Customer Reviews

Writing in Flow

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"You know you've been in flow when time seems to have disappeared. When you're in flow, you become so deeply immersed in your writing, or whatever activity you're doing, that you forget yourself and your surroundings."

Susan Perry, a social psychologist and writer, decided to do her doctoral dissertation on the subject of flow. She conducted interviews, sent out questionnaires, and collected previously existing information. She wanted to know how writers experienced flow, how they got into flow, and whether their experiences could be generalized to help other writers find their way into flow. The author believes that writers can and do have at least a certain amount of control over whether or not they enter flow, and she presents five "master keys" for achieving flow, along with supporting anecdotes and details.

Even if the author had stopped with those five master keys, this book would be very useful. But she goes on to present much more information. You'll find more material on flow within the context of a writer's life. Frequently asked questions are answered in sidebars throughout the text. Specific techniques for luring the flow state are discussed (ritual and routine, clutter and lack thereof, timing, music, silence, meditation, tools, and more). The author also discusses the concept of writer's block, and, more specifically, what that means, how it affects flow, and what you can do about it.

On the one hand, the wild mix of perspectives is fantastic and extremely educational. There's also the amusement value of seeing several writers self-importantly declare that writing must be done a certain way, only to see several others contradict them. This really is a good lesson in the fact that almost no writing advice is entirely universal. On the other hand, I felt that the author allowed the quotes and interview excerpts to take too much control of the book. Because of this, I sometimes had trouble telling which chapter I was in and which topic the author was discussing. This led to some confusion, and kept some of the author's points from coming through as clearly as they should have.

If you have any interest whatsoever in "writing in flow," I strongly suggest that you read this book. While flow is not necessary in order to write well, and the author does mention authors who told her that they never enter flow, flow is certainly a more fun and pleasurable way in which to write (for most people, anyway). Also, if you're one of those people whose parents or teachers berated them for daydreaming, you might enjoy finding out that such a state can be a job skill. I know I certainly did!

Whatever your writing problem -- whether you're nerving yourself to start, kicking yourself for stopping, or simply praying for some control over a skill as mysterious and unstable as witchcraft -- there's something in here to get you into the creative state of "flow" that's the nirvana of all successful writers. What helps this book enormously (particularly the initial section, in which Dr. Perry helps you profile your own demons, blocks and tics to get an idea what kind of writer you are) is the vast cornucopia of quotes from, and direct interviews with, some of the world's most famous and accomplished authors -- who themselves seem to have overcome a startling variety of quirks, mindgames and outright derangements just to function. Do you obsess for months before managing to write a word? (Tom Wolfe takes years.) Or do you write lots only to fear -- or know -- that it's all useless garbage? (So does Michael Crichton.) And what about working hand to mouth, facing ridiculous deadlines, and the slings and arrows of outrageous critics and authority figures, real and imagined? (Join the club.) Fortunately, all the horror stories and clinical self-anatomization lead in a very straightforward way to customized programs of self-improvement and personal liberation that are precise, well-thought-out, and convincing (author Perry is a PhD social psychologist). It's also a charming touch that, while interviewing and analyzing all these bestseller and poet-laureate types, Perry also analyzes herself as a paradigmatic non-fiction author struggling with a vast and elusive subject -- and, in my opinion, nailing it.

I have been sporadically hobby writing for about 30 years. This is the first time I am reading about "Flow" from others who really know how to describe it with an accuracy that makes tears come to my eyes. My wife thought that I finally lost it when I started yelling, "Yes, Yes that's it!" When I have read about flow in the past, it was always from one writer's personal perspective. This book took a different approach. The author was not primarily a creative writer and as such, did not intimately, routinely experience flow. She interviewed many types of writing professionals and described their experiences.

At first, I was taken aback by the idea of having a person who was not intimate with flow, describe it. After much thought on the matter, and many chapters of this book later, I realized that it is much closer to the scientific method. It helped to not prejudice the outcome with a lot of preconceived notions. As such, the author accepted each of the writer's experiences, that she interviewed, as valid. This had the added benefit of not alienating the reader who had a different flow experience and widening the definition. This approach includes so many types of experiences that I am sure that there is one or more of which any creative person can identify with.

Before reading this book, I had no idea that flow could be experienced in so many different ways as described by each of the writer's that were interviewed! I had only my personal perspective and I felt that it was the only way! I found myself entering flow while reading this book! I consciously tried to read it slow and suck out all of the content and absorb it. I was only able to read one chapter at a sitting before I had to run from the room and write something! Reading about flow in this book made me want experience it too badly to wait any longer than that!

This is a one-of-a-kind type book on the creative writers experience. It includes everything a writer needs to know about and experience flow. I rate it A+ and it will remain a treasured reference volume on my bookshelf!

