The Right Writing Ritual
Author: Susan K. Perry, Ph.D.

Have you ever caught yourself glancing at the clock and being shocked by how much time had gone by since you immersed yourself in some activity? This is called FLOW. It’s an altered state that 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. The best part of flow is that when you write from within this lovely state of mind, 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 I haven’t done.

The reality is that you can NEVER clear the decks completely. If you wait for the perfect time to write, it won’t come. So you must find your own unique way to lure yourself into a state of flow in order to access your creativity.

When I was researching my new book, WRITING IN FLOW, I interviewed 76 top novelists and poets as to exactly how they get from here to there. That is, how can one best let go of everyday concerns and lose oneself in the 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, however 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. 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. 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.”

When you do the same thing each day before writing, you’re getting your brain and body used to it. Instead of wasting time deliberating, “Should I write today? Should I write now or later?”, what happens is you JUST GO FOR IT. 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 ritual, the switch to starting your writing, and entering a flow state, becomes automatic.

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. Yet when he decided he wanted to write more regularly, he realized he does have at least one habit: he showers and washes his hair daily. He decided he could make writing into a habit too.

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. Your creative ritual will be as individual as you are. Feel free to experiment until you find what works for you.






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Susan K. Perry, Ph.D., is a social psychologist, independent writer and instructor, and the author of WRITING IN FLOW: Keys to Enhanced Creativity, a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Read excerpts, ask writing-related questions, and contact the author for consulting or article reprints at her Web site: http://www.bunnyape.com.

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