| Photo courtesy of Keven Connors |
Have you ever entered the Whoosh Zone?
The Whoosh Zone is that place where words bubble up from a writer’s brain and flow onto the page with an ease not normally present. No staring at a blank page. No writing a paragraph then deleting half of it. I'm talking about the Whoosh, when the story just happens. The journey to the Whoosh Zone is impromptu, like the opening of a trap door beneath one’s feet. There is the breathless fall and then the giddy excitement, followed by the sheer joy of accomplishment.
The Whoosh Zone is that place where words bubble up from a writer’s brain and flow onto the page with an ease not normally present. No staring at a blank page. No writing a paragraph then deleting half of it. I'm talking about the Whoosh, when the story just happens. The journey to the Whoosh Zone is impromptu, like the opening of a trap door beneath one’s feet. There is the breathless fall and then the giddy excitement, followed by the sheer joy of accomplishment.
I didn’t have a name for the Whoosh Zone. It came from my critique partner and friend, Deb Mayhew, at our Saturday meeting of the Inklets. There are four of us who meet at Barnes & Noble every other Saturday to partake of the Big Three C’s—Coffee, Cackling, and Critiquing. My offering for critique was a short story, and the ladies asked me where the idea came from. I explained that I began with an opening line and the story just burst open wide from there, and Deb said, “Oh! The Whoosh! Don’t you just love it when that happens?!”
The Whoosh. What a perfect description of that feeling, that place. Oh, yeah. I do love it when that happens. In the Whoosh Zone I channel my characters with a depth that any psychic medium would envy. I only wish there were a formula for making it happen more often.
Have you experienced that Whoosh, been in that Zone? Are you surprised by the product of your effort, or just pleased to be so focused and aware of your characters? Do you experience the Whoosh Zone with something other than writing? Does it apply to anything else in your life, like cooking or painting or parenthood? What takes you into the Whoosh Zone?
See you next for Book Blurb Friday!
Lisa
13 comments:
The Whoosh Zone sounds wonderful. I have experienced it a few times, sometimes in writing, sometimes in teaching. When it happens in teaching it's the most marvellous feeling that the children are in the palm of your hand and you can take them anywhere.
I love that phrase - the Whoosh Zone. Need to be more mindful as to why it may happen when it does - what was I doing right before it occurred? Was I in a perfect state of balance? Was it coming from a place NOT of ego? I think it can apply to almost anything. I want to go Whooshing!
I love the whoosh zone, but latley I have been in the swirl-the-drain zone. Those ideas pop into my head and burst like bubbles. Although my blog post just poured forth today, does that count?:)
Jabblog - Oh, yes, with teaching! I can see that, and how rewarding it must be when it happens. "Flipping that switch" and you see the light go on. Wonderful!
Lynn - It hadn't occurred to me to track the circumstances surrounding the Whoosh. That's a great idea though. Wouldn't it be lovely if it had something to do with chocolate consumption?
Linda - I thought you were in perpetual Whoosh. LOL I've seen your list of publications! :)
Ha haa! Coffee, cackling and critiques describes us so well. I have no idea when I'm going to enter the Whoosh Zone, but I do know this: When I feel it coming on I sit and type. Because you're right, when your in the Zone, your story practically writes itself!
P.S. How exciting to see my name in your post!
Deb - Aw, your name has been in my post before. And I had to give you the "Whoosh" credit. :)
Hey, Ms. Lisa! I missed you. Thanks for welcoming me home. I love the new look of your blog and all three of the posts that I have missed. About the "Whoosh Zone"...that is what happened when I wrote the beginning of the Lily Turtle Hunter story; I hope that when I pick it up again that I'll still be in the groove.
I'll be back here before you know it!
Kathy M.
That's one of the best feelings in the world!
The Whoosh Zone, what great description! My Whoosh speaks to me, all the time. The Whoosh is what I hear when I smack it. :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
I agree. How to employ it at will? That's the question.
All the time? I'm envious!
That's a much prettier and more ladylike term than the one a dear writing friend and I use. We've been calling it "burpage." It started when she said she was hoping to burp something out before a deadline. Whatever you call it, I wish I could enter it more often!!
I love the Whoosh Zone, and it is the reason my self-publishing "company" is called Channel Press. When I write, the characters speak through me (or rather through my fingers and onto the keyboard). I love it when a character says something that completely surprises me, and when that surprise takes on meaning as the story unfolds. It's magic!
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