michaeldthomas | Writing Rituals

Now that the drama is dying down around here, I can do another aspiring writer post. This one comes from a discussion I had with

tim_pratt about getting into your head space as a writer.

In my wasted youth, this was a fairly pretentious process. I would fire up my ancient, borrowed Mac, light a bunch of candles, and smoke like a chimney as I waited for the Muse to flow. Like many of you, I also wrote poetry in battered notebooks at coffeehouses, often at a carefully selected table so that I could be properly observed by artistic types who might find this very, very fascinating (like you do at 19).

Many years later, my rituals are only about the writing. I need these rituals. My brain tends to race like a racing thing. I'm prone to distractions. I find that writing rituals help me focus on fiction.

I begin by leaving the house. If I'm home, I end up doing every other task. I can easily fill my day with cleaning, repairs, yard work, and Caitlin administrivia. So, I still go to coffeehouses. The difference now is that I bring a laptop and find a quiet corner. I then settle in with a mug of black coffee and my iPod.

So, what do you do to get into your writing head space?