I have found that there is a point in writing that equates to this quote from the film 'Le Mans '66' (2019):
"There's a point at 7,000 rpms where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. It disappears. All that's left, a body moving through space, and time."
When I am engrossed in what I am writing that is what it feels like. Everything tactile disappears. All that is left is the world created by my imagination. This moment might last a few minutes or several hours. I have often known it last for much of the latter. The words appear to flow from my brain into my fingers and onto the page. I have turned on a creative tap and I do not want to turn it off again. Of course, reality inevitably intrudes, usually in the form of a need for a bathroom break, and that moment comes to an end. However, like the racing driver aiming for 7,000 rpms, I know that it can be captured again.
I am not sure what motivates other writers, but this works for me. When the words flow and the mundane world disappears, I know that I am doing something good and worthwhile. It does not matter if others do not appreciate what I have written, that is a consideration for a later date. In the moment none of that counts. This is why I return to my work time and again, usually with the excuse of reviewing the manuscript to improve it, but knowing that really I am just trying to invoke another 7,000 rpm vanishing point. It is the same motivation for working on something new. Writing is a lonely business if you do not achieve this escape but I can not remember the last time I felt lonely while writing.
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