What’s your ritual?

Needed: A new ritual

Because, you know what is not ideal?

When you finally get some clarity on a very important project, and then––your time is sucked into the universe with other things. Other things that are actually super important and can’t be ignored or directed elsewhere or postponed.

I have 14 chapters of a book outlined (as in, outlined by subject for content).

I’ve written in and about and around chapter one a few times. Something is happening there, but I need like 8 dedicated hours to getting clear on it. Not to mention, the countdown to my Brave Magic workshop with by BFFs Cheryl and Liz is right around the corner.

I was hoping to have more completed so that I could go into that workshop with solid, in-tune thoughts. I still feel pretty scattered.

Life, man. It just keeps happening.

It is clear that if I want this book to be made manifest, I am going to need to be much more regimented about dedicated writing time. I don’t know if it is like this for other writers out there, but I have another huge roadblock: I have to sort of be in-the-mood = requires much foreplay. 

Not necessarily in the mood to write, but in the mood to write the RIGHT thing. Since this will be a book of mostly poems, reading (for me) is incredibly essential to producing the kind of poetry I want. Usually this means an hour or so of pre-reading before I can even attempt to start writing.

Do you know how many books I have on my nightstand waiting to be finished? Like, at least 23. Maybe 47.

It is becoming clear I need to make some priorities around dedicated time and start weaving in dashes of poetry into my everyday routine.

I’d love to hear from other writers about their ‘habits’. As someone who writes all day long for work — tapping into that creative juice at the end of the day can seem impossible. In fact, many times my creative writing drive can be mostly fulfilled by killer work projects — which makes it hard to tap back in.

I’ll be working on a new writing ritual over the next two weeks to try to produce a quality habit before heading to Santa Cruz. Obviously, rituals are super important to me–my entire persona and craft cocktail world revolves around ritual.

So, I want to know––what is in your writing ritual?

Or if you’re not a writer, what is in your ritual to tap into your creative flow?

I’d love to know.

Please. Help. ❤

 

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Side note: the other things that have been consuming my life have been pretty fantastic. A weekend camping with family, a huge and wonderfully powerful work conference, meeting Jack Antanoff (mega swoon), a few birthday celebrations, a 4-year-old going back to school, a week with a head cold AND — the addition of a new family member: a kitten named Flower.

All the other life things are magic….
(ok, with the exception of the head cold).