April 20, 2011

Two weeks ago my daughter had emergency surgery (appendix), so for two weeks couldn’t lift anything as heavy as her five-month-old daughter. Therefore I’ve had a chance to be with them most of each day, helping with the daily routines that start so early with a baby.

In the past, when babysitting a few hours or a day, I just let the writing go because it was such a short time. This time I had some deadlines to meet, so it wasn’t long before the old “write in short bits while the baby sleeps” habit kicked in. That worked the first week.

Brain Dead–or Just Asleep

But fatigue set in the second week–not so much physical fatigue, but mental fatigue. I noticed that when I sat down to work during naptimes that my mind wasn’t “kicking in” like it should. Some of the naps were short, so my mind was just starting to work when the nap was over.

I needed some jumpstarting activities, something to make my brain realize immediately that “now it’s time to write!” If Pavlov’s dogs could be trained to salivate at the ringing of a bell, surely I could learn to write on command.

Rituals and Routines

I’ve always loved reading about other writers’ rituals, the things they do to “prime the pump” for writing. I never felt much need–nor wanted to use the writing time–to do much of that myself. I tried a few times, but the writing exercises would take me 30-60 minutes and the morning pages took me an hour. (I consider myself a pretty fast writer, but most of the things that “only take 10-15 minutes” take me considerably longer–including these blog posts.)

What I needed, I realized, was something short and along the lines of the ringing bell for Pavlov’s dogs. I needed something to trigger an automatic writing response–and it needed to be something I could do at my daughter’s house.

Time-Tested Help

If your writing time is short–and you need to get started quickly–here are some rituals and routines that other writers have used: 

• Light a special lamp or candle
• Put on a particular kind of music that works for you (Lyrics? Instrumental?)
• Prayer, meditation and/or affirmations for writers
• Hot tea or hot chocolate
• Eat a banana or apple or something healthy
• A short walk–ten minutes or so
• Stack dishwasher, pick up house (some writers do this for their jumpstart, but it doesn’t appeal to me!)

Again, I needed short things to do. The danger is always that the ritual takes over your whole writing time. If you have all day to write, that’s a different ball game. You can take a whole hour to get started, if you want to.

Make a List

It’s a good idea to have a number of rituals to choose from too. “Create as many practices as you can, because sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t,” says Vinita Hampton Wright in The Soul Tells a Story. “Their effectiveness will vary. When one thing doesn’t help so much, go to something else…adapting practices according to the season of the year.”

This makes sense to me. While in the winter, a good cup of hot chocolate is perfect, during hot Texas summers, it’s about the last thing you want. I think a written list posted near my writing space would be a good idea too. I might have a whole list of rituals to choose from, but so often when I try to think, they all escape me.

If you want to read more about the power of these little habits, see “How Mundane Routines Produce Creative Magic.”

What About You?

I would love to know about other ways to jumpstart your writing times. What quick, easy, and cheap ideas do you use? I’d be eager to hear!

4 Comments »

1. 

   Yes. Music. I’ve found that putting the type of music on that goes with my writing (like, Russian Orthodox choir music when I’m working on my novel, set in St Petersburg) really helps. More than silence sometimes. Also having a very narrowly targeted to-do list for those short bursts. Today it was “Finish reading (a particular book) for research.” Sometimes it’s “Write a chapter” or “Write ending”. Makes it easier to finish (or start!) that particular task.

   Comment by Yvette — April 20, 2011 @ 9:38 pm

2. 

   When I need to get in the writing mood I normally turn on the tv, usually to the cartoon channel. Some writers complain that they can’t work with the distraction of tv, but for some reason it helps me feel less pressured than writing in total silence does.

   Comment by Maranda Russell — April 21, 2011 @ 7:45 pm

3. 

   I have yet to develop any kind of ritual, but am feeling inspired to come up with something…thanks!

   Comment by Tina M — April 22, 2011 @ 4:25 pm

4. 

   Isn’t it interesting what different things can jumpstart our writing? I might be able to write with music, but never with cartoons on! We all just need to experiment and find what things relax us and help the words flow. Thanks for sharing, everyone!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — April 24, 2011 @ 4:27 am

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