When the words are flowing smoothly from mind to keyboard to monitor, the process of writing sometimes feels deceptively simple. When this occurs, we can be in our “write mind” for extended periods, immersed in the process of giving birth on the screen to the seeds germinating in our thoughts and fantasies.

This “flow” experience gives us a sense of being one with our thoughts, keyboard and monitor. Sentences, paragraphs, and pages come easily and time passes without our awareness. Concentration intensifies and the outside world vanishes. The signpost up ahead says: We’ve entered the zone of our “write mind.”

When the words are flowing smoothly from mind to keyboard to monitor, the process of writing sometimes feels deceptively simple. When this occurs, we can be in our “write mind” for extended periods, immersed in the process of giving birth on the screen to the seeds germinating in our thoughts and fantasies.

This “flow” experience gives us a sense of being one with our thoughts, keyboard and monitor. Sentences, paragraphs, and pages come easily and time passes without our awareness. Concentration intensifies and the outside world vanishes. The signpost up ahead says: We’ve entered the zone of our “write mind.”

Simple as it may seem when we’re in the flow, writing is a psychologically profound method of taking what is inside and bringing it out. Our “write mind” creates plots, characters, scenes, dialogue, beats, time-lines and a narrative arch that result in a coherent story. We’re conjuring up new ways of expressing drama and emotion, connecting our characters and plots to perennial themes that touch our readers. We’re calling on our imagination and creativity to find a unique expression—our “voice”—that puts our stamp of individuality on our work. It’s seldom easy and often challenging—even for those of us who manage to achieve some measure of success.

Our desire is to temporarily steal our readers away from their outside world, immersing them in our story. But while they are lost in fantasyland, they are also making mental connections as to how our story may relate to their own life story.

Tension, conflict, contradiction, hope, despair, irony, absurdity, flashbacks, dreams, coherence, ambivalence, fantasy, redemption, resolution—all of these are aspects of psychology, of our “write mind.”

In non-fiction, our “write mind” is organizing concepts, knowledge or experiences in a readable and interesting fashion. The goal is to keep our writing crisp and alive, no matter what the topic may be. Whether our work is narrative, memoir, reference, prescriptive, or biography, our task is to find a way of expressing ourselves that reaches our readers.

All of the above is how our “write mind” is experienced inside and brought outside. But what about all the mental stuff we must confront when we write not only to be published but paid for our work? You know what I’m talking about—all the ego bruising and skin-toughening experiences serious and persevering writers face when they want to play in the major league of big-time commercial publishing.

We’re forced to deal with repeated perceived (and actual) slights and outright rejection by the usual suspects: agents, editors, acquisition committees, marketing reps, and publishers who have the final say.

At every pre and post game level—before and after snagging an agent; before and after editor acceptance; before and after publication; before and after promotion— there are many frustrations and disappointments. Here are a few: Agents who don’t respond fast enough when we contact them and leave us dangling on a shaky limb of anxiety when our book is on submission; editors who “fall in love” with our book but can’t convince market reps to make us an offer; offers made that fall short of our pie-in-the-sky hopes or what our optimistic agent leads us to believe will be forthcoming; copy editors who don’t know how to write decent flap copy and force us to write it ourselves; editors who promise us the publicity people will give us some juice but who are baffled when it doesn’t happen; house publicists too harried to give our book adequate attention; poorly-written articles or reviews that don’t do our masterpiece justice; reviewers who have an axe to grind; radio show hosts who haven’t opened our book but are trying to wing a live phone interview; journalists who suck our time and expertise to help them write an article but end up giving us a one sentence quote; fellow authors who are competitive and envious; readers who can’t wait to trash our book on Amazon; and even friends and family who don’t offer up the adulation we believe we are justly deserving.

Is your ego skin thick enough to handle all that? If your “write mind” is not strong enough, it will be tempting, after severe disappointments, to throw in the publishing towel.

For most wannabe authors—and even for the majority who actually break through and are published—the writing for big league publication experience is one of repeated rejection and disappointment punctuated by periodic acceptance, accomplishment and fleeting but intoxicating ecstasy. And ecstatic it can be. As any author will tell you, there is nothing quite like the high that comes with holding the first copy of your own finished book in your hands.

In this column, we will talk about all these experiences. We will talk about how to handle going under without swallowing too much water when the tsunami rejection waves hit. And we will talk about not becoming suffocated in the rarified air of the highs. Feel free to send any questions related to your “write mind” that you’d like me to address. Nothing is too personal or too far out. Your name will be kept confidential. If I don’t hear from you, I will discuss these topics without your prompting. Either way, together we will explore your “write mind.”

© 2006 Steven Hendlin, Ph.D.

Steven Hendlin, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in Newport Beach, California who has been in private practice for 30 years. Formerly a columnist for TheStreet.com for 74 consecutive weeks, he currently writes the “Shrink Rap” column for COAST Magazine. Dr. Hendlin is the author of four books and hundreds of professional and popular articles, reviews, and columns.

Visit him at www.hendlin.net. He is pleased to receive your comments and questions for publication in his Backspace column at shrink.rap1@yahoo. com, but please remember that he is unable to provide personal counseling or psychotherapy through the mail.