How To Achieve Flow When Writing Materials

One of the criteria for flow of comedy material is that a comedian’s actions and awareness merge. This is an overly complex way of saying that our concentration is focused on what we are doing at the time… and nothing else. The comedian is writing comedy in the moment . This is easy to see in professional athletes. When an athlete performs, they are in the present moment. Their awareness of themselves and the outside world merges with the actions they are taking. There are no thoughts of something unrelated to the game. They are 100% aware of the actions they are taking and nothing else. Look at any activity that you’re passionate about and it’s likely that you already do this. Remarkably, this exact same feeling of flow occurs in every single field. Flow happens in the same way and for the same reasons regardless of industry. Look back to a time when you experienced flow while writing comedy. You’ll see that flow came only after you became totally immersed in your writing. Flow never occurs before . When a comedian’s awareness is spread thin (i.e. on tasks unrelated to writing comedy) then flow becomes impossible. There are too many distractions. They are unable to build momentum in their writing because their awareness pulls them in many different directions. Contrast this with what happens when a comedian’s awareness is in a single direction. Distractions become impossible because the comedian’s awareness only consists of writing comedy . When distractions are gone, writer’s block cannot exist. This, obviously, leads to being able to write higher quantity of material. However, it also leads to writing higher quality material. It takes time for the brain to be creative. That’s why creativity isn’t as simple as sitting down to the computer and deciding to create something. The longer the brain is allowed to work with an idea, the more opportunities for creativity it finds. When flow criteria are met it gives the brain longer to search for highly novel, original ideas… the kind of ideas that set a comedian apart from their competition.