The Sweet Spot

There is a moment when I am writing that the world falls away and the place in my head becomes more real than the one in which I am sitting. It is a magic moment. The sweet spot. The holy grail. The moment you have left earth's orbit and are soaring through space. And I found it again today. 

Neil Gaiman has the best quote for this: The best thing about writing fiction is that moment where the story catches fire and comes to life on the page, and suddenly it all makes sense and you know what it's about and why you're doing it and what these people are saying and doing, and you get to feel like both the creator and the audience. Everything is suddenly both obvious and surprising ("but of course that's why he was doing that, and that means that...") and it's magic and wonderful and strange.You don't live there always when you write. Mostly it's a long hard walk. Sometimes it's a trudge through fog and you're scared you've lost your way and can't remember why you set out in the first place. But sometimes you fly, and that pays for everything.

I haven't lived there for more than a year now, but today...today I found my wings again and I don't care how much of a slog it was to get me here, I am here now, and it feels amazing.