THE JOURNEY OF MY FIRST BOOK

Day 2 — Timidly Getting into Flow

Writing

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

Welcome to The Journey of My First Book, a series of stories documenting the publication process of my first book.

3 August 2022

Morning. The Writer’s Process Workbook by Anne Janzer is staring at me. I’ve been using parts of it to help with the process of writing my book. I pick it up and open it on a random page. Part Four: Find Flow.

I’ve experienced flow before, but mostly when I’m on the back of a motorbike — that’s when I have my best ideas. Even the title of this book came to me while on the bike, but that’s a story for another time. Sadly, I can’t write and ride, so I’ll have to find flow at my desk.

My phone is on silent, I’m listening to a deep focus music playlist, my glass of water is full and I’m ready to go. I know a state of flow is not something you can force, but there are certain conditions that are favourable to it. Anne has a great tip in chapter 18 where she says:

“Writing a book is a tall order. But you can dive into writing 750 words on one small section of the book and accomplish it in one sitting. (…) Experiment with taking this approach in your writing life. Pick a project. Choose a section of the story or a chapter of a nonfiction book, then break…