Bevin, enjoy Italy for all of us.

Stephanie, please share how the new way works. I go back and forth between thinking/wanting to outline more and wanting just to write.

When I’m working on a novel I create a soundtrack of music to go along with it. It can be however long you want and can either be a reflection of the overall tone/theme of the book, or songs the character likes (that speak a sub-dialogue for him/her that she/he can’t say out loud to her/himself or the other characters), or it can be music that relates to important scenes or chapters. Sometimes I’ll play one song over and over when I’m working on a scene, as it really helps get me ‘feeling’ the mood of the scene in a way that bypasses words.

Plus it’s just fun and keeps you motivated! I encourage my students to do this, as well as create a collage of/about their main character and hang it over their desk to stare at during moments of Writer’s Blank (my version of writer’s block. ‘Blank’ feels more appropriate!). Perhaps a picture of what they think he/she looks like. Clothes they might wear, the house they might live in, images that have symbolic meaning for the issues they’re dealing with.

The images (like the sound of the music on the soundtrack) can help you tune in to what you should write in a way that words sometimes can’t.

Just sharing these rituals of mine in case they appeal. I always feel a renewed sense of commitment to the work when I create these side projects. The best thing is when I hear one of the songs I’ve picked on the radio!

Chris

Thank you so much for sharing your rituals with us. It was such a joy to find your words in my inbox this morning. And even more wonderful when I found all the comments from other writers!

I have been working on creating a guide for my current piece this last week because it has become obvious to me that the format I have been forcing on myself is not leading me in the right direction. I spent much of this week ignoring the squirrel in my head who’s been telling me I’m “not accomplishing anything that will benefit this book” and I’m “just wasting the days away” and I’ve been digging into what’s in my heart. This is after all what I want my readers to hear anyways!

After asking myself some mindful questions and journaling for some days I am finally getting out of my to-do list routine, that really only works at the grocery store anyways. What a task it was to convince myself it was okay to abandon this old and useless ritual of making mile long, robot-like lists that I’ve forced myself to use for everything in life! There has never been any flexibility in this routine and it has often left me feeling worse because I could never happily complete everything on the list.

But I’m giddy in finding that my heart has held a map for me all this time. What a difference it makes to stop allowing my mind to make an outline for the book and to follow my heart’s instructions on what needs to flow out next! I’m going to make some new rituals, ones that actually work, and make them my own and I’ll let you know what comes of it. Thanks again!

Steph

Liz’s last blog post..The benefits of being a woodpecker

I’m in Italy right now, working on two books and at the same time trying not to get so wrapped up in the process that I miss Italy!

I had a great discussion with Michael Neill (my coach) after listening to one of his podcasts on having average days. If we set “average day” goals for ourselves, rather than really difficult, hard to attain, beat ourselves up goals, we’ll get to the end of our books and enjoy the whole process so much more! For me, that means that right now I want to be sure that every day I get two pages written on at least one of the projects. There are obviously some days that I write more but I don’t beat myself up if I achieve just my average amount.

Your rituals sound lovely and I’m excited to add some more elements to my writing rituals as well.

Much love to you and your projects!
Bevin