77 Finding Flow

Once you’ve spent a good deal of time engineering your piece so that the paragraphs are arranged effectively and the structural elements within your paragraphs assist the reader in understanding your claims, you might think back to the concept of organically structured essays and wonder if your essay feels as natural as you intended. You might even worry that your careful attention to the syntactical and mechanical nuances of the piece detracted from the overall flow of the essay. If you feel this way, you’re not alone. Many writers worry that their writing feels choppy and lacks flow.

The challenge of finding flow in our writing is that everyone has different ideas about what flow actually is. Some writing scholars insist that flow is a “gatekeeping” term, or an academic concept designed to exclude new or inexperienced writers. Others define flow in relatively simple terms. According to the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Writing that “flows” is easy to read smoothly from beginning to end. Readers don’t have to stop, double back, reread, or work hard to find connections between ideas. Writers have structured the text so that it’s clear and easy to follow.” Although this is hardly a technical definition, this description explains the benefits of flow to the reader and the labor involved in developing flow.

Other writing experts describe flow as a kind of feeling they get when reading a piece of writing that’s been structurally smoothed out. Anne Lamott, who has written over 20 books, describes writing that flows as having great momentum, “bounding along like huskies across the snow.” In her memoir, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Lamott dispels the common notion that a seamless organization is a natural or linear process for even the most experienced or naturally gifted writers. Lamott writes, “This is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts.” In other words, flow can’t be achieved after writing a single draft. Like any aspect of the writing process, flow is best achieved when we return to our drafts and revise.

With an eye on revision, it’s important to remember that the best judge of the flow of your essay may not be you but your peers or other readers you trust to deliver honest feedback. If you think your writing sounds choppy and isn’t flowing, it might be hard for you to “unsee” your paper in this way. If you think your writing is close to finished and is already achieving perfect flow, you may be too “close” to or invested in the success of the piece to see where improvements need to be made. Find a friend, ask a classmate or teacher, or go to your campus writing center to have someone else check your paper for flow. Once you’ve received feedback, you can proceed to the final step of smoothing your writing.