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WRITING IN FLOW: Keys to Enhanced Creativity, by Susan K. Perry, Ph.D., Foreword by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D. [Writer’s Digest Books] Buy a signed copy from me.
WHAT IS FLOW?It’s when you’re so deeply engaged in whatever it is you’re doing that it becomes self-rewarding. When you write from a flow state, you may forget what time it is, the words seem to arrive almost effortlessly, and it’s possible that you’re producing your best work.
RAVES“Perry is a wonderful guide and interviewer, juggling the voices of many writers to make concise points. I would strongly recommend the book to any aspiring or successful creative writers.... Would I recommend this book to psychologists? A more difficult question, but the answer is yes. And it’s a fun read.”—James C. Kaufman, Ph.D., Journal of Creative Behavior “If it is possible to capture the essence of flow, Perry has done it. This would be a welcome companion on any writer’s bookshelf. It’s the perfect mix of inspiration and perspiration.” —Sandra W. Russ, Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, April 2001 “Writing in Flow would be a welcome companion on any writer’s bookshelf. It’s the perfect mix of inspiration and perspiration.” —Jeff Leiper, Writer’s Block, Spring 2000 “Writing in Flow is a creative and yet practical work. The ideas are nicely tied to the research, and the practical implications clearly explored. In a sense this volume shows how the medium can be the message - it is a joy to read.” “This volume is alive with the distinctive voices of great writers, preserved in the unobtrusive yet scintillating medium of Susan K. Perry’s own writing. Readers who have struggled with verse or prose will recognize the ring of truth in these descriptions. Those who are just curious to know what’s involved will have a chance to get a glimpse into the strange world where as yet untold stories gestate.” —Foreword Magazine “Unlike standard academic studies, Perry maintains a connection with the mysteries of creativity. She avoids quantifying the life out of the writing experience, while presenting an objective study of subjective experience. It’s a fine line, and she walks it with the grace of a high-wire artist. . . . If you find strength in the company of writers sharing experience and insight, Flow is a necessary treasure.” —Jade Walker, Inscriptions (online) “If you are interested in other writers’ takes on writing in flow, or would like to know how to enter this state more often, this is a must-read.” —Mariska Stamenkovic, Keystrokes Magazine (online) “Writers at any level of experience will benefit from Perry’s insight into creativity and the mental process that occurs during the act of writing. This is not another ‘how to’ book that serves up a rehash of common do’s and don’ts of how to be a writer. This book gets right into the heads of 76 regularly published, successful writers. Perry picks their brains, like a scientist with tweezers, extracting gems of wisdom from the gray matter. . . . The style is comfortable, warm, and very readable. . . . the feeling of relaxing over coffee with the author or eavesdropping on her conversation with all the best writers of the day.” —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Psychology and the Arts (newsletter of Division 10, American Psychological Association) “This book inspires and explains. It is a must read for every writer, no matter whether you write poetry, articles, novels, or ad copy.” —Writers’ Exchange (online) “This is an enjoyable read and valuable learning aide for developing writers. Perry also provides answers to questions from students and friends throughout the text of the book. Writing in Flow is an excellent and unique guide for enhancing your creativity and inspiring yourself to write regularly.” —Rodney L. Merrill, Writer Online “It’s like having a sister’s knowledgeable, earnest math-loving friend lead you through calculus; you’re learning a lot in a friendly manner.... Writing in Flow is a good book, an interesting book, and a useful book.” “A really exciting book. So many people want to be writers, and what you’re looking at is the thing that prevents them.” “Writing in Flow, Susan Perry’s major work on flow, that creative zero-time trance that writers enter when they are working their hardest (and most would say best), is one of those brilliant simplicities that illuminate our lives from time to time. It is simplicity because Perry makes it so with her common sense approach to research, her use of unexpurgated interview, and her relaxed but pointed prose style. It is brilliant because she, for the first time that I am aware of, has collected and examined the state of flow, something mentioned in passing by scores of writers in various contexts, but something never excerpted as focus of serious psychological and aesthetic investigation. She has assembled an extremely interesting and yes, even entertaining book, one that I am sure will become standard reading for any writer or anyone interested in writing. Writing in Flow is simply, brilliantly, a great book.” “It’s about time.”
See for yourself—Read the Excerpts
FOREWORD by M. CSIKSZENTMIHALYIThere is much written about writing—;the process of creating a poem or a novel is a source of endless fascination, especially to those who have tried their hands at it. There are poems whose theme is the ars poetica, there are uncounted fictional and biographical accounts of how hard and how wonderful it is to bring a story out of thin air. Many of these descriptions give vivid insights into the subjective experience of writing. Yet to my knowledge nobody has asked a large number of distinguished authors to describe how they think and what they feel during the creative process, so as to provide a comprehensive and systematic description of the art of writing. At least not up to this point; for Susan Perry has done the job for us. And what a fascinating job it is. This volume is alive with the distinctive voices of great writers, preserved in the unobtrusive yet scintillating medium of her own writing. Readers who have struggled with verse or prose will recognize the ring of truth in these descriptions. Those who are just curious to know what’s involved will have a chance to get a glimpse into the strange world where as yet untold stories gestate. Creative individuals—; painters, sculptors, physicists, musicians ...—have left many accounts of what goes on in consciousness during the creative process. But writers have the advantage of being able to describe this process in their own medium, in words. This brings their accounts to reflect much closer the actual mental process, so that in reading some of the excerpts Perry quotes one can almost imagine oneself being in the place of the person writing. The dance of images and emotions in the poet’s head comes alive so vividly that readers may be excused for believing that it takes place in their own mind. But Perry’s volume is not just a series of exciting glimpses into the creative process. For those who appreciate a more systematic understanding, she has organized her material in terms of a conceptual model—;based on the theory of flow—;which brings order and meaning to the interview material. The model and Perry’s application of it takes the concrete descriptions to a level of generalization that gives them added power. Yet she has been wise to conceal the conceptual apparatus enough so that it never becomes obtrusive. The reader who likes reality straight, without the framing of theory, will barely notice its existence. To end on a personal note, I must say that in the past twenty-five years I have often thought of the quip attributed to Leonardo da Vinci: “Unfortunate the master who has no apprentices to surpass him.” Indeed one feels like a failure if one’s work does not stimulate the next generation to do better. Therefore a book like this one, which builds on my own writing but takes it into a whole new dimension, is extremely satisfying. But I am sure it will be almost as satisfying to everyone who reads it.
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