Hey, I’m a trained deep work and flow state facilitator and I write a million words a year. It’s chill. As an award-winning author with messy habits and a lazy heart, writing in flow state is everything to me. Here’s an informal guide to how I do it, plus some tips for meaningful long-term productivity and creative well-being along the way.
(This is a living document and I update it every time I learn something new that helps.)
All you need to start your flow state writing practice is tip #1. That’s the baseline. But try ’em all, if you’d like. Stack ’em up. Let’s roll!
#1 Flow State Writing Tip: Time It
Why time a writing sprint?
I time my writing sprints because it works. A micro-deadline helps narrow my focus so I don’t wander off to another activity. A finish line keeps me from panicking that I’ll have to work forever. I train my brain for writing in flow state by using timed sprints as a stable boundary. I find the length of writing sprint that my brain loves, then I do it over and over. Habit supports ease.
How long should a writing sprint be?
My favorite sprint length is 50 minutes. It’s been (broadly) identified as the science-backed ideal focus length for flow and I agree with all the lab coat dorks who figured it out for us. Personally I love 50 minutes of writing, then a 10 minute break. (More on taking the best kind of breaks later.) I can do that all day. I do an annual writing megathon (marathon) where I do 24 hours in a row like this.
Do I have to write for 50 minutes?
If writing for almost an hour solid feels like a “yikes” right now, you can start out with super-short writing times (even a 5-minute sprint counts) and go longer when you feel ready. The only way to fail is to write nothing; see how long you like to write for! I hate clocks and I love fun, so I use music to keep track of my minutes with timed focus playlists.
#2 My Music Playlist for Flow State
Why use music playlists for flow state?
Timed focus playlists have been the bedrock of my creative practice since I was 14 and writing heartbreak poetry while I listened to Ani DiFranco on my walkman in the middle of the night. I’ve changed a lot since then (and my music taste has too) but neuroscience stays the same. I use the same music playlists over and over because I’m lazy and because it’s smart. When I hear one of my regular soundtracks, I slip right into the zone because my brain is trained to recognize it as a cue for “writing time.” If you associate certain music with writing, that music becomes a shortcut to your most creative and focused brain state.
Can you give me a playlist for flow state?
You know I will. Ok, my best writing playlists are mostly built around John Luther Adams’ orchestral track “Become Ocean,” which is a long instrumental palindrome that mimics the rise and fall of a single ocean wave… and usually tricks my brain right into flow state. My playlist features that track as part of 50 minutes of deep work instrumentals, followed by 10 minutes of lively songs that always prompt me to take a lively and refreshing break before the next sprint. Curate your own music, or click here to try my 50/10 writing playlist on Spotify.
#3 Flow State Writing Tip: Meaningful Challenge
What makes challenge meaningful?
A win is only meaningful if it wasn’t guaranteed. Victory is most meaningful when you needed to play well to win. Have you ever been playing a game with someone and felt like you “met your match?” I’m talking about that vibe of being completely engaged while trying to win a round of any activity (tennis, chess, Call of Duty, poetry slam, pong) with a challenger who gives you a real run for your money. I’m talking about an opponent who’s pretty close to your skill level, but might beat you even if you bring your A-game. In a match like that we really don’t know who will win, so we’re both playing our best. It’s exhilarating! I’ve felt this way a few times and I love it. When I’m up against the right partner who offers a meaningful level of challenge, trying my best is FUN. I feel naturally inspired to focus and get sharp.
How is challenge related to flow state?
The same “sweet spot” of meaningful challenge and possibly-winnable difficulty that you feel in a good game? It’s a shortcut to flow state. You can google “Goldilocks challenge” if you want jargon and psychology and neuroscience, or you can stay here with me and get practical about using it to write.
What writing goals work for flow state?
If you want to hit flow state writing, aim to create an “I’ve met my match” level of challenge in your writing goals. Experiment with setting a specific goal for each writing session. If it’s too hard, you’ll give up. If it’s too easy, it won’t hold your interest. Set yourself up to chase challenging but possible wins and you’re on the road to flow state AND the highway to dopamine city. What do I mean by set a writing goal? Mess around and see what inspires you. Try a few different kinds of goals and see what makes your brain light up. Here are a few I’ve used this month: “Finish an ultra-rough outline for the story arc.” “Come up with five good ideas and keep two of them.” “Draft 300 words.” All of those have brought me to flow state writing.
