100 Things You Should Know About Writing (Part 2)

36) Never Chase the Zone

The zone goes by various names, but basically when it comes to writing, it's a period of unbounded inspiration and creativity. Usually, this means that it's a period of high productivity as well. Even though this is undoubtedly a good thing, it also comes with a dark side. People tend to think of writing as this little bit of fluffy magic that's filled with inspiration and creativity. They also think that real writers have these things every time they sit down to write.

Because of these misconceptions, new writers tend to think that if they're not inspired or having a good time every time they write, they're not a real writer.

Furthermore, they see other writers (who, I might add don't feel particularly inspired or creative every time they write) announcing high word counts and think, oh! That's what a real writer does.

And then they start heaping a ton of pressure on themselves to write that much every single day.

I have a few things to point out about this:

1) Some lucky bastards are simply more capable of writing thousands of words at a time.

You might not be one of them. Accept this and play to your strengths. It's much better to actually write a "measly" 200 words every day than to write 6000 words one day and nothing for weeks because you burned yourself out. (See Section 32 if you don't know what burn-out is.)

2) When it comes to high announced word-counts, keep in mind that those words might be rewritten words.

Even if you're not rewriting the same story almost word for word, you'll probably write it much faster than the rough draft, so rewrites tend to rack up those impressive word counts much faster.

3) Before getting all messed up about those high word counts, check out how often people are announcing them.

I bet, if you take a close look at those dates, you'll notice that most of those writers will have said nothing about word counts for weeks on end. Because half the time, they're probably grinding along at a snail's pace.

4) Also consider that your situation is almost certainly different from the other writer's. 

Things like the available time, writing method, and even how much outside stress you have to can affect your writing rates. And that's why it's important to remember that writing isn't a competition. Everyone is just doing what they can, when they can.

5) Never ever wait until you feel particularly inspired.

I've probably mentioned this a million times, but it's that important. Inspiration fades. Always. It's dedication that gets you through. And really, the only thing that does get you into the zone with any sort of regularly is pitching up for "work" as often as possible.

By this, I don't mean that you should see writing as work per se, but on some days, you're not going to be writing with a song in your heart. On those days, you need to write anyway.

If you keep writing and you're lucky, you might suddenly be struck with another bout of inspiration that lets you see every single scene to the end and that helps you fly over every single word until the story's done.

Yes, this is the most exhilarating feeling I can think of.  

It does give you an awesome (AND wholesome) high.

But.

6) Everyone comes down at some point.

No one stays in the zone forever. If you're lucky, it'll last you to the end of your story. But usually, even if writing was like a dream, you're going to come crashing down.

HARD.

I know, I know. This sounds incredibly negative and cynical. But the thing about the zone is that it's not a consistent high. To explain what I'm talking about, think of writing as exercise. Let's say jogging. You might jog ten miles every single day. Some days, you might feel like you want to push yourself a little to jog fifteen. Then one day, you feel like a million bucks and decide to just keep running until you run out of energy. It feels amazing and you actually manage to run more than twice as far as you usually do. But that exhausts you, so the day after that, you might have to cut back because you're too tired. Simply put, writing is mentally and emotionally exhausting, even if you're in the zone. And when we're exhausted, we burn out.

So these periods of intense productivity are usually followed by weeks of writing nothing because the words simply won't come.

Which (to me, at least) just isn't worth it. See, I like writing so much that I want to write almost every day. I want my words to flow onto the page with some effort, but not in a way where I'm feeling like I'm having to force myself to put in the effort. 

Burning out ruins that.

Burning out is staring at screens and pages and the words just not coming even if the thoughts and inspiration are there.

It's a feeling of being so emotionally drained that writing actually becomes painful. For weeks, months on end.

The zone lasts two, maybe three days tops. A few days more when you count the heightened productivity leading into it.

Compared to the long bout of lost productivity afterwards... Those bursts of productivity are really a small drop in a big bucket that is my actual writing potential. Think about it a little bit. Is it better to write 500 words easily every day, or 6,000 words one day and none for weeks or months on end? The 6,000 words seem impressive, but do the math. If you write 500 words every day, you can reach 6,000 words in less than two weeks. Sure, this doesn't sound as impressive as writing that amount every day, but here's the thing... If you write those 6,000 words and crash out for a month, you could actually have been twice as productive by writing 500 words every day during the same period, because you know that won't burn you out. In fact, you'll have written closer to 15,000 words by the time you would have recovered from writing 6,000 words in one day.

This, in a nutshell, is precisely why I'm advising you not to chase the zone. It's much more effective to find a level at which you can write day in and day out. This might not be a lot in the beginning, but as you keep writing, you'll find daily word count increasing as you become more "writing fit". 

So what to do if you get into the zone regardless?

Actually, there's not all that much you can do. The urge to write takes over and you just have to ride it out. Don't pace yourself. You'll probably just lose precious momentum if you do.

And then take a break as soon as it's over. You will be tired, so giving yourself a writing break of a few weeks with no writing will probably get you back into the groove sooner than trying to push on and discovering that you just can't summon the energy.

So no, the zone isn't something to fear. It's just not something to chase after either. Rather focus on writing little bits every day, and who knows? Maybe one day it'll come to you when you least expect it.

Thanks for reading, all! Have you ever hit the zone? What did it feel like before, during and after?

Also, please feel free to ask some questions in the comments. I'm particularly looking for more topics for the new sections, so suggestions are welcomed. As always, I'll dedicate a section to you if you inspired me to write it.

Coming up in 100 Things:

Why it's better to write it yourself

Likable and Relatable Characters