Fugue states & creative embodiment
This is a weekly discussion thread for Writing Club subscribers. You can read more about the difference between this program and a regular paid subscription here and see what we’ve been up to here.
Reminder, too, that I’m teaching my class, Labors of Love: Writing with Silvia Federici, at Hugo House in a few weeks. Sign up now if you’re interested— we start March 4.
I’m sending this week’s thread a little late in the day because we had a four-day school holiday weekend AND Covid is passing through our house. Fortunately, for the moment, I’m fine, so my brain is mostly intact, but I have creative work that’s calling to me that I just can’t get to, though I’m longing to. To live a bit vicariously through all of you, I thought I’d pose a process question about creative sensation, specifically about the very good feelings that come with being fully immersed in writing: What does it feel like when you’re in creative nirvana, a fugue state, or a period of inspiration? How do you get into this state and how do you understand it—as the point of it all? as fantasy? as madness? as clarity? something that happens to you? a feeling you have to cultivate or work toward?