Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine January 2018 New Year, New You | Page 36

Zora’s Den
Routines and Rituals
W
riting requires discipline. There are writers
who write daily, without fail, and others
who can only write late at night. There are writers
who stick strictly to a word count or a number of
hours per session. But some writers take discipline
to a whole other level. They create routines
and rituals that seem more like superstitions or
idiosyncrasies. Writers can be a bizarre bunch of
people.
or example: Start at 6 a.m. with a cup of coffee
and a cigarette or SweetTarts and Coca-Cola;
write everything down in pencil first (on a pad or
Post-It notes), then transcribe in the computer, or
play Debussy’s Clair de Lune at the start of every
session. Sound far-fetched? Well, some writers are
that specific about when and how to start their
writing practices. Bestselling author, Naleighna
Kai is very specific. She writes on a yellow tablet
in blue ink and does her revisions with mindless
television droning in the background.
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Victoria Kennedy
erhaps, the success an author achieves with
a book or project and the habits used when
writing it becomes the foundation of his/her writing
routine. Maybe she reads about the peculiar habits
of a favorite writer and wants to mimic his/her
actions, in hopes of achieving similar results. Take
Ernest Hemingway for instance, famous for writing
books like For Whom the Bell Tolls, but he likely
wrote it while standing. Who knew?
hat do you require to get your writing started
or to “free your Muse” as we discussed in the
last issue? If, like me, you love to listen to music
while writing, your custom may be to create a
playlist. That’s what I do. As I wrote my debut novel,
Sometimes Love, I included songs to frame every
scene, like a movie soundtrack. On another note,
some writers don’t like music at all while they write
or at least, can only tolerate instrumental.
W