DISCOVERING THE INNER WRITER --

The Zen Method of Creative Writing

By Dr. Nathan Louis BA English MA Psychology DctrLouis @ att.net

If you are a writer, then you have likely checked out the countless books on How
to Write. However, I have found that they fail to fully describe the creative
process. This process is well known.

1. Think about the idea for your story (boy meets girl, etc.)
2. Pursue all the ideas you can think of on this subject.
3. "Go fishing," that is, forget the whole thing for awhile.
This is the Incubation Period.
4. The "aha" inspiration will then come to you for a unique twist to this
old chestnut of a plot.(Plot is the skeleton, Story is your take on it}
5. Sit down and put it on paper without pause, as soon as possible.
6. Finally, “polish” it and make it suitable for publication.

What is left out of this is the actual psychological process which

brings all of this about. Before I reveal the great secret of Discovering the
Inner Writer, what do two greats have to say about it?

Ray Bradbury is a science fiction writer and Stephen King a “horror story”
writer, both extremely successful..In both their cases, they managed to break
through previous prejudices against their chosen subject matter.

In Bradbury’s book "The Zen of Writing" his mantra is simple. To open up to your
feelings and emotions -- follow your bliss. Let your imagination run
wild is his advice. Stephen King wrote “On Writing” and it is a good book. But
check out his opinion below!

This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with
bullshit. Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much
about what they do -- not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when
it’s bad. I figured the shorter the book, the less bullshit!

In Discovering the Inner Writer, the sub-title is The Zen Method of Creative
Writing. What the heck is Zen? Zen is an Eastern religious practice of very deep
meditation in which one reaches the very depths of consciousness to attain great
enlightenment. How did I come upon this discovery?

I stumbled on it one evening when I was lying on my couch, just relaxing,

listening to some far-out New Age music on the radio. As I lay there, the music
came up in a moody, somber, sort of tone. Without effort, a vision came into my
mind of a stranded starship captain, stuck on a planet inhabited by thieves and
renegades of all sorts. He looks at the two moons shining down on him from the
night sky. He spies a flashing sign of a nearby bar, and decides to go in and
have a drink to get some ideas. (all of this is unfolding before my eyes, like a
movie!). The moment my minds eye had him step through the door, the music
suddenly changed to a loud, catchy, crazy number of instruments, very much like
the almost exact scene in the original Star Wars when Skywalker and Kinobi step
down into the little bar in that movie! The captain spies a strange little dancer
on the stage, with 4 arms and 4 legs. Her eyes are huge, and quite hypnotic!

In short, without any effort an entire little story unfolded with a start, a
problem, a conflict, a resolution and final happy ending. When the music ended I
was enthralled. I went out and bought the tape (Atlas Eyes, by Tangerine Dreams)
and proceeded to play it while recording a voice-over narration. At that point I
had one of those old time radio dramas we used to hear!

I then wrote it up as a story and sent it out to tons of magazines. This

was the first
story I ever had published. I was so excited, I recorded many other pieces and
did voice-overs
on them, collecting over a dozen or so stories. Everything from cowboys chasing
robbers, to monstrous science fiction machines, to shamans in the desert. I was
stunned at the great variety of stories that “came to me.” Eventually I created a
class and managed to get a number of students willing to pay me to discover their
Inner Writer -- with great success. My students were able to create stories “out
of thin air” just as I did.

This is precisely how Daniel Steel describes how she writes, believe it or not.
It is how other best sellers write. Sydney Sheldon says: “When I begin a novel, I
start with a character....I have no idea what the plot is going to be.” When
Harold Robbins, super successful writer was asked how he came up with the dramatic
ending to his novel “The Betsy” he answered: “I didn’t know the ending of the
story until I stopped typing.” But they have no idea of the process.

