At the moment, I’m writing to a deadline; my historical novel must be delivered in 8 weeks. This is a new and wonderful experience for me – attempting to write 2,000 words per day as a minimum, as I slowly inch my book towards completion.
And through this process, I have discovered the addictive wonders of the Flow State.
If you write, or you play music, paint, read – or engage in any number of creative and introspective activities – there’s a good chance you have experienced the flow state already. I know I have. But never day after day, for weeks on end. And I’m loving it.
What is a flow state? It’s that magical place you sink into, when you become so completely caught up in a creative project, or an idea, that time and place cease to have meaning. Hours pass, and you are somewhere else. That uncomfortable chair, the view of a blank wall, the bills waiting to be paid? They no longer exist. In a flow state, your mind transports you elsewhere. It’s proof of the rich internal landscape we all possess, if only we can access it.
Over the past weeks, I’ve woken naturally at about 5am. This itself is a ‘first’ for me. And upon waking, I literally leap out of bed. I can’t wait to get back to my novel. To inhabit its landscape. Coffee comes first, of course, and I stand shivering in the cold kitchen, not turning on any lights (because this wakes my parrot, and then all hell will break loose!). With a huge thermos of coffee in hand, I hurry to my desk.
It’s usually about 5.15am when I begin, sinking into the World War II lives of my characters. Yesterday, I was with my protagonist as a Messerschmidt dropped a bomb on her town. Last week, I stood beside her as she watched a German secret agent parachute into the forest by her home. Sometime next week, she will engage in a life-or-death struggle with her adversary.
And here’s the thing. I’m not even sure this novel is any good. Not yet. And I don’t think about it, because it doesn’t matter. Such worries are for the second, third, fourth draft. I have a writer friend who refers to draft #1 only as her ‘shit draft’, reminding herself that it doesn’t have to be brilliant. It just has to be.
The first draft is the raw material from which a final novel is sculpted.
This is where the ‘flow state’ comes in. When you sink into your story and live through it alongside your protagonist, the writing itself flows. It has rhythm and momentum, in a way it never can if you dip in and out. The tempo feels right, the story unfolds exactly as it should. It doesn’t matter than there might be descriptive details missing, or that the dialogue tags need attention. The story has authenticity, because you are living through it with your characters.
It’s usually 8 or 9am when I emerge from my story, often having written a full chapter or two. I pull myself out, aware that I’ve a business to run, writing classes to plan, students to teach, a family to care for. But as I move through the day, my novel moves with me, sifting in and out of my consciousness like the most vivid of dreams, impacting my mood, colouring my perceptions.
And that’s something else to love about the flow state.
It’s never over when it’s done.
Julie
