I call it the oyster theory of creativity. An irritant gets under the writer's skin - like a grain of sand invades an oyster shell. The oyster copes by secreting a protein like substance around the grit - the author uses the pain in the same way to produce an anti-world in response to the pain of the real world. When I write, even if it is a painful subject, the process is comforting like lucid dreaming. I can go for hours and not notice time passing by and even miss meals, which is rare for me, lol