Am I cheating?

For me, writing is a hypnotic process. I put on the same song to start, ‘Aurora' by Daisy Jones and the Six. I turn on my writing sprint clock and go. At some point in the 25 minutes sprint, reality leaves my head and the book takes over. It plays out to me as if it were a movie. I become completely immersed in my story. My job becomes recording what I see in my head transpiring.

But it occurred to me that this might be cheating. Is this how all authors write?

Do all authors have their stories play out to them like this? It feels like cheating, like I'm just recording something as it's happening. It’s a strange thing that’s happening in my head.

When people ask me how I come up with ideas, it's difficult to explain this. It just happened in my head. The bizarre thing is that if I weren’t in this hypnotic trance, I would've never thought of it. The weirdness just comes out and is given permission to be wild.

The hardest part is keeping up with my mind. My fingers can’t move at the same pace as the scene I’m writing. It’s like my characters are watching me, tapping their feet and checking their watches, waiting for me to stumble over my words.

1. Use a timer to write in sprints. I do 25 mins, but whatever feels good. You’ll be surprised how much more you can write.

2. Choose a song or playlist that tells your inner editor to turn off.

3. Don’t edit as you go. Don’t worry about word choice of sentence structure just go.

4. Let whatever happens, happen. You can always go back and change it later.

Good luck! Happy writing