Writing Rituals Are Essential
Do you have a writing ritual? I do, and it helps me stay on track. My writing ritual is essential to my writing progress.
Hear me out -- this isn’t a “woo woo” thing (and even if it were, that’s ok too!). This ritual is set in routine.
Basically, a ritual is a routine with intention. Your morning routine may be to snooze the alarm, grab a cup of coffee, take a shower. Your morning ritual could be to stretch after you step out of bed, take deep breaths while your coffee percolates, and say affirmations to yourself while you take a shower.
Do you see the difference?
My writing routine used to be: write when I felt like it. Guess what? I never really felt like writing, because as much as I love it, it’s hard and it makes me feel things.
Then my writing routine was to write in the mornings and to drink coffee and check emails at the same time. I wasn’t really building good habits.
Now, my routine has formed into a ritual. In the morning, I have coffee and read for about an hour. So I’m caffeinated, relaxed, and inspired.
Then, starting at 10 am, I write until noon. Sometimes I have water, sometimes I have tea, but I always have a beverage because I’m a sipper. I also light a candle, signaling to my brain that this desk is a lovely place to write, and I slip on some headphones to listen to my favorite writing music of the moment (Currently: Taylor Swift’s Folklore or Harry Style’s Fine Line).
These little rituals are a way I make writing “my space” so that when I sit down to write I know that I don’t have to look at emails, or do that one thing, or worry about anything other than what scene I’m working on or what character I’m developing.
I think a big challenge for writers, especially those who write part-time or as a hobby, is that the writing has to “prove” something. But, it doesn’t. That’s why it deserves a ritual, because your writing is allowed to take up space in your life, and you are allowed to let it.
What are your favorite writing rituals? Need any help starting one? Email me. Or, join one of my weekly writing sprints, and we can work on it together!
