rereading chunks has helped me a lot, especially when one of those nasty little voices in my head tells me what a load of crap I'm writing. Going back and actually enjoying what I've written helps shut them up.

Lovely, that's great! :)

I have always enjoyed writing too, but for the most part I have used writings as a gateway to express my most sad or negative moments.

For now, I just feel to write to express myself with others and nothing too heavy.

I feel that I often touch my spiritual side with words, but find that I need less of them in my life at the moment. In other words am enjoying just getting active with my life, rather than paddling down and writing about it.

Yay for you, and keep it up. Enjoyment is bliss, when it's encountered. :)
 

maestrowork

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I have had a good week, too... words just flowed, and characters are talking to me... And once I wrote over 7000 words -- that was a good day.

I find that listening to a certain type of music helps get me to the zone (although I don't like to write while listening to music anymore -- it's distracting). Also, I find that if I actively think about the WIP while I'm waking up (in a state between sleep and wake) I'd have a better writing day... I'd get ideas and visualize scenes that excite me. It's been working the past week or so...
 

Rose English

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Sounds like heaven to me, Judg. I say enjoy the moment. I'm always seeking this experience when I write.

I need your secrets so I can unbottle your lightning when mine runs out.

Well, one thing I am sure about, for me anyway; the 'sweet spot' or zone is more likely to happen when I empty my diary of social obligations. I can't be sociable and write too. I can be temporarily sociable in order to re-stock upstairs. Then I need to daydream a lot. It took a therapist to help me see that this is a vital way I process the world. Not laziness.
 
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Strange thing is, I get more done when I have a full day. You know that saying, "If you want something done, ask a busy man?" It's true. When I have 24-hours in my diary clear, I get nothing or very little written. That's not to say I can write in five-minute increments. I prefer a couple of hours here and there. But an entire day free gives me an entire day to waste.
 

CaroGirl

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Cool! I'm so glad your muse (or whatever) has come to call!

I agree with re-reading chunks of text. That gets me motivated to write more and, unless I'm on a roll and jumping straight in where I left off a day or less prior, I need to do that to get the flow going again. I have productive periods but, as others have said, they last only a few days at a time max.

Sometimes it helps if I can work out a problem I know I have with a scene, or fill in or change something earlier in the story that I know isn't working.

Write on, my friend!!
 

KTC

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I forced myself not to write for decades. Since I revisited writing in or around 2003---I've been writing non-stop. Not a bit of slowdown. I'm in my sweet spot and I'm never getting out of it.
 

maestrowork

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I forced myself not to write for decades. Since I revisited writing in or around 2003---I've been writing non-stop. Not a bit of slowdown. I'm in my sweet spot and I'm never getting out of it.

Why did you force yourself not to write? I'm just curious.

I didn't write (creatively) since college. Jobs, other interests, etc. But I didn't really force myself not to write; I just really didn't have much interest back then.
 
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Lack of faith in his own abilities, perhaps? Lord knows why. I've said it privately and I'll say it publicly: Kevin's writing reads like the work of a poet.
 

KTC

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Thanks so much, Peachy.

Ray...from an early age my creativity was ALWAYS discouraged and frowned upon. So much so that it became ingrained in me to steer clear of my creative bent. It took years for me to realize I had permission to be creative just by allowing it to happen. All through that time I was like a bomb waiting to explode...now I can't stop.


and, yes...total lack of faith in self too. (-;
 

icerose

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I call it the zone as others do. The zone requires that no one is pandering for my attention which is rare, usually after all the kids are in bed and my husband has already had his lovin' so I'm free to do anything I want without anyone needing anything from me.

Music helps me get into the zone.

I used to get two zones a day, one during nap time, and one at night. But now my little one doesn't take a nap anymore. :cry:
 
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Hey! There's nothing wrong with a bit of puke occasionally!

SP, who refers to her first drafts as 'brainvomit'.
 
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