In an article entitled “How Can You Create Fiction When Reality Comes To Call?” Carolyn Chute describes her daily distractions that keep her at distance from her neglected typewriter. From random visitors to tasks such as walking the dogs, Carolyn describes in detail how fast the clock can tick and tock away the time, and how events out of her control, like a broken daisy wheel, can hinder her ability to write. The main focus in the article is the struggle between the daily tasks, the clock and tending to a neglected type writer, which is very relative to the content in Drake Baer’s article 6 Ways To Be A Hemingway-Level Productive Badass. Baer describes Hemingway’s 6 required elements needed to engage in his writing process.

When it comes to writing, every college student has struggled with the nemesis known as distraction. Being 36 years old, I am a married father of two sons and my distractions are probably far more different than the average college student. When 18-year-old Ricky is feeling the pressure of peers to choose a keg party over writing, I feel the pressure of my children to build wooden train track layouts. Tasks like changing diapers takes precedence over typing when my child is sitting in his own excrement. The sounds of wooden blocks crashing against my hardwood floor, Big Bird’s nasally voice, my dachshund’s incessant barking, my pug flapping her ears, and my sons’ screaming as they fight over a wooden train are just a few examples of the auditory interruptions that inhibit my ability to write. I don’t necessarily need silence, but low volume is tolerable.

I believe I have the ability to become a better writer because I want to. I am open to other’s suggestions and positive criticism. I also believe that becoming a good writer takes practice, like riding a bike. To become a good writer, one must learn to manifest and ride the flow.

The Flow
 For me, writing isn’t a task when I get in the flow; in fact it is more of an escape from reality. When all the right elements are present to allow its manifestation, the flow comes like a wave. The motive is to:
 (1) catch the wave, 
(2) ride the wave to the beach, 
(3) dive back into the water, 
(4) catch the next wave, and 
(5) repeat steps 1-5.

 Sometimes I go for a marathon by spending hours catching and riding waves. Other times I shoot for short sessions, spending break times by sun bathing in between wave runs. However, when the right elements aren’t present, the flow can be discouraging as it pulls me under the water and brutally drags my face against the ocean floor. When I get caught up in a rip tide, instead of repeating steps 1-5, I get swept off into the abyss of distraction by focusing far too much on one idea. Yes, my writing can actually distract me, which indicates that it’s probably a good time to sun bathe. Being raked against the granular remains of mollusk, crustacean, and echinoderms or being swept off to live on a deserted island with a volleyball named Wilson, is no where near as exhilarating as catching and riding gnarly wave after gnarly wave. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break when writing. Breaks help us ground ourselves. Time away from the laptop or pen and pad, can allow us to better organize and gather the thoughts that we discovered while riding the wave. Breaks can be used as moments of reflection to realize what revisions we can make to better paint the picture we are trying to convey.

The flow, in my personal definitive term, is the continuous action of focused thinking and writing. Just as a plant requires certain elements to manifest (such as soil, light, nutrients, minerals, water, gases, temperature control, etc.), the flow’s manifestation also relies on its own specific elements.

Ernest Hemingway knew exactly what elements he needed to manifest the flow. Drake Baer describes Hemingway’s 6 required elements for evoking the flow in his article, 6 Ways To Be A Hemingway-Level Productive Badass. My list differs from Hemingway’s but everyone has his or her own quirks.

My Flow’s 6 Essential Elements for Manifestation 

1. Atmosphere 
 During daylight hours I prefer to be near a window or even outside when I write. Considering that I live in a densely populated neighborhood, things can get pretty noisy. Sit me next to a window please. After the sun has set, I am comfortable with my laptop screen illuminating a dimly lit room. If I am dealing with distractions, such as my screaming offspring or barking dogs, I can look away from the computer and focus out the window. Maybe I will gaze at the crystal blue sky. Maybe there are dark clouds moving in to drench us. Regardless of the weather, the conditions outside of my window can be a distraction from my distractions. The windows also give the impression of not being confined.  The window is a required element for manifesting the flow, unless I am outside, in nature.

 2. Pen Discrimination 
 If I am writing with a pen, it has to be the same pen every time until the ink is gone. I don’t know why, but it has always been this way. I don’t have a funeral for the pen when it’s gone. I prefer to write with a gel pen because it feels smoother on paper. If I can feel any pressure in my wrists while writing, I lose focus. Gel pens are a required element for manifesting the flow, but not always. I suppose if I conjured up an idea so profound, I would write it down in my own blood if need be.