Bob

As a writer, with articles published in OMNI, Success, Writer's Digest (cover article), and numerous other publications, it was a genuine pleasure and surprise to discover Dr. Perry's book on flow and writing. Finding descriptions of how so many well known writers enter and experience flow in their writing was both useful and inspiring. It really helped me get revved up for some new writing projects.

Susan Perry has taken one of the most pleasant, challenging, and sometimes difficult to achieve aspects of the art of writing and woven together a discussion of the science and art.

Flow is a thoroughly researched concept, with hundreds of studies illuminating this unique yet ubiquitous process. I've been aware of the research on it since the eighties. And Flow has played a major role in my own model of POsitive Psychology and Positivity, which I have lectured on at numerous national professional meetings.

Reading the book, you'll understand this phenomenon and, more important, you'll get a handle on how to access or enter the flow state yourself, and use it to enhance your writing experience.

Flow is not just another pop psych fad. It is an elegantly researched dimension of positive psychology. Some people write and some people criticize. I would venture to guess that critics who learned how to enter the flow state, might even become writers.

I have never before read a book which explores the creative process with such clear, open, eyes. Susan Perry does a masterful job pulling together the nuggets of wisdom she gleaned from her interviews with top authors, seamlessly incorporating her own vast knowledge into the mix. This book offers a fascinating glimpse into the individual processes of different writers, but it also provides very practical tools for readers to find their own entry into the flow state. WRITING IN FLOW is, ultimately, a celebration of the juicy, timeless, creative pulse we all have the ability to tap.

If words sometimes seem to pour from you; if you have wondered why they sometimes seem to flow with such ease; if you question where they are coming from as they seem to be pulling so much into and out of you, Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity is a must-read.
Building on the concept of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, using extensive research and intensive interviews, Susan K. Perry explores how Flow works through writers and what their various relationships are with it.
While this makes fascinating reading, what is most important about this book is that Perry in examining underlying patterns of writing in Flow has found, explored, and charted, how the altered state, however it is experienced, is achieved and related to by writers.
She suggests particular techniques that are helpful in achieving flow in writing and provides Five Master Keys for achieving this state that has been described as transcendent, expansive, timeless, and connected to something, or to All, at a deeper level than normal awareness.
If you are thinking of being a writer, if you already think and work as a writer, Writing in Flow holds the key to the answers to many questions you have probably puzzled over, as well as the keys to unlock flow to an extent that you may not have dreamed possible.
Whatever the degree of control you like to have, or would like to have, over your writing, the timelessness, depth, and yes, longing, she touches in this beautifully researched work, will help take you where you have dreamed you might go, and perhaps, beyond.

Author, Susan K. Perry, Ph. D., has wonderfully captured the essence of Flow, and in her latest book, Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity, she has graciously shared her knowlege with the rest of the artistic community. In, Writing in Flow, Perry describes just what Flow is, how it is used to boost creativity and how other writers and artists use Flow to get more work done. Writing in Flow, is a wonderful tool to use for those of us who spend countless solitary moments infront of the computer screen churning out our work. Not only does the book offer help for enhanced creativity, but it also offers the feeling of kinship with our fellow writers who are featured in the book. Writing in Flow is a must read for all who wish to increase their creative output and who enjoy having fun in the process!

Writing in flow is when you become deeply involved in the stream of your manuscript; when you are living it minute-by-minute and day-by-day. Flow is when you know where each part of your manuscript is, when you are living your book and when you can think about nothing else--when you are completely lost in your work. Flow is one of writing's rewards.

My preferred method for writing a book is to clear off the desk and unplug the telephone--to sit at the keyboard in around-the-clock marathon writing. It is like a deeply religious experience.

Susan Perry explains what "Flow" is and how to achieve it. Click on Table of Contents in the bar to the left to view the book's coverage. This is an encouraging book for writers and a celebration of writing.

Susan Perry is an award-winner author who has written a number of books and more than 700 articles. It is obvious she has "been there".

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this volume to writers. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

Reading what successful writers have to say is always inspiriting. Writing in Flow has lots of quotes by literary writers, mystery writers and poets like Carolyn See, Jane Smiley, Faye Kellerman, Marvin Bell, Billy Collins and Mark Strand. These writers talk about how they get into flow, how they dissolve writers' block, how they focus in, and how reading others work gets them writing. If you like reading inspiring books about writing, add this one to your shelf.

I read this book during a lull in my own writing flow, and realized that there are untapped principles and techniques that can help writers be more in tune, and thus more productive. It changed the way I looked at my creative process. I highly recommend the book as a renewable tool for motivation. Rereading parts of the book sparked new insights about the process. I look forward to seeing more from Ms. Perry.