Writing Rituals

Writing Rituals. I have heard so so many authors recommend you have writing rituals—to get you to “that place” when you’re ready to start writing. While I understand their points, and while it may work for them, I heartily disagree (besides the fact they don’t really work at all for me).

For one, I don’t think they work because I am completely ADD (self-proclaimed) I constantly have to change it up (just recently I moved my desk/”office” from the kitchen to a corner in the living room). Also, I’m a busy mother of three crazy, lovable littles. I don’t have time for rituals. My rituals will quickly become theirs—lucky pen? They will steal it and hide it never to be found again. Special hat? It’s now their special dress-up hat. Fuzzy socks? I’ll lose them (the wash would eat them). Have to type? My computer will break, Oliver will want to be held instead of playing nicely. I just don’t have time for rituals. Most days if I want to write, I have little snippets of time that I can jot a scene down on a napkin while the kids are eating lunch. Or, what’s been working the best recently, scribbling out a scene on the notepad I’ve taken to carry around while I stand in line at the postoffice or at the bank. I can’t have a certain pen or place because more then likely it would change from day to day.

As my favorite author, Lauren Oliver, said:

“I try to train myself out of writing rivals because I find that if you can only write when you have this pen or at home at this computer, it gives you all these excuses to indulge in not writing . . .”

My point precisely.

What about you? Do you have any writing rituals?