April 15, 2024
Authors like Truman Capote, James Joyce, and Virginia Wolfe had some interesting quirks when it came to writing. Do you have any rituals, quirks, or superstitions when it comes to working?
Truman Capote never started or finished a story on a Friday.
Among other things, he also wouldn’t stay in a hotel room with numerals that added up to 13 or have more that three cigarette butts in his ashtray. James Joyce supposedly went through a stage where he wrote with red crayon on massive sheets of paper. (He had an reason-major eye problems) Next to them, I am positively boring.
Perhaps a writing ritual would help me increase my writing output, but I don’t have any. There’s been a major change in my life, and my writing space has moved. I’m settled in physically, but not mentally. My desk is now in a spot that isn’t closed off and I can be interrupted easily. As I type this, one grandkid is sitting at the table behind me, eating lunch, crunching on potato chips. But I feel anti-social if I put on my headphones.
The biggest change is the break I took in writing after my mother’s death.
I didn’t stop writing altogether, but I didn’t do any editing on my WIP for four months. I wasn’t in the right head space to tackle the changes. This week, I took a hard look at the first chapter, and decided it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Now the story bugging me to dive in and get to work on the rest of it.
And a new story is lurking, with about 1200 words written. Whether they’ll make the final cut is yet to be decided. I’m still trying to figure out where the story is going.
Back to rituals.
I like to start a writing session by first finding background music that suits my mood. I rediscovered some old favorites while moving my collection of albums. Joni Mitchell. Carly Simon. Carol King. Janis Joplin. Buffy St. Marie (Those are just the women). With the headphones on, I can mostly ignore the world around me and zone in on my computer screen. Mostly. Until someone comes and taps on my shoulder to get my attention.
I’m hoping that some of the other authors on this blog hop are more interesting than me. Join me in finding out by following the inks below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
April 15, 2024
Authors like Truman Capote, James Joyce, and Virginia Wolfe had some interesting quirks when it came to writing. Do you have any rituals, quirks, or superstitions when it comes to working?
Interesting tidbit about Truman Capote. I don’t have any superstitions like that. I couldn’t write for years after I lost my husband but found it to be healing once I got back into it. I’m glad you’re getting back into your writing after your mom’s death. I’m really sorry for your loss.
Thank you, Natalie. I didn’t expect it to hit me as hard as it did.
Interesting. I’ve found that I can’t hear the voices in my head at all if there’s any background noise.
And it’s the opposite for me. The background music helps draw my characters out.
I listen to music while I write too. Find it easy to focus and not have any wondering thoughts.
Depends on the music. Lyrics would be distracting, might be tempted to sing along. . In snatched time, I need to focus. Grief ? Sorry for your loss. Used to think I just couldn’t go on,