The Right Writing Rituals
by Susan K. Perry, Ph.D.
Have you ever caught yourself glancing at the clock and being shocked by what time it is? At how much time
went by since you immersed yourself in some activity? This is called FLOW. It's an altered state, and it's the
most welcome state possible for a writer to achieve. Flow happens when you're so involved in writing that
you forget yourself, your surroundings, and all thoughts of what someone is going to think of your work. And
the best part of flow is that when you write from within this lovely state of mind, all you want to do is keep on
writing. It's self-rewarding, and highly motivating.
So how do you get there if it's not that easy for you? I'm a very distractible writer myself, so I know it can be
quite a challenge for some of us to lose ourselves in our work. It seems that every novel on my shelf
if trying to seduce me away from my own work, that every sliver of paper in my overstuffed in-box is calling out to me,
trying to make me feel guilty over something or other that I haven't done. Not to mention those
household tasks that NEED to be done, and that no one else is going to do, so why not just get them all over with once
and for all and THEN sit down to my creative work?!
The reality is that you can NEVER clear the decks completely. If you wait for the perfect time to write, it
won't come, I guarantee it. So you must find your own unique way to lure yourself into a state of flow in order
to access your creativity, even if some of the other stuff of your life has to wait a bit. It's a matter of priorities. If
you keep putting creative work at the bottom of the pile, it will always be at the bottom of the
pile.
When I was researching my new book, WRITING IN FLOW: Keys to Enhanced
Creativity, I interviewed 76 top novelists and poets as to exactly how they get from here to there, or is
it from there to here? That is, how can one best let go of everyday concerns and lose
oneself in the delicious mental hideaway of flow?
One of the insights I gathered from these highly successful writers (I spoke to Pulitzer Prize winners and
N.Y. Times bestsellers alike, from Jane Smiley and Sue Grafton to Ursula Le Guin and Poet Laureate Robert
Pinsky) was that everyone has a ritual. Some of them didn't even know they had a
ritual associated with writing, but they all did, however simple and basic that ritual might be.
For example, here's what poet Alexandra Hollander Budy told me: "I often begin my day with a walk in the
woods here (I live on 80 acres of forest). This succeeds in being a calming experience, which is both relaxing
and invigorating. Then, when I walk into my study, I bring this kind of energy with me, readying me to focus inward."
Novelist Susan Taylor Chehak described her routine this way: "Making sure that everybody's cared for and
everybody's full and set and nobody needs me. It's because there's a certain amount of revving up that
takes time, and you can't just get into it. You don't just go into that state. And
I've usually left the work in some way that there's something to go to, that's left hanging. I
would purposely leave something that I would probably be mulling over while I'm whipping mashed potatoes."
And here's one more example, from novelist Judith Freeman: "It's as though you just have to go through
certain kinds of acts and warm-ups, but really it's just preparing yourself by familiarizing yourself once again
with these people, this place, beginning to enter it in a little more pedestrian
way. That might take anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on the distraction, depending on the way I'm thinking about it,
how much I want to go back and read, how sure I am of where I'm headed."
What's going on here? When you do the same thing each day before writing, you're getting your brain and
body used to it. This is one habit that's very good for you. Instead of wasting a lot of time deliberating,
"Should I write today? Should I write now or later? Maybe I should just read this
letter first," what happens is you JUST GO FOR IT. Sounds simple, and, in a way, it is. Just like exercising regularly. If you choose a
particular time to write each day (or three days a week, or whenever), then go through
your little ritual, the switch to starting your writing, and entering a flow state, becomes automatic.
You probably already have a ritual, if you're writing regularly. If you're having trouble making writing a
habit, think about your daily routines. Are they erratic? The funny thing is that, no matter how wildly creative
you are, this is one area that works best when it is made into a routine. My husband, a successful poet, has so few habits in his life, it's
downright funny (though it's taken me years to learn to laugh, not weep). For instance, he puts his keys, his glasses, and his shoes in a
different place every single day. I'm not kidding. Once I found his shoes on the
kitchen counter. He had NOT done this out of hostility, but simply absent-mindedness.
Yet when he decided he wanted to write more regularly, he looked at his life and found that he indeed
DOES have at least one habit. He showers and washes his hair daily (though not always at the same
time). So he decided he could make writing into a habit too. And he did.
He used to do it first thing in the morning, right after toppling out of bed, still in that dreamy state. Later
he switched to doing it directly after a brisk walk.
My own ritual is non-varying. I get up, get dressed, eat breakfast and have coffee while I read most of two
newspapers. Then I hit the computer. (To be perfectly honest, though, lately I deal with all my e-mails first,
which has extended my morning ritual a bit longer than I like, cutting into my serious writing time - I haven't
worked that out yet. No one said this stuff is easy!)
Your creative ritual will be as individual as you are. Feel free to experiment until you find what works for you.
And check out my Web site for a few exercises from WRITING IN FLOW, that might help ease you
into flow (http://www.bunnyape.com).
Copyright ©1999/2000 Susan K. Perry, Ph.D.
This article originally appeared at RestStop
Writers. Reprinted with permission.
Susan K. Perry, Ph.D., is a social psychologist, writing consultant, and
the author of the bestselling "Writing in Flow" (Writer's Digest Books), which is available everywhere, as well as several other books and hundreds
of articles, essays, reviews, and poems. She also teaches online courses in writing at Writer's Digest's new online workshops
(www.wdwow.com). E-mail Susan at:
bunnyape@compuserve.com.
