Day 8: Writer's rituals
Yesterday I did some research into writer’s rituals and there’s a surprising amount online. What’s more, there’s a proven psychological benefit derived from rituals, so all those weird baseball rituals really do have a purpose. :) I especially liked this article which seemed most comprehensive, which included all the information I’d read on several different websites.
What I got out of all that research was:
1) Ritual can trigger behavior like Pavlov’s dog. The article above doesn’t list it, but there are other websites that went into the deeper scientific studies that show how repetitive rituals can trigger a person to shift into “writing” mode. One article described it as “leaving the real world.”
2) Once you decide on a ritual, daily repetition will reinforce it and eventually the ritual will become a trigger to help your brain enter into the right headspace. It’s basically creating a positive habit.
3) Slightly odd or strange rituals work better, because they engage more of the senses and serve as a more definite transition.
The articles were all very helpful, but they haven’t really helped me figure out what kind of ritual I should create to trigger my transition to work mode. Since each person’s ritual should be very personal, I’m again stuck at one of my biggest weaknesses—making decisions.
I know for certain that the articles that talk about doing the writing first thing in the morning don’t work for me. My brain is too bothered and distracted by all the house chores and writing-related busy work I need to do to be able to focus very well. I do much better when all those nagging things are done first—I will finish all the tasks I need to do which can’t be put off until at least tomorrow. Then I can throw my full concentration into my writing, and I can stay that way for hours at a time.
My problem is that after I get those nagging things done, I have found myself procrastinating with things that aren’t necessary, like I did on Day 6. I really would like a ritual to help me transition from that procrastination stage to writing.
Well, rather than figuring out a ritual today, I’ll just try to dive in. Maybe something will come to me later. Today I’m doing Snowflake step 4 (one-page synopsis) on volume 7 of my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series.
***
Finished! Yay! Snowflake step 4 on volume 7 is now done. It was taking me a while, partly because I had to map out a secondary character’s timeline throughout the other 6 volumes since there’s a pivotal scene in volume 7 with that character. I also had a scene near the end where I had to decide how I wanted things to go, so I wasn’t sure I’d finish the Snowflake step 4 today, but I figured out the ending a lot faster than I expected.
I’m really glad I’ve been able to do the Snowflake step 4 on all the volumes of my series so far without too many problems. I’m progressing pretty smoothly, in my opinion. Praise God! I don’t often blog about it here, but I really do think that God helps give me ideas and solve problems, as well as helping me to focus for longer durations than I would otherwise.
Time spent writing: 6 hours, 9 minutes
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 58 minutes
My takeaway for today: A writer’s ritual will probably help me a lot to stop procrastinating and be less distracted, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to decide on a ritual.
What I got out of all that research was:
1) Ritual can trigger behavior like Pavlov’s dog. The article above doesn’t list it, but there are other websites that went into the deeper scientific studies that show how repetitive rituals can trigger a person to shift into “writing” mode. One article described it as “leaving the real world.”
2) Once you decide on a ritual, daily repetition will reinforce it and eventually the ritual will become a trigger to help your brain enter into the right headspace. It’s basically creating a positive habit.
3) Slightly odd or strange rituals work better, because they engage more of the senses and serve as a more definite transition.
The articles were all very helpful, but they haven’t really helped me figure out what kind of ritual I should create to trigger my transition to work mode. Since each person’s ritual should be very personal, I’m again stuck at one of my biggest weaknesses—making decisions.
I know for certain that the articles that talk about doing the writing first thing in the morning don’t work for me. My brain is too bothered and distracted by all the house chores and writing-related busy work I need to do to be able to focus very well. I do much better when all those nagging things are done first—I will finish all the tasks I need to do which can’t be put off until at least tomorrow. Then I can throw my full concentration into my writing, and I can stay that way for hours at a time.
My problem is that after I get those nagging things done, I have found myself procrastinating with things that aren’t necessary, like I did on Day 6. I really would like a ritual to help me transition from that procrastination stage to writing.
Well, rather than figuring out a ritual today, I’ll just try to dive in. Maybe something will come to me later. Today I’m doing Snowflake step 4 (one-page synopsis) on volume 7 of my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series.
***
Finished! Yay! Snowflake step 4 on volume 7 is now done. It was taking me a while, partly because I had to map out a secondary character’s timeline throughout the other 6 volumes since there’s a pivotal scene in volume 7 with that character. I also had a scene near the end where I had to decide how I wanted things to go, so I wasn’t sure I’d finish the Snowflake step 4 today, but I figured out the ending a lot faster than I expected.
I’m really glad I’ve been able to do the Snowflake step 4 on all the volumes of my series so far without too many problems. I’m progressing pretty smoothly, in my opinion. Praise God! I don’t often blog about it here, but I really do think that God helps give me ideas and solve problems, as well as helping me to focus for longer durations than I would otherwise.
Time spent writing: 6 hours, 9 minutes
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 58 minutes
My takeaway for today: A writer’s ritual will probably help me a lot to stop procrastinating and be less distracted, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to decide on a ritual.
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