The Writing Zone

One of the perks of being a full-time writer (which doesn’t describe me yet) is that commuting to the job is a simple matter of walking from bedroom to home office – an idea every working writer dreams about. Think of it – no more pantyhose, no more high heels, no more getting up in the dark of night to beat the morning traffic. And yet, the commute to my day job on Houston’s heavy freeways provides me with a special perk - the “dream time” I need to create my books.

What better way to spend time while stuck in traffic than to work out a scene, figure out a plot problem, or think about my character’s backstory a little more so I can really get under her skin? Worried about my driving? I’m not going fast enough to cause an accident - at least, I haven’t had one yet. I have, however, driven right past my exit on a number of occasions. I guess I was involved in a very good story :)

I enter the zone at other times, too. One of the best for me is around 5:00 a.m. during that half-awake/ half-asleep period before getting up to face the day. Somehow, thorny problems with my story get resolved as I lay there dreaming. Psychologists suggest that if you concentrate on a problem right before going to bed, your unconscious works on it while you sleep. Upon awakening, your problem is solved, and you feel like a genius!

Zoning out with writing is nice, but if I depended only upon these moments to create a story, I’d still be unpublished. While the story stays in my head constantly, most of the hard work takes place at the computer in my office. That’s right - the office. The room in the house that will soon be the daily destination of my commute. I’ll miss the freeway dreaming, but not the high heels and pantyhose.

Wishing each of you the career of your dreams,
Linda Barrett