My Passion

There’s a natural high that comes when I’m writing “in the zone.” This has happened to me often over the years, and I’ve become addicted to it.

I remember the first time this happened. I was working on a screenplay, before I ever had a computer, typing away on an IBM Selectric, which was pushed up against a white wall. As I typed the scene I was working on I could see it coming to life on the wall in front of me. That was so exciting. The following morning, when I went to read over what I’d written it was completely foreign to me. I didn’t remember writing it.

In fact, the best writing I do is stuff that I don’t recognize after the fact. When I’ve gone back into my novel or short story and find a section that sings along, it is pure heaven for me as well as a lovely surprise.

I don’t think of myself as the author of these passages. I believe there is some force at work within me that connects on a universal level. The subjects that flow so well are often more lofty portions of what I’m working on. It’s as if there’s a message to be communicated and I’ve been tagged to deliver it.

So, I find that I can go only for short periods without writing, like taking a mental breather, but ultimately I always return, after progressively briefer periods of respite, seeking the thrill of my passion.