Finding Feel-Good Flow in Your Writing Practice

👆 This is how we'd like our writing to go this week please and thank you.

I’m working on finding my writing flow. 

Getting back in the flow of writing again.

Create in the flow. 

Flowing with the words

Letting the words flow. 

I’m in the flow.

What the heck does “flow” even mean when it comes to writing?

Flow state, according to Wikipedia - 

“In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.”

The idea of flow used to feel like a feminine idea to me — circular, round, moving like water — which is still true. But I realize it runs much deeper as I explore this concept further.

Flow state is a way of being where we lose track of time. Co-creation with God, the Universe, the Divine, and Jesus — IS flow state.

Let’s unpack a “state.” Becoming a master of your energy is something that Liana Shanti teaches when it comes to life, spirituality, and even business. Even years ago, I started exploring my state with the help of a coach and I’ve learned how important it is to be in a positive state. And not for feel-good, toxic positivity reasons, but because when you’re in a positive state, life feels easier, you’re more present, and you’re more magnetic.

I have many tools to manage my state, including amplifying a feel-good state to train my brain to expect more of that, meditation, and a manifesting writing practice.

You’ve likely felt flow many times in your life — maybe you’ve just never given it a name. 

Flow feels like I don’t have a body anymore and I’m so intensely into what I’m doing the rest of the world doesn’t exist. Flow is what’s going on when time seems to stop. Flow happens when you’re leaning into discomfort and learning something challenging.

Athletes get into flow when they’re playing their sport — and really, it’s inspiring to watch. I’ve seen it in my kids as they do their respective sports and make art.

Kids live and breathe in flow state. Seeing them get lost in Legos, painting, or learning a new song on the piano — I’m watching them in flow. 

Flow feels good, so it’s a feeling we should chase, right?

Yeah, I’d say it’s a smart idea.

The interesting thing about flow is HOW you achieve flow state isn’t necessarily as important, only that you experience flow state and do it often.

Think back to early 2020, but if the way you found flow was working in a cafe, traveling, or connecting with friends over dinner — and suddenly your favorite gathering spots were closed and flights were canceled — what happened?

If you didn’t find a way to replace the flow state you used to find yourself in and create an inner sense of joy, this could have made any feelings of isolation, anger, and sadness even worse.

More than just feeling good, though, flow has a purpose. I think it makes us smarter, happier, and better writers

Flow doesn’t always have to be fun or easy, either. Sure, there are things we excel at that we easily slip into a flow state. But there are also just as many moments when we’re embracing the suck — as in learning new things, writing about something that feels challenging, or investing our time learning a new skill and bending our minds in new ways. And in those moments, we find flow. 

It goes like this…

This is hard.

This is challenging.

Phew! That was work!

I’m kinda good at this

I’m good

This is fun! I’m excited to do it again!

Depending on what you’re learning, the suck-to-fun ratio might look different, but all the while you’re in there, you’re experiencing flow.

Think about flow in your daily writing practice. 

When you didn’t want to write something, maybe even resented that you had to do it at all, and forced it out of you, how did that feel? Shitty? And importantly, on the other end — how did your reader or potential client receive it? 

I think this is why in the book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron suggests practices such as weekly artist dates and morning pages. Weekly artist dates are appointments you keep to yourself where you do something just for you — changing your scenery if possible and trying something new. Morning pages are three full pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, usually in the morning. If you’ve ever tried this practice, perhaps like me, you oscillated between losing yourself in the moment and wishing you were finished. 

I also found it exciting that flow state can also apply to groups. When my Writing Community gathers on a call, and we’re in the zone of creating—some people call it magic—the ideas that come through, their progress, or even the breakthroughs they have in their writing work. 

When we get together in the community and find flow, we can borrow each other’s energy and even tap into a higher energy level than we could have imagined, which is handy when your enthusiasm is waning or scattered.

And even when business owners feel stuck on a name for their new offer, they get an instant download if they walk away from the screen and make cookies (true story for one member). The key here is stepping out of what they were doing and finding flow to uncover answers.

Flow begets flow 

The more you find yourself in that flow state, the more easily you’ll get into it. But how do you find the time and space for feel-good-flow when people are all up in your face — working and schooling from home?

I can find myself in a flow state when writing, cooking, walking, painting, doing yoga, and rollerblading. Sometimes it’s squeezing it into the cracks of my day — a slow lunch or journaling in the morning or evening. These days, scheduling flow has been the only way to make it happen. 

Just like writing, if it’s not on the calendar, it’s as if it’s unimportant to me. 

Finding flow isn’t a nice to have — it’s essential — for our well-being and craft. Instead of putting those things you love to do last on your list, you know, if you have time, how about scheduling in time for flow and making it a priority?

Schedule time for flow first — before you do anything else.

Even if you find that state in various ways, even putting 15 minutes on your calendar every day as a chance to practice flow will help set the stage for the rest of your day. 

Want to find flow in your writing and experience some of that magic?

Sign up for the final Finding Flow experience of the year. It’s a 30-day writing challenge where you’ll tap into the writing flow with nature’s rhythms — every day.

Space is limited.