#4 Positive Peer Pressure for Hitting Flow
What does peer pressure have to do with my writing?
Working alongside other folks who are in flow (even on a screen) is a powerful flow state writing boost. It makes flow feel psychologically possible. You’ll also get the monkey-see/monkey-do experience of mirror neurons firing from “body doubling,” which just means that if someone is in flow you’ll want to flow alongside them. Your body might even naturally co-regulate your nervous system to their calm, ease, and focus.
How do I find a good flow state writing community?
The first time I wrote a million words in a year was when I discovered the leverage of facilitated and introvert-friendly positive peer pressure at FLOWN (the Deep Work platform.) It’s my favorite place on the internet. You can drop in for silent body-doubling rooms with friendly and respectful people 24 hours a day, or attend structured 1-hr and 2-hr sessions run by trained deep work facilitators. The format is simple and accessible, including gentle accountability and brief guided “recharge breaks” that (depending on the facilitator’s specialty) might feature guided breathwork, visualization and meditation, or a quick brain-boosting game. I’d been a flow state advocate for a while, but joining FLOWN helped me learn more about how to reach a fully focused state with intention.
Are they paying you to say this?
I joined FLOWN as a member. Nobody invited me in, I just saw an ad on Facebook and thought it looked interesting. I was a subscriber for a year. I loved it so much (and had such a good natural match with the company’s priorities) that they recruited me. I work there now, facilitating deep work sessions of my own to help folks all around the world escape distraction and hit flow. It’s affordable, global, science-backed, and welcoming. Come hang with me at FLOWN (I’d be extra-grateful if you click here to use my referral link for FLOWN.)
#5 Flow State Tip: Write Something Cool
Why is this related to flow state science?
Flow state is defined by complete engagement. Total immersion. Being riveted by the work that’s in front of you. It’s a lot easier to hit that stride if what you’re working on is actually fascinating.
What if I’m not sure about my writing?
You might need a boost in creative confidence. (It’s not always easy to fall in love with your own ideas, even if they’re great.) I love coaching folks on that, so if you think your project has potential but some doubts are in your way, come chat with me in a sliding scale coaching session. If you feel discomfort while you’re writing, it could be a mindset block that you can easily nudge aside with the bare minimum of outside support.
Ok, so what if the writing project simply sucks?
Even awesome writers sometimes chase bad ideas. Or maybe the idea is awesome, but this isn’t the time to write it. If you’re blocked or struggling and can’t find flow, get rigorous with yourself. Do you need to write this? Does this project need to exist at all? If so, does it need to exist right now? If so, does this one little section of the project need to exist, or is there a more exciting way to tell your story or make your point? If not, that’s okay. Be willing to let it go. Maybe it was a training exercise, a learning experience, or the vital (but disposable) stepping stone to what you really needed to say.
#6 Flow State + Real Breaks = Writing Minus Burnout
Why do breaks matter for flow state writing?
Actually stepping away for a break between writing sprints keeps you alive. If all you did was write, you’d be a hunched dehydrated husk of a skeleton nightmare person. Take a week off sometimes. Take a day off. I took three whole months off once, and it stopped me from permanent burnout. (I’ll do a whole post about burnout recovery soon, but let’s just say: a big break saved me.) Flow state or not: if you’ve been writing for an hour or a few hours or a few decades, it might be time for a break. Taking real breaks is how I’m still in love with doing this after 20+ years as a career creative writer. It makes my flow state writing practice sustainable.
What do you do for breaks that helps you write a million words a year?
Writing uses my mind but lets my body sit slumping and cramped like an unwanted trash heap. So, a good ten-minute break for me usually means focusing on the body. I take care of it, ask it to forgive me for the past 50 minutes of spine-stiffening labor, and offer it novel stimuli. Dancing to top 40 pop music, fixing a hot or cold beverage, moving to a warmer or colder environment for a moment (aka stepping outdoors), washing my face and re-doing my hair to change my sensory experience, taking a guided meditation break to tune in to my breath and release tension, or simply changing clothes for a new experience of color and texture (which can also tap into the power of enclothed cognition.)
What’s my best break from writing?
