The Writer's Way

We all have our writing rituals. Note Ella's routine with her brother's markers.

For the last few months, I've been heading to my local Starbucks on Sundays as my little respite from the family, and to get some writing done. Usually I write to music or some sort of noise I can tune out. I think that's because I'm an only child I have a hard time with silence. When I’m out at Starbucks, I’ll drink hot chocolate (though I may have to switch to iced tea in the summer), but at home I like hot tea with lemon before settling down.

Often the writing starts long before I sit down with my journal. I also listen a lot more to conversations, looking for poetry in the things people say, or don't say. If I'm lucky, I'll mishear a phrase and build a line out of it. And there’s a good amount of free association that happens before pen ever hits the page.

As for the mechanics, I tend to be a late-night writer. After the kids are down for the evening, usually, I’ll open a book of poems to get me going. Then I'll write down a few lines with a blue Uniball Onyx pen and write in my unlined journal. Or, I write on my laptop, which I did a lot of in the month of April.

Now I’m curious about your writing rituals. Specifically, has your ritual changed during the last few months? Does the frequency or location change with the season?