The fact is. we enter or are in this Zen state often in our routine.
Watching a beautiful sunset at the beach, we may enter the “Alpha” state which is
when our brain waves measure about 8 to 12 Cycles Per Second. Just before
waking and just as we are going to sleep, we enter this state of consciousness.
This is the state of mind where creativity becomes accessible to our
consciousness. We wonder why at times we are “inspired” and other times we are
cold as a dead fish, and we have “writer’s block.” This state is a fiction. It
is simply that we are in the wrong state of consciousness for the creative muse to
come forth. According to Jean Marie Stine, author and mind researcher, with deep
breathing and positive affirmations, we can reach Theta state of from 4 to 7 CPS.
This is where we achieve the Optimum Learning State. We don’t need to go that
deep, necessarily, to get into the creative flow. But what would happen if we
did?

How do we get into this Alpha state? One must relax the entire body. The
best way to do this is to start at the top of the head relaxing each and every
muscle of your face, tongue, necks, throat, shoulders, arms, solar plexus, etc.
until your body is totally limp. Then you may turn on the music and start your
odyssey into that magical and mystical area of creativity.

FIRST, however, you must set the stage mentally. Just before your
relaxation jaunt, establish a general premise. “I would like a real juicy
romance..” Whatever. “I want a corking science fiction adventure.” Or you could
ask: “Surprise me!” letting it all happen before your very eyes. At that point
you make a major, purposeful shift in your mental orientation.

You then do the relaxing exercise all the while thinking “I am relaxed,
completely
relaxed and receptive and open to whatever will come forth.” You must then
turn
off the intellectual left brain and start using the right brain feeling side. Be
Receptive. Be
in a Listening mode -- totally. You will begin to get images and pictures and
ideas in your
mind. Of course, I assume you know full well what a story or plot consists of.
A setting, a character or characters, a problem, things to overcome, solution and
resolution or denouement.
 As you are sitting there with your eyes closed, ideas and concepts will
began to come to you. This is natural and the way the mind works. Hopefully you
are the type who pictures them in your mind. Let us say you see a setting, and a
character, standing on a cliff, looking out at the wind swept sea.. The car he
has been driving is steaming, indicating he has been driving very fast. Now what?
You have a setting and character.. Let us say the narrative stops there. What
then? You wait patiently, or even say: “OK! What next...I am listening!” You
see? Receptive! If so, perhaps you will suddenly see a woman in another hot car
slide on the gravel and stop next to the man. (!) Anything. Perhaps he will
look over the edge of the cliff and see a body lying on the rocks. (?) Maybe the
woman comes up to him and slaps him in the face, hard! Action! It is endless.
You cannot predict how the story will unfold.. But you will realize it is all
coming forth without effort. Above all do not try to continue the story
yourself. i.e. Using your left brain intellect. If you do you might break the
spell of being in the right brain Alpha side, which is doing all the creative
work.

Stanislav Grof, the well known psychiatric researcher, back in the sixties,
experimented with people using , Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, noted that
unbelievable states of consciousness were accessed which indicated an authentic
experience, as real as the subjects body, being felt. Many experienced other
lives which were then verified with records of
the past. One man felt and pictured himself as a priest from ancient Egypt
preparing a mummy for burial. He was a plumber! Egyptologists verified his
description as true! What is happening? Grof proved that our mind and
consciousness has access to an enormous underground labyrinth of every experience
that has ever been! In altered states of consciousness we can access this
information. On a lesser level, that is what we are doing going into the Alpha
state.

Our very lives are also an enormous repository of experiences. I have a

theory I call the ROLF theory of writing. Read, Observe, Listen and Feel. Do it
diligently and you will amass tons of highly valuable treasures you will be able
to use in your writings, novels and stories. Always keep a notebook handy to
record impressions and choice tidbits you might overhear.

