The "productive" mode -- do you get it sometimes? How to keep it up?

That's a good name for it... the Productive Mode.

Like you, I seem to get flashes of genius at like 3 am or so. Then I turn on the flashlight and write like the dickens. Often I wake up about 4:30, write feverishly for a few hours, then sink blissfully back to sleep until almost noon. (Ah, the life of a writer!)

Same goes for during the day; it's why I keep a tablet and pencil handy. Even when I go fishing, or shopping, or preparing a gourmet meal, I need to pause, letting the creative genius flow from my brain out my fingers onto the paper.

Then I need to arrange these notes in a semblance of order when I start my first "brain-dump" draft.

This is the major reason why I refuse to work for hourly pay. It's truly not fair to either me or the client.

When I take on a project, I basically live it. These flashes flow; even when I do other things, the knowledge and research perk and steep in the back of my mind.

Then, once I settle myself down to write, I'm ready. Ideas are close at hand. Images and scenarios have already popped up, clamoring to be developed. The knowledge I've gleaned from my research has already been formatted, primed to be incorporated in my material.

It's fun to watch the whole project evolve! And even more fun to watch my words develop into a finely-honed sales magnet, bursting to be released upon the unsuspecting world.

Dot

I think it's common to have moments of inspiration naturally... but I think you can train yourself to enter the "productive mode" as well. It's mostly about creating a habit that your body gets used to - and then you'll kick in to "productive mode" predictably and like clockwork.

Takes some time to train yourself and there are exercises to help. I like the book "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore.

Cheers,
Stephen Dean