3. The Bank won’t lend time, spend it wisely
  Allotted time is a necessity. With time devoted and set aside specifically for the purpose of writing, I tend to use my time more wisely. The smart phone is not hanging out with the laptop. When it comes to the flow, Facebook notifications are likely to cause wipe outs. All social media is avoided when I write, unless I am sun bathing on a break time. However, sometimes inspiration can be found on social media. Allotted time is a required element for the manifestation of the flow, however, that doesn’t mean that my mind is only focused on writing during its allotted times. If I come up with an idea on the go, I will pull out the smart phone and jot down the idea in my notepad app. Time is the only thing we can spend that we cannot get back. If you come in to my hair salon to purchase a hair product and
decide when you get home that you don’t particularly care for it, you can bring it back and your money will be refunded. Time doesn’t work that way.

Spend time wisely.


4. Comfort Zone
I can’t come home from a long shift at the hair salon, fire up the laptop and immediately begin cranking out texts. I have to cleanse the stresses of the day from my soul by stripping my body out of my hair laced clothing, and taking a hot shower. Comfort includes cozy garments like gym shorts and T-shirts. I suppose element number 2 (the wrist/pen debacle) could also be included in element 4. I can’t be hungry or thirsty, unless the subject matter of my writing is so intense that I ignore these instincts of survival. If I am stressed, a glass of merlot isn’t out of the question. Comfort is usually only sought after in the evening, when I return home from a day’s work. In the morning, I wake up and start typing in whatever I wore to bed the previous night. The Keurig machine works its magic. A cup of Joe is required in the morning. The shower can wait till after I’ve jotted some thoughts on the blue lines. Comfort is a required element for manifesting the flow.

5. Work Hard Today, Party Hard Tomorrow

Like Hemingway, I quantify my progress. If I write 1,500 words per writing session on average, and only write 1,000 words on Tuesday, I will write 2,000 words on Wednesday. If I know that tomorrow I will have very little time to write, or I will be opting to engage in other activities such as taking my kids to the pool, I am going to bust my ass to get tomorrow's work done today.

6. Find Inspiration in My Everyday Life, and Exploit My 5 Senses
 The other night, while writing these 4 pages, I hit a roadblock. I was envisioning a message that I was trying to deliver, but I couldn’t find the correct words to paint the picture I was seeing in my mind. How can I explain my thoughts in a way that will engage an audience? Surely, I cannot digress back to my first grade journal writing style: “I like Transformers. Robert Bacon likes transformers too.”

I hit a roadblock and logged off of my computer.  It was the best thing I could do at the moment as I imagined my head exploding like an egg in the microwave if I were to continue to stare at the screen. The next day I pondered ideas as to how I could describe my flow in a more creative way, but I came up with nothing. Around 6 o’clock that night, Mark came into the shop for a haircut. “Art, you are a hard guy to find”, said Mark, “I called two weeks ago and they said you were on vacation. Then I called every day this week and they said you were all booked up”. I explained myself, “Yeah, we took the boys down the shore for a week, so of coarse everyone who couldn’t get their hair cut while I was away booked appointments for the week I got back… plus we are headed towards back to school. The whole shop is busy in general.”

Mark asked how my vacation was. I mentioned my relief in not being acquainted with a shark, as this summer experienced an abnormal amount of shark attacks. Mark spent Fourth of July week down Ocean City, New Jersey. He mentioned the strong rip tides he and his family witnessed while down the shore. He mentioned a couple restaurants where they dined. He had a nice week down the shore. Mark and I talked about boogie boarding in the ocean and at that moment: KAPLOW!! I WAS PAINTING A DESCRIPTION OF MY FLOW! That night I took the boogie board narrative and molded it by using my 5 senses of perception. When trying to paint a picture with words, it is crucial for me to focus on the senses by describing touch, taste, smell, visuals, and sound. I like to exploit what I have experienced. And speaking of experience, of coarse Mark’s hair looked amazing, I mean, I’ve been cutting hair for almost half my life. I wish I were as confident with my writing as I am with cutting hair. 

I had just spent the past 3 hours hiking through the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and I was sunburnt and exhausted. I needed the soft sounds of nature to clear my mind, but waiting for me around every bend of the trail was a different dreadlocked dude trying to sell me some ganja, an ashtray constructed from a coconut, or some gaudy jewelry. I decided to retreat back to the resort to witness the sunset while relaxing in the hot tub with a red stripe lager. If you ever have the chance, do yourself a favor and witness the sunset from the cliffs of Negril. Anyhow, I settled up with the bartender and headed over to the cliff to watch the sunset from the hot tub. Two females and a male were bubbling a conversation in the tub. I introduce myself. They introduce themselves. Three professional writers: Maria Popova, Ann Lamott, and Ray Bradbury. How often is it that an aspiring writer ends up in a hot tub with 3 professional writers?  The topic of their conversation: The Writing Process.

