Pre-writing Rituals by Janis Butler Holm

Pre-Writing Rituals

By Janis Butler Holm

Image by Pixabay

You tend to circle your work before actually beginning it--cleaning up your workspace, organizing the papers on your desk, backing up your hard drive, and so on. Though you've tried not to do these things before writing, you can't seem to focus until you've completed your routine. Is this behavior normal?

     The answer is it's probably normal for you. Though some writers can work anywhere, any time, under any conditions, most are not so lucky. Most of us move more slowly into a creative frame of mind, and some of us mark that movement with clear, discrete steps. We always pay bills, listen to music, make the bed, or answer emails for half an hour before sitting down to write. We put on the shabby terry-cloth robe or the favorite plaid shirt. We pour the cup of coffee, the swig of orange juice, and the shot of our best bourbon. We make sure to sit in this chair, not that one.

     When we establish a distinct pattern of transition from one mode to another, we create a kind of structure, a routine that can serve as mental and physical preparation. Repeating a particular series of acts before writing can be a way of invoking the creative spirit--just as, in many cultures, religious rituals can prepare believers for communion with their gods. In more mundane terms, pre-writing rituals provide a kind of mindless activity that allows us to detach and refocus. As the mind and body go through the motions, we begin to channel our energies toward the work ahead.

     However peculiar our pre-writing behavior may seem to ourselves or others, it is healthy so long as it serves its function: to prepare us for the task at hand. When our routine takes us where it is supposed to, there is no need to change it. But if what we do before writing is actually a way of avoiding writing, or if it takes up too much of our working time, or if it becomes an end in itself, change is a necessity. When writing rituals become an elaborate form of procrastination, some behavior modification is in order.

     If you feel that your pre-writing activities are really hurting, not helping your efforts to be productive, take a look at Jane Burka and Lenora Yuen's classic work Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong Books [2nd edition]). Burka and Yuen offer a sensitive and intelligent account of why human beings develop delaying behaviors and, even better, outline a program for managing procrastination. Based on both personal and clinical experience, the book is full of practical techniques for circumventing the fears and anxieties that keep procrastinators from achieving their goals.

     If your pre-writing activities are generally helpful but you sometimes use them to avoid work, try altering your routine slightly to make avoidance less feasible. If you put off everything until you've had your morning coffee, fill a thermos the night before. Similarly, you might try cleaning your workspace and backing up that hard drive a few days before you're actually scheduled to begin a writing project. When you tinker with your activities, it's not difficult to determine what helps and what doesn't. Planning ahead can make it harder to justify useless delays.

Bio: Janis Butler Holm served as Associate Editor for Wide Angle, the film journal, and currently works as a writer and editor in sunny Los Angeles. Her prose, poems, art, and performance pieces have appeared in small-press, national, and international magazines. Her plays have been produced in the U.S., Canada, Russia, and the U.K.