Start by actually stepping away. Hands off the keyboard. Listen to your body. Does it want to take a break? With all the freedom of not being tied to your page, what do you most want to do? A break isn’t just about relief. It’s about refresh. What gives you life? Petting your cat, getting upside down in a handstand, pruning a plant, taking a 5-minute shower, doing a primal scream, watching 8 minutes of clips of your favorite WWE wrestler getting punched in the chest? Maybe that one’s just for me, but what does a break look like for you? Take one for real! Let it rip!
Tell me a secret about taking breaks from writing in flow state?
Unexpected bonus: when the deadline to “return to the desk” in a few minutes is real, it’s amazing how much you can make happen in a 10 minute break. In a brief recess from writing, I’ve sometimes cleaned my whole room because I had so much pent-up physical energy after being stationary at the keyboard. I’ve speedrun my chores, made tough phone calls, even held a plank for longer than my abs seem to be able to do in any other circumstance. Strange tales of true life. What can I say: when the flow is flowing, anything can happen.
#7 Writing in Flow State: Flow State for Everything
What does flow state writing have to do with the rest of my life?
One cool thing about a flow state writing habit is that’s it fun. Another is that it’s productive. Another is that it’s creative. Another is that it trains your brain to have an easier time accessing flow for other activities as well. The more often I hit flow state writing, the easier it is to find that “zone” while I’m dancing, reading a book, or even (when the moon is rare and full) cleaning my room. It seems like the more flow I find in writing, the more of it I find in life. I also feel that the more flow I find in life overall, the more of it I find in writing. Maybe I’m the only one whose brain works this way… but dude, I doubt it.
How can I use that to my writing advantage?
If you are struggling to find flow as a writer, here’s an experiment I think is worth trying. Identify an activity where you hit flow more easily. (Juggling? Baking? Playing MarioKart?) Do that thing for 40 minutes… then write for 10 minutes. Bring your flow state to the page, and see if you can teach your brain to associate writing with flow. Do this for a while and see if you start to have an easier time hitting flow naturally just by writing. I don’t have any peer-reviewed studies to back me up on this, but anecdotally it really works for me. I sometimes write for 25 minutes to get a good stew of flow state neurotransmitters going in my brain, then take that flow state into a task that’s an uglier fit for me (like sorting laundry.)
Can you summarize that in like three simple sentences, please?
Arriving in flow state can turn almost any miserable task into a more beautiful human experience. So if you can’t find flow from writing, find flow somewhere else and bring it to the page from there. If you can find flow from writing, bring it to the rest of your life.
#8 Flow State Writing Tip: Practice
Explain it to me briefly with a few swear words?
If you can’t hit the harmonious ease of flow every time you write: no sh*t. Take a break and then try again. Sh*t takes time.
Explain it to me fully with no swears?
Like any other skill, a flow state writing approach gets easier the more you do it. If you’re frustrated, take a break and try again later. Practice takes time, and starting to learn can be slow. I had to practice to learn how to walk, talk, tie my shoes, stand up on a skateboard (I still can’t kick-flip), and make a cup of coffee that doesn’t suck. Almost everything you do gets easier if you practice. So if you want to write in flow state, it’s okay if you don’t get there today. The more you practice the habits (like the ones I’ve listed here) that can support you in achieving flow, the easier it will get. Give it a shot, and keep giving it more shots until that flow state writing zone finally happens once, and then often, and then almost all the time.
How can I get there faster?
By learning more. If you want to learn more about the science and psychology behind flow, the two best books about it so far are FLOW (which is beautiful and philosophical but sometimes a bit challenging to get through) and DEEP WORK by Cal Newport (which is easier to read but more American aka slightly more annoying and sales-y.) I love them in combination and you can get them both at my curated bookshop.org store of mindset, creativity, and craft books. (PS. Buying any book through that affiliate link supports me and a real-world network of brick-and-mortar independent bookstores.)
Good luck with everything!
xo, megan
Or just go home to the blog.
These (hopefully) really quite helpful creative writing tips offer what I’ve learned as an award-winning author who writes a million words a year, and what I’ve learned about supporting others as a private writing coach.
There’s no one way to write. There’s only your way. I hope some of my tactics and ideas can help you find it.
Yup, I’m a writing coach.
I work with folks at all levels of experience and all levels of income. My writers range from unhoused teens living on the streets to C-suite executives who want to up-level their communication. If you want a private coaching session but can’t afford it, email megan@howtowritesomething.com and ask for scholarship info.
curious/confused?: what does a writing coach do (and not do)
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