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It’s easy for someone to tell you to just sit down and write. Or… y’know, “shut up write now.” But for an outsider to tell you to just go and do it, doesn’t go a long way to make you actually do it. When you’re ready, it’ll happen. How do you get ready though? Well, many renowned authors swear by writing rituals. I’m working on some of these myself that I’m finding hugely helpful— so now I’ll share some examples with you!
Think about what’s going on when you do actually sit down to write, and really get into the groove. What time is it? Is there music playing, or any other background noise? What are you drinking?
Are there any sights, sounds, or smells that inspire you? Make a list of a few and pick one to two to incorporate into your writing time. These positive correlations will go a long way in keeping the mojo flowing.
Every morning I wake up (6:30 on weekdays, 8 ish on weekends if I’m lucky), pour my coffee, and sit down at my desk to write. I turn on my Happy Light, and do my morning pages. Now, because I do have a day job, this time isn’t spent doing normal creative writing. This time is just for the morning pages that make up part of The Artists’ Way. So, while the time, the coffee, and the Happy Light are my morning pages rituals, they aren’t my creative writing rituals.
My creative writing rituals:
- Coffee. Yes, more coffee.
- Turning on the twinkle lights in my office.
- Lighting a candle.
- Putting on instrumental music. *Right now, it’s a “coffee shop ambiance” thing on Spotify. Jazz, the sound of rain on windows, coffee being poured, and occasionally the bell of the door from someone walking in… So peaceful.
If you create an environment wherein you feel productive and calm, it’s hard to come up with a reason why you can’t get something done. Aside from the lovely imposter syndrome… But that’s part of why these rituals are important. Just sitting down and staring at a blank page leaves you no other stimuli to rely on, and it’s so easy to convince yourself that you’re not writing because “you suck at it.” Writing rituals are a defense mechanism.
Don’t just take my word for it, though.
Famous authors on their writing rituals:
So many famous writers of the world have sworn by their writing rituals. Here are a few that may inspire you— you can find my sources in the hyperlinks!
Ernest Hemingway: “When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there.“
Maya Angelou pays for a hotel room by the month and writes there usually from 6:30 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. Sure, it might be cheaper to pay for office space in a co-working lab, but those don’t have beds or bathtubs, so I totally see where she’s coming from. She also read what she wrote that morning in the afternoons and edits. I can’t get behind that particular habit, but I get too caught up if I try to edit my own work anyway.
Stephen King: “I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places…The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”
Alice Munro: “I write every morning, seven days a week. I write starting about eight o’clock and finish around eleven….I am so compulsive that I have a quota of pages. I’m also compulsive now about how much I walk every day….
Three miles every day, so if I know I’m going to miss a day, I have to make it up. I watched my father go through this same thing. You protect yourself by thinking if you have all these rituals and routines then nothing can get you.“
Final Thoughts
The moral of the story here is that there are so, so many different things you can do to set yourself up for success with your writing. What you choose to do needs to be something that you feel isn’t a chore. If you dread sitting down and working on your pages, guess what you don’t do? Exactly.
Are any of these writing rituals sounding interesting to you? Are you going to try renting a hotel room and explaining to your spouse that they needn’t be worried about that? LOL. Let me know in the comments below!
Feel free to also let me in on some of your already established rituals! I’m still learning myself, and trying new things is always a good idea.