The Uncensored Zone…

C.E. Grundler

By that title, it sounds as though this post might be headed into X-rated territory, but not to fear. (Or sorry to disappoint, but this is a family-friendly blog.) The ‘uncensored’ I speak of is that wonderful type of writing where ideas flow freely while that little whisper of doubt is napping off in the corner. It’s that golden zone where you write onward, damn the typos and full speed ahead. Next thing you know it’s a thousand words later, characters are saying and doing things that sure as hell weren’t in the outline, and suddenly a simple transition scene is crackling with tension. It’s my favorite kind of writing, the kind that comes best when distractions are low and the analytical side of the brain hasn’t arrived at the party yet.

These days, I’m making up for a lot of lost time, and I’ve returned to my routine of free-flow writing at dawn. It’s the first thing I do, before I check any email or to-do lists, and I don’t stop until the momentum runs out. That or the dogs really want breakfast. It’s that time where I just go with it and don’t stop to think. Not now; that would pause the brain, the fingers, and the possibilities. And I’ve found another trick that seems to add momentum — notes I’d left myself at the end of my last writing session await me as I turn on the computer. It’s like setting up the coffee pot before I go to sleep, or properly prepping wood before launching at it with Epiphanes and my best badger brush. I’ve already done the heavy thinking the night before. Now I can just rip into the task at hand. As the morning progresses and the caffeine works it’s way into my sluggish bloodstream, then I’ll go back and tidy up my words.

And feed the dogs. They’re all giving me that look.

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