Yes, “How to Write” books do have valuable hints and tips. Read them ,
because now you have the actual secret of creativity. Now, tools suggested in
these
books indeed can be helpful. And ultimately we will use the left brain intellect
to polish and refine our stories, correcting or refining our prose.. But now you
have a story! And you will never have writer’s block again! Because all that’s
needed is to go back to your secret source of creativity and pick up some new
ideas! Good Luck!

DISCOVERING THE INNER WRITER

The Zen Method of Creative Writing
by Dr. Nathan Louis = BA English MA Psychology
DctrLouis @att.net

If you are a writer, then you have likely checked out the countless books on "How
to Write. However, I have found that they fail to fully describe the creative
process. This process is well known.

1. Think about the idea for your story (boy meets girl, etc.)
2. Pursue all the ideas you can think of on this subject.
3. "Go fishing," that is, forget the whole thing for awhile.
This is the incubation period.
4. The "aha" inspiration will then come to you for a unique twist to this
old chestnut of a plot.(Plot is the skeleton, Story is your take on it}
5. Sit down and put it on paper without pause, as soon as possible.
6. Finally, “polish” it and make it suitable for publication.

What is left out of this is the actual psychological process which

brings all of this about. How did I first discover what I call the
great secret of Discovering the Inner Writer?

In Discovering the Inner Writer, the sub-title is The Zen Method of Creative
Writing. What the heck is Zen? Zen is an Eastern religious practice of very deep
meditation in which one reaches the very depths of consciousness to attain great
enlightenment. (One of my avocations is studying and researching spiritual
consciousness)

I stumbled on the secret one evening when I was lying on my couch, just
relaxing, listening to some far-out New Age music on the radio. As I lay there,
the music came up in a moody, somber, sort of tone. Without effort, a vision came
into my mind of a stranded starship captain, stuck on a planet inhabited by
thieves and renegades of all sorts. He looks at the two moons shining down on him
from the night sky. He spies a flashing sign of a nearby bar, and decides to go
in and have a drink to get some ideas. (all of this is unfolding before my eyes,
like a movie!). The moment my minds eye had him step through the door, the music
suddenly changed to a loud, catchy, crazy number of instruments, very much like
the almost exact scene in the original Star Wars when Skywalker and Kinobi step
down into the little bar in that movie! The captain spies a strange little dancer
on the stage, with 4 arms and 4 legs. Her eyes are huge, and quite hypnotic!

In short, without any effort an entire little story unfolded with a start, a
problem, a conflict, a resolution and final happy ending. When the music ended I
was enthralled. I went out and bought the tape (Atlas Eyes, by Tangerine Dreams)
and proceeded to play it while recording a voice-over narration. At that point I
had one of those old time radio dramas we used to hear!

I then wrote it up as a story and sent it out to tons of magazines. This

was the first
story I ever had published. I was so excited, I recorded many other pieces and
did voice-overs
on them, collecting about a dozen or so stories. Everything from cowboys chasing
robbers, to monstrous science fiction machines, to shamans in the desert. I was
stunned at the great variety of stories that “came to me.” Eventually I created a
class and managed to get a number of students willing to pay me to discover their
inner writer -- with great success. My students were able to create stories “out
of thin air” just as I did.

This is precisely how Daniel Steel describes how she writes, believe it or not.
It is how other best sellers write. Sydney Sheldon says: “When I begin a novel, I
start with a character....I have no idea what the plot is going to be.” When
Harold Robbins, super successful writer was asked how he came up with the dramatic
ending to his novel “The Betsy” he answered: “I didn’t know the ending of the
story until I stopped typing.” But they have no idea of the process.

The fact is. we enter or are in this Zen state often in our routine.
Watching a beautiful sunset at the beach, we may enter the “Alpha” state which is
when our brain waves measure about 8 to 12 Cycles Per Second. Just before
waking and just as we are going to sleep, we enter this state of consciousness.
This is the state of mind where creativity becomes accessible to our
consciousness. We wonder why at times we are “inspired” and other times we are
cold as a dead fish, and we have “writer’s block.” This state is a fiction. It
is simply that we are in the wrong state of consciousness for the creative muse to
come forth. According to Jean Marie Stine, author and mind researcher, with deep
breathing and positive affirmations, we can reach Theta state of from 4 to 7 CPS.
This is where we achieve the Optimum Learning State. We don’t need to go that
deep, necessarily, to get into the creative flow. But what would happen if we
did?

