When I start thinking about how long it’s going to take me to finish what I’m writing, and about how good or bad it’s going to be, I am doomed! Creepy, paralyzing thoughts overtake me:
* What if I can’t do it this time?
* What if I don’t get it done on time?
* What if it’s terrible and I don’t have time to fix it?
I want the Zone to descend, and put me out of my misery. I want to know that it’s going to go quickly, and beautifully. I want to know ahead of time, before I even turn on the computer, that everything will be all right—and fun! I want the Zone, and I want it now!
PRIME THE PUMP
Oddly, sometimes they only way to get at the Zone is to start writing without it—and let it find me. It’s almost as if the Zone realizes that I’m doing something really hard, something very uncomfortable, in the service of writing, and so it comes to me. I start out befuddled and dull-witted, but willing to get something on paper anyway.
The Zone thinks, “Cool!” And before I know it, I’m humming away, oblivious of time and space, getting words on paper that at least can be edited.
I love this quote from Write that Book Already, by Sam Barry and Kathi Kamen Goldmark:
“The Zone is a creative state of mind in which the writing flows…You feel connected to your own imagination, ideas flow, synapses connect, and before you know it you have filled the page. New writers make the mistake of thinking they have to feel the Zone before they begin work, when more often it is the other way around. Getting in the Zone comes from the act of writing…Just don’t wait for the imagined, perfect moment…Start writing and the muse will come. Not every time, but keep at it and the muse will come enough for you to get the initial writing done.”
Words to live by, along with Annie Lamott’s admonition to write “shitty first drafts.”
The Zone will find us if we’re courageous enough to go after what’s within us, even without it.
What do you do to find the Zone?