Writer Rituals
What do you do after you write “The End”?
I like to clean my desk. I’m fortunate in having my own workspace, now that my nest is empty. I took one bedroom and converted it to an office that looks out onto the street, giving me a luxurious and comfortable writing environment. I have no excuses about not having a quiet space to get my work done!
Somewhere under the mess of books and papers at the end of writing A Sea Change was an attractive antique, leather-topped table. Sure enough, I cleaned it off and began my winding-down-from-the-writing ritual. I gave the table top a good drink of Neet’s Foot oil, allowing it to soak in and rehydrate the leather. Then I cleaned the fountain pens I use to take notes, and prepared them for the editing of the manuscript. I went through all my papers and discarded the old sale circulars and outdated bill notices (oops), and polished my wood organizer. I buffed the pirate chest that holds the chocolate coins I take to signings, and dusted off Pirate Barbie and Ken (and let me just add that Pirate Barbie wears the captain’s hat in my household!). I gave my lucky bamboo a drink before it died on me and ceased to be lucky. And when all was done, I had a nice, clean, shiny surface on which to begin my next novel.
What are your writing rituals, either at the beginning, middle or end of a novel?
Start the coffee, do the stretching excercises, blog-hop until the caffeine kicks, then write. That’s it.
You know, this blog would have a huge increase in visitors if authors consistantly responded to questions and comments. If they took five minutes to check in twelve hours after posting, it could make a huge impact.
Hmmm…I checked in last night at 11:30 p.m. EDT, and now I’m checking back at 10 a.m. EDT. Hey! That puts me in your 12 hours after posting block![g]
I do check for comments for the first 48 hours after I’ve posted. By then we’ve usually moved on to a new entry.
Your morning ritual is one I like as well, but I need to learn to cut back on my blog-hopping before writing. I’m losing too much of my morning writing time on stuff that can wait until later.
What do I do after I write “the end”? Hmmm, can I get back with you once I actually do that?
Hang in there, Laura! I always hit a wall about 2/3 into my book where I think I’ll never type the end. I keep telling myself, “You can’t sell it if you don’t write it” and that seems to do the trick.[g]
I clean my desk, too. I sort all the piles of paper, catch up on business items I’ve let slide, and actually dust and vacuum the study. Then I start on the next book.
Gail, that’s pretty much my habit. Except right now, I’m waiting to hear back from my beta readers on the manuscript I just finished. I’m making some notes on the next book, but I’m working off some of the energy chasing dustbunnies.
I figure once a year is good enough. Who knows, if I can write a book every six months, I’ll have an even cleaner house![g]
I danced. A lot. No one was home but the cat, who received some celebratory catnip…I can’t wait until the next one! I don’t have a desk, so I didn’t clear it off. It would be kind of nice to find space for one…
Darlene, I have beta readers reading too. Why does it take them so long?? It’s almost as though they have…lives…or something
Kate–Ha! Don’t you want to perch yourself outside your beta readers’ doors and say “Well? Well?”[g] I finally had to give them deadlines so that they and I could have some peace of mind. Even so, my very best friend who also happens to be a copy editor asked me for an additional two weeks!!! What am I going to say, “NO! You have to drop everything and read it right now!”?
I’m glad you feel my pain.[g]
Oh, and good for you for dancing, Kate! I grew up hearing from my family how clumsy I was, all said in jest of course. So I never danced. One of the reasons I love my husband is he looked at me and said, “Of course you can dance.”
He was correct. All I needed was the right partner.
Darlene – in between books, just open the windows and hope the dust blows away:)))) That’s what I do (and sadly, I’m not kidding). If the dust and dog hair get too thick, then I have to break down and clean. Otherwise, I just vaccuum occasionally and let it go.
Gail–I like the way you think.[g]