Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office, CA
Weather: Sunny and warm
What is it about writers that we tend to have little rituals that mark our work.
I can’t write unless my office is orderly. In fact, I prefer that the whole house be clean. Oh, yes, and the garden weeded, watered and the lawn mowed. I write best when there are fresh flowers on the dining room table. (As I write this, I have gorgeous white long-stem roses from Costco–perfect flowers, unbelievable price.) I like to have candles lit, but no music. Silence is best. Wouldn’t you say it’s a good thing I don’t write for a living?
I asked a few writing friends if they have any rituals that help prime the pump. Here are their answers:
Gayle Roper says: “I need silence. No music. No movement of other people– hard now that there’s a retired husband in the house. And I need a good game of Spider Solitaire.”
Deb Raney says: “Before I start writing, I have to have the bed made, dishes done and house reasonably straight. Then I light scented candles, put instrumental music on Pandora on my computer, and pour steaming coffee into a specially chosen mug (from a cupboard that houses about 50 of them in all different shapes and sizes!)”
Maureen Lang says: “I’m not especially neat. My desk is full of unfiled papers, scraps of notes littered around me meant to serve as reminders of something especially important, piles of books and scattered reading glasses (I bought one pair of glasses for every room of the house but somehow they all end up on my desk). However, I have a hard time concentrating on my work if there are dishes in my sink, my bed is unmade, or the house is especially cluttered from last night’s family ‘togetherness.’ So, after I pop out of bed (yes, I’m one of those annoyingly chirpy early risers) I always set the covers neatly in place, shower then have a quiet time over breakfast. Immediately after that I make sure the dishes are in the dishwasher then do a quick pick up around the 1st floor (where my study is). I’m then ready to sit at my worn, old desk in my tattered, old chair, neither of which could I bear to part with even when the room around it was redecorated. First I glance through my emails, deleting most. All of this takes a little over an hour. But it gives me a clean conscience to start my writing day. I’ve done my best to keep order around me, so my mind can fly off to storyland.”
James Scott Bell says: “I try to think hard about my project before I go to sleep, so the “boys in the basement” (h/t Stephen King) can work overnight. As fast as I can in the morning (after making the coffee, of course) I write down whatever comes to mind for about five minutes.”
DiAnn Mills says: “I close my eyes and envision myself as my character–whether it’s the protagonist or the antagonist–in the scene I’m about to write. I roll some dialogue around in my head, add a little sensory perception, then dive into my ‘role.’ I write my best in a comfy chair in our Texas Room. Actually it’s our game room in a Texas-Wild West theme.”
So how about you? What kind of things do you do to get ready to write?
By the way. . . Thank you for the great comments about Writer’s Spaces. Deb Raney wrote to let me know that she’s been collecting pictures of writers’ gardens. You can walk through those gardens (including my most recent garden) at http://novelgarden.blogspot.com.
I love to have the kitchen clean before I start writing. But the main thing I do to get ready to write is listen to pump me up music (Adie Camp, Jeremy Camp, Three Doors Down.) Then I read a couple paragraphs of where I left off the day before.
It just gets me in the mood to keep going. Now, to keep that going…I love to have a big glass of tea and something to nibble on. Unfortunately , it’s usually chocolate, which my expanding hips can attest to.
Great post today. I’ll be back to see what others say. **smile**
As a part-time unpubbed writer, I’m not sure I have the luxury of having writing rituals. I have to ignore some things in order to spend time writing. I prefer daylight and a relatively quiet environment, only meaning no child is screaming at the top of his lungs because he just fell on his head when he tried to flip off the couch!
For me, music is a must. I have over a dozen movie soundtracks on itunes. I pick an appropriate soundtrack for whatever project I’m working on, crank it through my headphones, and pound out two hours of concentrated wordsmithing every morning.
I work at home and have two toddlers, so for me, there isn’t any time for ritual house cleaning or candle lighting. I get up at six and write like crazy until breakfast.
Thankfully, I’m a fast writer (1000 words an hour), so I suppose if that blessed day comes when I can write full time, I’ll be able to clean the house, mow the lawn, light candles, pet the cat, run around the house screaming with my boys, go on walk with my wife, solve world hunger, and still get some writing done. Here’s to hoping.
Gayle said it perfectly: absolute quiet, no movement, and spider solitaire for those “pondering” moments. On rare occasion I’ll write to Enya, but if I come to a tune I know too well I have to turn it off, otherwise I’m pulled into the music. But I’m with Deb and Maureen too, I must get my busy little chores out of the way before I write. It’s like setting the table. Once that’s done, I can dig in.
I’m a people person, so I have to get in touch with my world, checking emails, reading the news. All that after going back to bed first thing in the morning with a mug of coffee and Bible study homework, two dogs under my elbows making that a challenge. Then I am free to enter my story world until late in the day. I *brake* for housework, a little cleaning between scenes. MTDW–Empty dishwasher so kitchen stays nice. Bliss.
I see a lot of familiarity in these rituals. Need a clean house, silence, etc… BUT given that I have a family running around and small children who don’t understand Mommy’s need for things to be in order, I often have to settle for less than perfect. So rather than taking the time to make things perfect (which would take all day!), I see which things would be easiest to adapt, fix them “enough” and get going. Otherwise, I’d be scrubbing baseboards and not writing!
I vacillate between a cave — a darkened office with brooding music and good coffee — and a coffee shop — w/all its energy and people. I wrote most of Inner Mess at Starbucks and Yaks (a local coffee shop).
On my computer, I launch: Word, Bible Software, Thesaurus, and Firefox (for Pandora and research).
Coffee must be dark roast.
I like what James Scott Bell said about thinking ahead of time, and getting the inner committee working on it.
One last ritual: lots and lots of procrastination. Oh yeah… I check my email obsessively every 6 minutes while I write… waiting and hoping for the next contract…
Bill Giovannetti
I love to get up in the morning (well, not love but I’m learning to live with it), get the family off to school then head straight for my studio to write while the sun is still shining in through the windows and the silence is golden. I’m not a very tidy person (I call it visual filing) but the sunlight highlights my favorite things for me. The chores can wait until the sun moves past my studio.
On the deadline days or in the writer’s block moments, a game or two of Tetris always gets my mind cleared of distractions and my thoughts organized.
I’m a morning person, so I try to give my best time to God, then writing. I throw on a sweatsuit, start the coffee, check e-mails, then write, tackling my most challenging project before I brush my teeth. If I scare the meter man, so be it.
Classical music helps me focus, although I enjoy Christian contemporary (no vocals, though–they distract). I shower, dress, do housework and errands and socialize mid-day, then back to work around 2 until 6:30 or later when husband returns. My writing disentegrates in the evening. Instead, I spend time with my guy, review teaching materials, grade or read.