Take Five
Five-minute reads about writing
Nov. 3 - Nov. 30, 2010
Courtesy: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)
Twitter: @RandomMagicTour
#24 of 30: Open sesame
You have to put in an effort to continue the story, even if you have no idea what’s going to happen, or what the characters are going to do next, and feel totally blah and like maybe you should've had the common sense to do something far easier than writing, like maybe go be a lion tamer somewhere.
But, then, when inspiration does take over your hands, it’s like pure ecstasy.
Interestingly, there’s actually a recognized phenomena that’s very similar to this: Religious or spiritual ecstasy, which is a kind of altered state of consciousness.
Saints, shamans, yogis -- they're able to enter a particular state of awareness, through the mediums of fasting, prayer, chanting, dancing (as in whirling dervishes), or even drugs (peyote, and so on).
That’s what we were discussing just a little earlier on in this series, that there is a place you go to, but it’s not geographical, and the path that gets you there is always changing.
Now, it’s not necessary to use any or all of these means that more spiritually-focused folks use. You can reach the same place just by letting your mind search for it.
You don’t need drink, or drugs, or chants, or anything outside yourself, just the willingness to go along with following some particular thought or impression.
It’s the same series of doors, though.
Note on article title: Open sesame
From author interview with Sasha Soren.
Interviewer: The Bookette (@the_bookette)
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