Writer Rituals
Posted by Darlene on 04 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Chit Chat
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 I went through all my papers and discarded the old sale circulars and outdated bill notices (oops), and polished my wood organizer.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.
October 5th, 2008 at 6:21 amHmmm…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.
October 5th, 2008 at 8:09 amWhat do I do after I write “the end”? Hmmm, can I get back with you once I actually do that?
October 5th, 2008 at 2:45 pmHang 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]
October 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pmI 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.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:32 amGail, 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]
October 7th, 2008 at 6:46 amI 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
October 7th, 2008 at 8:06 amKate–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]
October 7th, 2008 at 5:48 pmOh, 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.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:50 pmDarlene – 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.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:27 amGail–I like the way you think.[g]
October 10th, 2008 at 8:26 am