I had to chime in and learn something.

“I love to write, but I often feel like my work is garbage. I can’t seem to get the words out. I write it. I hate it. I erase it. I start over. I’m just wondering, how do you get started?”

Ray raised his eyebrows in confusion and scratched his chin, almost as if he didn’t know how to respond, and then he said, “You stumble into it, mostly. You don’t know what you’re doing, and suddenly, it’s done. You don’t set out to reform a certain kind of writing.”[1]

Ann looked at me with sympathetic eyes, and with a reassuring tone in her voice she concurred, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible efforts.” [2]

She paused, and then added, “For me, and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty drafts. The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.”[3]

I was relieved to hear that, because I think I‘m pretty decent at writing shitty drafts. So I should just dive in and write my ass off. Practice makes perfect. But when I am dealing with deadlines, have a shitload of distractions, have very little time to proof read or revise, and I am desperate for my work to be perfect, I feel unconfident.  So I asked them, “What do you do that helps perfect your writing, or helps you to feel more confident?”
  
I heard the whistle of an android smart phone. All eyes were on Maria. She put her index finger up to signal, “hold on just a second’, as she began to swipe her finger across the touch screen like she was conducting an orchestra. Ann rolled her eyes and then reengaged the conversation with, “I always show my work to one of two people before sending a copy to my editor or agent. I feel more secure and connected this way, and these two people get a lot of good work out for me.” [4]


“That’s a great way to get some positive criticism”, I said. “When is the best time to write?” I asked.
    
The backlight on Maria’s phone goes dim. She places the device on the concrete ledge behind her, looks at me with an almost arrogant eye. I get the feeling that she may be in the middle of writing something as we are speaking. She says, “I write when I have to because the pressure builds up and I feel enough confidence that something has matured in my head and I can write it down.” [5]

Her phone lights up, she picks it up, looks at it, puts it back down and then she adds, “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without ever putting a word on paper.”[6]

She made a good point. Its like what people say about having kids, “If you wait for the perfect time to have kids, you’ll never have kids” I expected a little more insight from some professionals, but I guess that’s how writing happens. So I responded with, “You guys should be selling running shoes, because you sound like an advertisement for Nike. Is it that simple? Just do it?”

Ray laughed and said, “In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.”[7]

I reply, “So basically, I just have to stay vigilant, search for truth, and focus less on my writing style? I need to eat, breathe and sleep words. How does that work for someone who isn’t much of a morning person?”
    
Maria picks up her phone, looks at the screen, chuckles a bit and then says,

“I’m always in a hurry to get going, though in general I dislike starting the day. I first have tea and then, at about ten o’clock, I get under way and work until one. Then I see my friends and after that, at five o’clock, I go back to work and continue until nine. I have no difficulty picking up the thread in the afternoon. …Most often it’s a pleasure to work.”[8]

“Ok, so I guess everyone has their own method. Sometimes you are inspired by pressure. Sometimes you can take a more lackadaisical approach”, I said.

Ray replies, “Run Fast, stand still. This is the lesson from lizards. For all writers. Observe almost any survival creature, you see the same. Jump, run, freeze. In the ability to flick like an eyelash, crack like a whip, vanish like steam, here this instant, gone the next. Life teems the earth. And when that life is not rushing to escape, it is playing statues to do the same. See the hummingbird, there, not there. As thought arises and blinks off, so this thing of summer vapor; the clearing of a cosmic throat, the fall of a leaf. And where it was--a whisper.”[9]

Now, at this point, I had to call it a night. Shit got a little bit too philosophical for how late the hour was and how long the day lasted. I think Ray may have purchased something from one of the guys on the trail. And I don’t think it was an ashtray or jewelry, if you know what I mean. The biggest thing I learned from my encounter with Maria, Ann and Ray, is that everything comes and goes. Writing is a process. It requires marathons, short sprints, and break times. Good writing may develop from shitty drafts. Never compromise the truth for a style.



[1] Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)
[2] Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Ann Lamott)
[3] Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Ann Lamott)
[4] Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Ann Lamott)
[5] Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers  (Maria Popova)
[6] Quote by Kurt Vonnegut excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers  (Maria Popova)
[7] Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)
[8] Quote by Simone de Beauvoir excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers  (Maria Popova)
[9] Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)