Anyone ever experience a "writer's high?"

Absolutely! When I have days that the vision in my head comes out on the page exactly as I saw it, it's utterly thrilling!

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Of course! I'm thinking the real question is is there anyone of us who doesn't get writer's high?

And it's much better than alcohol.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Yes, I do. I also got writer's low though, so it evens out.

Yeah, I'm a very emotional novel writer, so I live my protag's successes and defeats.

I'm actually resigned to writing chapters of stuff that never even makes it into the final version of the novel, just because I want my characters to have a nice day before I torment them again. It's like restitution-in-advance.

Interestingly (at least to me), it's far more intellectual when I write shorts. I more often think their pain, rather than feeling it. Maybe because the story's over before I have a chance to get truly attached.

I really like writing both shorts and novels, though.

threetoedsloth said:

Sometimes when I write I get so into the story I start getting jittery and excited. It's kind of like writing drunk, but you're intoxicated on your work instead of alcohol.

Click to expand...

Cathy C said:

Absolutely! When I have days that the vision in my head comes out on the page exactly as I saw it, it's utterly thrilling!

Click to expand...

Siri Kirpal said:

Of course! I'm thinking the real question is is there anyone of us who doesn't get writer's high?

And it's much better than alcohol.

Click to expand...

williemeikle said:

Yes, I do.

Click to expand...

CathleenT said:

Yeah!

Click to expand...

Damn hippies!

It's an amazing feeling, and it probably means you are on the right track. Sometimes when this happens to me, I am like "where is this coming from" as I write. That high you are talking about also makes me write faster. I just want to go with it.

Vito said:

Damn hippies!

Click to expand...

Chill out, man.

williemeikle said:

Chill out, man.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, and I get also very emotional along it. It's a great feeling of this writer's high.

Oh yeah. It's the best.

My husband likes when I'm on a writer's high too.

Absolutely..., and I've been chasing the first one ever since!

Yeah. Sometimes I just get hit with this random burst of inspiration and I'll write madly for a long time, exhilarated over my work. Then I read it over later and it sucks, haha.

I've gotten something like that once or twice on a good plotting streak, but never when actually writing.

Yes!
...but then they sent me to rehab. And I've been trying to get my fix since.

'They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no, no, no!'

Oh, yes! I've certainly had that feeling. Once you've had it, it's sort of like "chasing the dragon." You want every writing session to feel that way, so you write more and more in the hopes that the next one will be as euphoric as the last. Sometimes you catch it, and it's wonderful. Other times, it's just another day in the word mines. Still worth it, though.

Newp. Unless you're talking about the times when I just feel "meh" about it instead of "aurguguhhhhhhh."

Siri Kirpal said:

I'm thinking the real question is is there anyone of us who doesn't get writer's high?

Click to expand...

Yep.

I've experienced it once or twice. Been chasing my third.

Yep. Those are the times when I lose track of time and just write until I can't write anymore. Major wordage on those days. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen every time. It's a mountain top experience. But, I would starve if I lived up there all the time. Because I forget simple things--like eating.

I get the writer's high after reading passages I've forgotten. Then I'm like, wow this isn't as bad as I remember! But while working on stuff, no, no high. I'm too bogged down in the nitty gritty. Plus I tend to write in layers.

The first time it really hit me is when my homebrewing book started out on the UK Amazon/Kindle top 100 charts at #3! That really felt like a handful of speeders. Lately, it's when a song, like an orchestra, inspires me to write a particular passage. Like the Vienna philharmonic doing the Imperial March.

Oh yes, I do! I think of it as something akin to a runner's endorphin high, though for me it's mostly noticeable when I've finished a good writing session, as a floating sense of well-being that lasts for hours.

Definitely! I think that's what keeps us hooked!

Can't say I do! But I do love it when I'm writing and laughing at the same time. That's when I know it's going to be good!