Loving and living the process: blogpost from the zone

[melodyclark]

I'm writing this from the zone ... the flow (not as in Auntie, that was last week) ... the golden moment when a writer is in a state of unity with the process. This is what I do it for. The zone of course does not determine the quality of the output (plenty of crap is written in "the zone") but merely how relatively easy and fun it was to write

Comments

[phinnia]

The times when it feels like dictation are the best times. I pray for those times. (No, really. I have a little altar, and it holds things that my muse forced me to buy ... this is sounding weirder and weirder by the second... anyway, yes. I'm going to formalize it more when we move - getting some postcards or photos of things, a little statue of Ganesh (hindu god of beginnings/finding pathways) and a neko-waving cat and my happy buddha and the lei I have that was once worn by Neil Gaiman

[melodyclark]

I love this post (I also enjoyed your own blog). And I lol'd at your altar idea (I'd try that but my cat would knock all of them off).

I think you've described every serious writer's experience.

[phinnia]

Thank you! <3
The cat thing - I have two cats along with the kidlet, and mine don't usually knock things off (that said I do use this nifty stuff called 'earthquake putty' on the breakable stuff; it's got the texture of silly putty but is much more adhesive. You can get it at the hardware store. That might help. <3)

Things my muse has forced me to buy include a 'vaseline glass' decorative perfume bottle which I had to have shipped from the UK, several silk scarves, countless books (these go on regular bookshelves, not the altar) an andy warhol pop-esque print (you know the kind with the four colors?) of a decorative angel photo (I think the original was a statue in a cemetary), chinese burnable 'joss' luck paper that gets burned during new year celebrations, small-sized works of art done by friends ... it goes on and on. also candles. It's currently taking a Catholic turn (note: I am not in the least bit Catholic although my father was) and I'll probably end up learning to say the rosary before it's done ... <3

[carose59]

Oh, yes, the voices in my head, the times when it's more like eavesdropping than creation. Those are the very best times because if feels so effortless, it's like there's no gravity. And, of course, because they say things that surprise me.

I know there's a subset of fandom that makes fun of people who talk about having a muse, or characters that talk to them, but that's how it *feels* to me. And who says they get to make the rules? *g*

[melodyclark]

It's a weird damned experience, isn't it? I've even had the experience of laughing at something that was "said" during dictation times (and I'd never admit that to anyone but another writer).

It has been my experience that many of the people in that fandom subset who make fun of such talk are the same people who write those perfectly spelled and punctuated (always to the NY Times Book of Style) stories that nobody wants to read. :) (Did I really say that? Hide me, would you, Monica?)

Psst! We can hide in here!

[carose59]

It's a weird damned experience, isn't it? I've even had the experience of laughing at something that was "said" during dictation times (and I'd never admit that to anyone but another writer).

I love it when the make me laugh! (This is why I love writing Sonny more than any other character; he surprises me more, and he makes me laugh more. I find myself saying, "What??" all the time, because he just keeps saying and doing stuff I would never have expected. And then I get to write Vinnie reacting pretty much the same way I have, only trying not to laugh out loud.)

It has been my experience that many of the people in that fandom subset who make fun of such talk are the same people who write those perfectly spelled and punctuated (always to the NY Times Book of Style) stories that nobody wants to read. :) (Did I really say that? Hide me, would you, Monica?)

You're always welcome in my bunker!

[seren_ccd]

Ahh, the zone. I was actually trying to explain this to my husband last night.

It generally comes as a connection. Something will hit me that connects perfectly to something I've written earlier. Like, 'Oh yes! Of course X would have already spoken to Y! They do laundry together. Duh!"

I actually had a zone moment last night. I have a character doing something rather daring for her age and the reason for it just came to me while doing the dishes. I've discovered that the best way for me to get things moving in a story is not to just slave over it, but to honestly go about my usual business. Going to work, doing the shopping, making dinner. It frees my mind in a way that helps.

And happy to provide the NaNo explanation. I thought it was some bizarre young person cult when I first saw it last year.

[melodyclark]

My husband calls it my "don't talk to Mel" time. lol

I always love it when I've discovered I've already seeded something into the plot that I can use for a later plot complication. A la "oh, that's why I did that!"