Habits and Rituals

In an interview, Toni Morrison explained something that she tells her students:

I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are at their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?

I've been asking myself similar questions and I've been thinking about habits.

According to this, Hemingway wrote standing up.

Truman Capote called himself a horizontal writer because he couldn't think unless he was in bed or reclining on the couch.

Faulkner drank whiskey. And there are many others.

I have yet to fall into a routine. I wrote out a schedule for myself last weekend and didn't follow any of it all week. Last Monday, I listened to classical music while writing. On Thursday, I listened to a combination of Maroon 5, Amy Winehouse, Amos Lee, Nina Simone and several others. I write in a room in my house sometimes, but mostly try out a different cafe every day.

The only two things that have been somewhat consistent are: having a cup of coffee and having about two to three hours of solid writing between the hours of 10am and 3pm.

Also, I prefer to sit near a window and like to be wearing a sweater.

There is part of me that yearns for the weird habit/strict routine. I function better when I know exactly what is expected, exactly how something is to be done. I also thrive when I have little to no time to think or relax, when I just need to get stuff done. But then again...I wasn't trying to write full-time then.

I've been reading books, blogs, and newspaper articles about making a full-time creative/artistic career work. One huge piece of advice that runs through most of the pieces is that you have to figure out what works for you.

I may love watching the sunrise and enjoy early morning walks with my dog, George, but I can't write at 7am. I also can't read then. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I can go for a run then. I also can't write for more than three hours at a time and usually can't read for longer than an hour at a time.

Are these habits in the making? Or are they just the product of my current life situation?

Morrison wrote before her children woke up and then, later when her children were grown, realized that she had developed a habit and continued to write in the morning. Life situation created a habit. Or, rather, a ritual as Morrison has said.

I love the idea of having a writing ritual. Rituals dominate our lives whether we realize it or not. Cultural rituals, personal rituals, family rituals. Like saying "om" three times before beginning the physical practice in a yoga class, I love the idea of having a way into writing, my writing.

Again, from the interview:

...we began to talk about little rituals that one goes through before beginning to write. I, at first, thought I didn't have a ritual, but then I remembered that I always get up and make a cup of coffee and watch the light come. And she said, Well, that's a ritual. And I realized that for me this ritual comprises my preparation to enter a space I can only call nonsecular... Writers all devise ways to approach that place where they expect to make the contact, where they become the conduit, or where they engage in this mysterious process.

I am not sure what my entrance is yet. It may be coffee, or a window. It is definitely not the sunrise though. And definitely not whiskey. That's all I know.