Anyone ever get a writer's high, like a runner's high?

[bigtree]

...you might start out carefully, maybe with some apprehension about your task. Words are turned over and over to make them fit in place.

Somewhere along the way you feel a little lighter with inspiration, and you realize that you're inside of the story; in a sublime moment of mind and word which you now own so completely that you can go anywhere; elevate yourself to any height you choose; are able to touch and experience everything as if in one of those dreams that feel as if you're hovering a few feet off of the ground and traveling in your own special universe; and the words flow like you're narrating from your fluid and vivid mindscape.

I have. You?

[UpInArms]

1. I have had that experience

I called it the “zone.”

Enjoy 🫂

[FalloutShelter]

2. I have.

On a couple of occasions. After re reading a passage or paragraph and saying to myself…
“Damn that’s good.”
Then… after a quick high…
right back to self doubt and criticism.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. They say to try it with a 72 hour or longer fast

It brings mental clarity. Work 18-20 hours a day with the rest sleep.

Wish I had the discipline to make things happen like that.

[rampartd]

4. do i become manic when i write?

or do i write because i am manic?

[Midnight Writer]

5. I also gain clarity when writing.

Writing forces you to organize your thoughts and come up with clearer ways to express your ideas.

I keep a journal of my daily activity, and when you take the time to put these little unimportant things together and write them down, you gain new perspectives on what it all means.

[peggysue2]

6. It's entering the zone

And yes, it's exhilarating.

[JMCKUSICK]

7. I woke up one morning around mid April, 1994

And was shocked to see it snowing outside.
I was frustrated because Winter just wouldn't go away and I was instantly inspired and wrote the finest poem I've ever written.
It was about winter refusing to let go and allow spring to arrive.
I lost it in a move a few years later and rue that day.
The words danced and flowed on that page, in reading it on open mic nights with the energy contained within, I knew it was special.

[Trueblue Texan]

11. if you wrote it on a computer

it just might turn up in unexpected places on a hard drive or cloud storage. I've had that happy accident happen to me.

[FemDemERA]

8. Yes.

The flow…

[3Hotdogs]

9. Yeah. Then they figured out who was writing the bouncing checks.

[Trueblue Texan]

10. I have been in the flow as you describe...

...but it doesn't happen often enough because I don't plant my ass in the chair regularly enough to turn on the faucet. But it is a wonderful feeling.

[PATRICK]

12. In small doses

because, frankly I write on lunch and breaks at work, other chunks of interrupted time. It helps give the racing mind time to reflect until all the inspirations are complete. Then, if the book is fun enough, I merrily edit and re-edit and polish the ready to publish ms. Even running all those edits, like a new vacuum cleaner going over a "clean rug" is satisfying as craft. And yes, the nagging challenging books seem to write themselves, characters taking over, and resolutions just developing seemingly out of nowhere. I like the real satisfying ending. Sometimes the buzz stretches out over years, nothing like what a quick reader can ever experience.

[Trueblue Texan]

13. I wish I could access it so freely and easily...

It is truly a magical mind to be in. I envy you!

[PATRICK]

14. Appreciate everything, even a good horror GOP presidency, like a glass of fine old prussic acid

The loneliness of a long distance writer. It puts you on a sort of creative diet. I enjoy working with my fellow postal workers, the domestic life, writing and illustrating my "stuff." It is all ecstatic.