Thursday 10 February 2011

Writing Rituals

I've come to accept that I am quite a ritualistic character by nature. I like things and my environment to be in a very certain way - some may misinterpret this as being a control freak - something I would obviously dispute!
This ritualism extends to my writing and writing space (and until I sat down to write this blog, I hadn't quite realised the extent of it.)
So here we go, my writing rituals.
  1. Coffee - milky and sweet.

  2. ipod with buds not standard ear phones.

  3. Fresh flowers in jug.

  4. Books piled on desk in size order (Hmm- didn't even realise I did that.)
  5. Glasses!

  6. Photograph of my daughter which has to be in a certain proximity to my flowers. (Again I hadn't realised til I adjusted it that this was quite a habit)


  7. Clean glasses.


  8. Open note book - has to be plain cream paper, hard bound notebook. Needs to have ornate and textured covers.


  9. Start.


Now none of this sounds particularly radical. I mean after all there isn't some form of crazy one legged dance I have to do or the sacrifice of a small domestic animal but it is strange how all of these factors have to be just right for me to be able to settle and get down to writing.

So in a bid to feel normal I'd love you to share your own personal writing rituals.

3 comments:

  1. My novel-in-progress has two protagonists - one male, one female - and my chapters switch between their points of view. If I'm writing from his perspective, I must have background music with a male singer usually Kings of Leon or Bernard Fanning) and when I'm writing from her perspective, the music must have a female singer (usually Missy Higgins or Sarah Blasko). Quite strange, but it does seem to help me get in the right frame of mind!

    Cally Jackson (www.callyjackson.com)

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  2. That is so interesting. I think that is really fascinating and I can so understand why. I think music is so important to the writing process. Some of the scenes in my novel are completely as they are because of the music I was listening to at the time.
    Thanks for your comment Cally.

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