Yep. This one isn’t mine. I got it from Louisa May Alcott, the author of LITTLE WOMEN.
But I adopted it after doing a report on Louisa May Alcott for my seventh grade English class. My project included a three foot tall stand-up figurine of Alcott. I used brown paper cardboard to make side curls around her face. This is the kind of twelve-year-old I was.
And since I’ve been using this term for over twenty years, it’s pretty thoroughly adopted as mine at this point.
I don’t think Louisa May Alcott would mind. She would appreciate being part of the literary lineage to so many writers today.
Examples of Writing Vortexes?
As mentioned, Louisa May Alcott wrote LITTLE WOMEN in three months.
I finished the last 32,000 words of OF GIANTS & ICE in ten days.
More details on both below.
If you’ve seen the Little Women movies, you’ll recognize this scene. It’s the one where Jo is scribbling in the attic, writing as fast as she can, her fingers stained with ink, papers all over the floor. The author, Louisa May Alcott, did actually write the entire book in three months, finishing by July 1868. The book came out in September. That seems like something that only happens in movies, but it did actually happen that way for Louisa May Alcott.
In a lot of ways, this is the scenario that we writers aim at: getting hit with so much inspiration that the words come pouring out of you, and then all your dreams come true, lickety-split, right afterwards.
So, this absolutely does happen. In December 2009, I wrote the last 32,000 words of OF GIANTS AND ICE in just ten days. I’d already written about 20,000 words of a completely different project.
I’d also finished the manuscript of a completely different project earlier that month—so add: another 17,000 words to the December 2009.
In January 2010, I revised all 70,000 words of the novel. I also wrote a query letter, researched agents, and queried half a dozen agents by the end of that month.
Creative inspiration CAN come at you that quickly. You CAN accomplish a lot in a short amount of time, and dreams CAN begin to fall into place after all that hard work. That’s 100% real.
I just don’t recommend idealizing it as a lifestyle choice.
This is what we don’t talk about as much: there’s a physical toll on the body.
Though you CAN do it, it’s also a great idea to create a plan to recuperate afterwards as much as possible. I did NOT do so in December 2009 and January 2010. I was under the weather on and off through that period, and I fell ill immediately after the creative vortex left me.
That means when my own agent reached out to me, excited and delighted to represent me in early February 2010, I was not in a celebratory mood. My earlier enthusiasm had already worn me out.
I distinctly remember apologizing to her about my scratchy voice in the phone call when I accepted her offer of representation. Looking back, that’s something I regret.
I still love my vortexes, but I also make sure that I unhook from the creative intensity for some rest and play...
…at the very least so that I can still celebrate with gusto when something delightful happens.