New Year, New Rituals?

Oh, the freeing, nagging glory of rituals.

Some of the best writers had them. Some of the rest of us still do.

Junot Diaz writes in the bathroom, perched on the edge of the bathtub to find enough solitude to finish a chapter. Janet Evanovich writes strictly from a visual storyboard. Stephen King writes ten pages a day, no matter what. Walker Papers author C.E. Murphy has a computer she writes from named Nook. Nook has no access to the internet, therefore saving the author from the temptation of checking the latest weather forecast in Dubai or looking up a recipe for Bangers and Mash. Agatha Christie once claimed she got her best ideas while standing at the sink doing dishes—she’s also claimed that eating apples in the bathtub helped her creativity.

Rituals and habits serve a variety of purposes for us, besides giving us an excuse to wear that shabby “Cosby” sweater we love so much. (“But it’s my lucky sweater! I have to wear it to finish my book!&rdquo They can be broken down into two camps, for the most part: Environment (nesting, lighting a candle, brewing a pot of coffee) or Behavior (each morning at 5 a.m., 10 pages no matter what).

These habits reduce some of the anxiety that inherently follows when we see the blinking cursor and the blank page…we know we’re safe because we have our lucky mug with us, it’s 9 p.m., and this is what we always do when we write.

Rituals increase our own power and control, and can’t we all use a little more of that in our lives? It’s a sense of ownership…this is our writing. Our world. Our time. Being in our little writerly nest makes us the empress, queen, and lordy mighty dictator for the few sparse moments we have before our kindergartner is attacked by the preschooler. Or before the “other half” needs to check the scores on last night’s game. Our rules. Our time. Nice…

Writers who live by their rituals suffer from less writer’s block, it’s true. Though it may seem like we’re living up to Natalie Goldberg’s “shi**y first draft” mantra, and writing pure junk, writing with a ritual tends to not place so much pressure on the time we are in the chair, keyboard at hand. We don’t have to be brilliant, we just have to be there with our favorite pencil and our Jimmy Eat World (or Bach, or Burt Bacharach) CD playing in our headphones.

So, while it’s still January, maybe it’s a good time to consider our own rituals—both the ones we keep and the ones we’d like to keep this year.

From our own group, here’s a sampling of how members of Passionate Critters create ritual when they write:

Vanessa keeps different playlists for the different books she’s working on. She has a single notebook she carries with her everywhere that houses her ideas, notes, scribbles, etc. Oh, and a complete tea service set up is a must when she writes. Complete with teapot, cozy, sugar cubes, milk, and a cup and saucer.

Silke has a “trusty moleskin—with me always,” she says. And coffee. Coffee is a definite must for her. Oh, and her partner can’t look over her shoulder as she writes. (I can relate. I’ll actually toggle away from my writing to whatever Internet page I happen to have open. No peeking!)

For Jenn, when it comes to naming her characters, she has a ritual she follows every time. She’ll write out each letter of the alphabet and give each character a name that starts with a different letter.

When it’s lights out for the kids, it’s “brilliance on” for Bethanne…who runs a house full of adorable kids and still manages to put awesome stories on to paper.  (I think she ought to host a mini-workshop on that alone. I have two and I want to pull my hair out some days.)

A night owl, Joyce finds the good times roll in the p.m. hours.  She’s also working on a new one for 2010: 1,000 words a day (you’re in great company…that’s exactly what Stephen King recommends in “On Writing&rdquo.

If you’re looking to get chummy with our little green friend, envy, you should take a peek into Rachel’s uber-structured, uber-productive system.  She’s up at 5.a.m and whether its having the laptop with her while warming the house with the wood stove, she’s always working. Always, it seems! Up until 1 or 2 a.m., she squeezes the most out of her days and has the productivity to prove it.

Nina doesn’t start writing a new project until she hears distinct conversations between her characters in her head—a great trick. How many times have we had a “great idea” and rush into the writing, only to have no clue what our characters sound like?

And as for me , well, I have a goofy sort of ritual. I have a red pashmina scarf/wrap thing that I started wearing around the office a while back while I edited. It was a joke, really. It was meant to keep people at bay while I was working on deadline and it seemed to work. It also earned me the nickname “The Red Baron” because I must have looked a little like Snoopy when he’s fighting on his dog house. So I took the scarf home with me and now I either have it on, or with me when I write. (I fiddle a lot when I’m thinking, so sometimes I just play with or chew on the ends. Eww. Gross. I know.)

My goal for 2010 grew out of my first few weeks here at Passionate Critters. Instead of a daily goal, there’s a “weekly goal” board and I’m finding it much, much easier to accomplish a weekly goal. I beat myself up when I fail at stringent daily quotas…but this weekly method? It seems perfect for a writer like me who can have slow days (500 long, arduous words) or Rachel-esque productive days (1,500+).

So revel in your rituals. Notice them. Appreciate the uniqueness of them. And use them. And if you don’t have any yet, create some. It’s a great month to get started.

 

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts