Whether\nyou\u2019re playing golf or writing the next Great American Novel, you will, on\noccasion find yourself transported to a mental realm where everything just\nseems to click into place. You perform almost in a kind of \u2018out-of-body\u2019 way.\nThis condition is called being \u2018in the zone,\u2019 and it often results in\noutstanding performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As writers, I\u2019m sure we\u2019d all like\nto be \u2018in the zone\u2019 every time we sit down at the keyboard, or pick up a pen\nand notepad. We want our muse to guide us to that place where the right words\njust flow with ease. News flash! In my more than fifty years of writing I\u2019ve\nlearned that the muse \u2018don\u2019t work like that.\u2019 Getting into the zone, whether\nyou\u2019re playing golf or writing, is something you have to do for yourself.\nHere\u2019s how I finally learned how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I write fiction, I approach the\nstory as if it\u2019s a movie. I picture in my mind what the characters are doing\nand saying, and why, and then convert those mental visions to words. For example,\nI introduce a new character, a garishly dressed fat man. Now, I could use\nhundreds of words to describe him and my protagonist\u2019s reaction to him, but\nthink about it; when you watch a movie, you get a quick look at a character and\nbased on quickly-seen visual and auditory cues, you develop an attitude about\nthat character. So, let\u2019s take the aforementioned fat man. Here\u2019s one way I\nmight introduce him: \u201cHe waddled into the room, his man boobs jiggling under\nthe green and black shirt he wore open to his sternum.\u201d Do you have an image of\nthis character in your mind from those words? You probably do, and you probably\nhave some not-so positive vibes coming off him. See; all those words of\ndescription are not needed, and you can keep going with the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I write like that, I\u2019m not\nworking off some detailed plan, and often I\u2019ve written the words without a lot\nof conscious thought\u2014after all, I\u2019m just describing what I saw in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working this way, I often knock out\nfive to six thousand words a day when nothing happens to pull me from my\ncomputer. Sometimes, I go back and rework a passage after giving it some\nthought, but mostly I just look for those pesky typos that creep into your\nwriting when you\u2019re just banging out words. That\u2019s okay, it\u2019s the editing and\nrewriting that makes great prose even greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One other thing that might not sound\nlike a sophisticated creative technique, but which works for me; I write every\nday. Sometimes it\u2019s just entries in one of the many journals I keep, sometimes\nit\u2019s a piece of nonfiction, like this present missive, but always, without\nfail, I generate words into sentences into paragraphs to the tune of about\n2,000 words per day. That keeps the mental muscles facile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing I do to facilitate\ngetting into the zone when I write, is I take breaks. Lots of breaks. I will\nwrite for two to three hours, and then I\u2019ll grab my camera and go for a walk,\nor work a crossword puzzle, or even go to my mat and do some resistance band\nexercises. What does that have to do with improving your mental ability to\nwrite better, you ask? A lot, I say. It\u2019s been shown that exercise not only\nimproves your physical body and mood, but it does positive things to your mind.\nThat old, \u2018healthy mind in a healthy body,\u2019 adage is real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, that\u2019s it. Just a few short words to help you jump start your writing in 2020. And, before I sign off, I hope 2020 will be a productive writing year for all of you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whether you\u2019re playing golf or writing the next Great American Novel, you will, on occasion find yourself transported to a mental realm where everything just seems to click into place. You perform almost in a kind of \u2018out-of-body\u2019 way. This condition is called being \u2018in the zone,\u2019 and it often results in outstanding performance. … <\/p>\n