How do we get into this Alpha state? One must relax the entire body. The
best way is to start at the top of the head relaxing each and every muscle of
your face, tongue, necks, throat, shoulders, arms, solar plexus, etc. until your
body is totally limp. Then you may turn on the music and start your odyssey into
that magical and mystical area of creativity.

FIRST, however, you must set the stage mentally. Just before your
relaxation jaunt, establish a general premise. “I would like a real juicy
romance..” Whatever. “I want a corking science fiction adventure.” Or you could
ask: “Surprise me!” letting it all happen before your very eyes. At that point
you make a major, purposeful shift in your mental orientation.

You then go into the relaxing exercise all the while thinking: “I am
relaxed, completely
relaxed and receptive and open to whatever will come forth.” You must then
turn
off the intellectual left brain (in a right handed person) and start using the
right brain feeling side. Be Receptive. Be in a Listening mode -- totally. You
will begin to get images and pictures and ideas in your mind. Of course, I assume
you know full well what a story or plot consists of. A setting, a character or
characters, a problem, things to overcome, solution and resolution or denouement.

As you are sitting there with your eyes closed, ideas and concepts will
began to come to you. This is natural and the way the mind works. Hopefully you
are the type who pictures them in your mind. Let us say you see a setting, and a
character, standing on a cliff, looking out at the wind swept sea.. The car he
has been driving is steaming, indicating he has been driving very fast. Now what?
You have a setting and character. Let us say the narrative stops there. What
then? You wait patiently, or even say: “OK! What next?...I am listening!” You
see? Receptive! If so, perhaps you will suddenly see a woman in another hot car
slide on the gravel and stop next to the man. (!) Anything. Perhaps he will
look over the edge of the cliff and see a body lying on the rocks. (?) Maybe the
woman comes up to him and slaps him in the face, hard! Action! It is endless.
You cannot predict how the story will unfold.. But you will realize it is all
coming forth without effort. Above all, do not try to continue the story
yourself. i.e. Using your left brain intellect. If you do you might break the
spell of being in the right brain Alpha state, which is doing all the creative
work.
 Stanislav Grof, the well known psychiatric researcher, back in the sixties,
experimented with people using , Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, noted that
unbelievable states of consciousness were accessed which indicated an authentic
experience, as real as the subjects body, being felt. Many experienced other
lives which were then verified with records of
the past. One man felt and pictured himself as a priest from ancient Egypt
preparing a mummy for burial. He was a plumber! Egyptologists verified his
description as true! What is happening? Grof proved that our mind and
consciousness has access to an enormous underground labyrinth of every experience
that has ever been! In altered states of consciousness we can access this
information. On a lesser level, that is what we are doing going into the Alpha
state.

Our very lives are also an enormous repository of experiences. I have a

theory I call the ROLF theory of writing. Read, Observe, Listen and Feel. Do it
diligently and you will amass tons of highly valuable treasures you will be able
to use in your writings, novels and stories. (Using the Zen Method, some will
even be dredged up from your own sub-conscious!) Always keep a notebook handy to
record impressions and choice tidbits you might overhear.

Yes, “How to Write” books do have valuable hints and tips. Read them ,
because now you have the actual secret of creativity. Now, tools suggested in
these
books indeed can be helpful. And ultimately we will use the left brain intellect
to polish and refine our stories, correcting or refining our prose.. But now you
have a story! And you will never have writer’s block again! Because all that’s
needed is to go back to your secret source of creativity and pick up some new
ideas! Good Luck!