The Zone

So I have this new job, right? And I have this new thing called a 'life', too, which I hear is very nice to most people. But I am always quite frustrated with mine. It keeps me from doing my favorite things. I think I might return it, but I lost the receipt, and it has been awhile since I actually purchased it in '91...

Okay, not really. I like being busy. Lately. But only because, now that I'm running around all the time, it feels like there's less time in the day to procrastinate... which I've been told I'm rather good at. Like, black belt good. Chuck Norris good.

Now, I don't know if most writerly types are like this, or if it's just me, but now that there's less time in the day to sit around thinking about writing... I realize I kind of have to get to the actual typing/creating/plotting/etc, or else I'd just end up with a blank page every day.

I'll use last week as an example. I work part-time, so I only get a fifteen minute break during my shifts. I was working a four hour long shift on Thursday, and for the first two hours, I kept thinking about this fanfiction I was working on.

Yes, I write fanfiction. I think I started out writing Harry Potter fanfiction with friends when we couldn't stand waiting for the last two or three books to come out. So I was about fourteen. At the time, it was just the "what if" thing I was chasing, and then the following year, a friend of mine interrupted me while we were talking on the phone. I was saying something along the lines of this:

"I was working on this fanfic for awhile until I realized my plot lines were getting all mixed up. You know that one story I'm writing for English? I finished the rough draft, and Miss Swindell said it's really good, just needs edits. So I've been editing that while writing the fanfic, and I guess I need to seperate them when I'm working, because--"

"Hey Chrissy?"

"What?" Yeah, I'm so freakin' eloquent I give John Green a run for his money.

"You should be a writer."

"Haha. Funny."

"Seriously! If you don't want to write, what do you want to do?"

Pause. "Uhm, is surfing the web a career?"

It's not.

But anyway, after that, and after thinking about it, I decided I really did like writing. A lot. A lot a lot. So I started using my fanfictions as practice, kind of like warm ups, to see if I was even cut out for it. The imagining of the universe is all done for you; you just have to supply the plot.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm still reading/writing fanfictions, focusing more on mechanics, characterization, and plot. I'm not embarrassed to admit I write/read it either. Some people are, because it's 'nerdy', 'weird', or 'obsessive', but really, it's about what any writing is about: story. Escaping into a story.

Perhaps that should've been a post on its own.

ANYWAY -- like I was sayin' -- I was working, thinking about my fanfiction (which is not a Harry Potter fanfiction, oddly enough), and by the time my break came around, I was running to my locker. I keep a notebook in my purse for exactly these occasions, and I flipped to a blank page and jotted down about six pages worth of dialogue. I'd add the narrative later when I had time, but as the scene was pure conversation, it was important to get the dialogue down before I forgot it.

Normally, I would've let that simmer in my head for awhile before maybe writing it down. But I didn't have time to procrastinate; I had work! And when there's work, there's only so much time for fun.

Which is why I love writing so much. It's fun. It's frustrating and makes you want to rip your hair out or gouge out your eyeballs (yes, it's true), but it's so much fun. The pure enjoyment makes it totally worth the agony.

The best part about that break was I didn't have to think about it. I didn't have to force myself into the creative space of my brain. The lights were already on, the air conditioning was blasting, and the generators were humming. Someone or something had opened up shop for me already. No prep time required. Instant zone.

And when I had to get back to work, I just left the Zone running. Amazingly, it was still ready when I came back.

Now I'm just wondering if there's going to be a whopping imaginary-electricity bill in the mail at the end of the month.