
Every semester that I teach, I ask my students to read a piece from the National Writing Project on Writing Rituals, and then I have them do a research study on their own writing rituals. I didn't get to do that this year because I didn't get the job of teaching them until they'd already been in class for five weeks, so they had already done an assignment on "my favorite place to write" (which is not the same as my Writing Rituals assignment, but close enough to not assign it).
I have in the past joined them in writing about my own writing rituals. So, not writing about my own writing rituals this year has thrown me off as well. So, let's get going.
I do know that when I write I need to feel like I have some privacy. I hate when people can read over my shoulder while I'm trying to write. I also hate when people attempt to talk to me while I'm writing. I can't concentrate on what they're saying, my mind is completely involved in what I'm writing, so I tend to look at them while finishing typing what I'm thinking, without hearing a word they are saying to me.
This is a huge problem for me because my computer and monitor are located right next to my husband's, all on the same table. He can lean slightly to his left and read what I'm writing, glance to see what I'm looking at online, and he talks to me constantly when I am online. I am the kind of person who has great focus. I can get so focused on one thing I don't notice anyone else or anything else going on around me. I don't even listen to music when I'm online, or listen to WoW when I'm playing WoW, I just have a good ability to focus on one thing at a time to the exclusion of all else. This annoys my husband and my kids because I'll often answer whatever it is they've asked me without having heard anything they said. I can be looking them straight in the face, but my mind is still focused on the screen and I see their lips moving, I just don't know what they're on about. So, while it's impossible for me to write because Phoe's computer is right next to mine, it's also impossible for me to stop concentrating intently on other things.
I also need to be able to smoke when I'm writing. I don't know why. That's just the way it is. I can see where my writing is very scattered and sometimes makes no sense at times when I wasn't able to smoke (now being one of those times, because I am in my office, which is really a computer lab on campus where smoking is a no-no). I can't concentrate and I've had to stop myself lighting a cigarette about four times. I'm compensating with chocolate, btw.
I tend to write more during or after great emotional upheaval. It's my way of processing whatever it is that's happened. Without someone to discuss the issue, I need to write about it, and I need reasonable immediate feedback. This may also explain why I like Plurk so much, but contribute to Plurk so little. I haven't had much trauma in my life in the past few weeks, so my Plurkarma is down below 40, but I still obsessively read certain peoples' Plurk lines to see how they are coming along. I appreciate the immediate feedback of Plurking.
I have a friend who can only write at 3 AM sitting at her kitchen table with a small 5.5" x 8.5" spiral-bound journal. She also must have a candle burning while the rest of the house is completely dark. She must have a cup of coffee (or iced tea, depending on season), a cigarette, and music playing (usually Bob Seger). Don't ask me how she nailed down her perfect writing ritual/environment, but there you go.
I'm not that specific. I need a good block of time, a computer (I can't write longhand and hold onto a thought long enough to get it on paper), a cigarette, and nobody around for me to talk with. That's really all I require. I can write in an office, a library, my bedroom, anywhere really, as long as the other criteria are met. And even then, I can always run outside to have a quick smoke in between writing (though I tend to lose focus this way).
I don't really have any "rituals" about my writing. Candles creep me out a bit because I'm naturally scatterbrained and just know I'll forget to blow them out when I'm done. It doesn't really matter if I have anything to eat or drink (though chocolate and coffee are helpful).
My ideal writing situation: sitting in my quiet office facing a huge picture window or similar with a fabulous view of the Black Hills, with a lovely antique desk, a really comfortable desk chair, a brand new gaming laptop (who can just write constantly, 24/7? Not I) and a box of Russell Stovers' French Chocolate Mints nearby. I'd probably also have a coffee maker that makes coffee by the cup (Keurig), an ashtray and full pack of cigarettes (never mind that cigarette smoke is bad for both antiques and computers). An internet connection is also certainly helpful, for quick research, as is a television nearby, for something to ignore (which I can't explain, except it's helpful if I have something to ignore while I am attempting to write because it's just enough pressure to make me actually write, not dither).
Writing nirvana has been achieved (if only in my dreams). Now the bigger problem: what to write?
