My Pre-Writing Routine

Most of the writers I know have a writing routine, whether they consciously recognize it or not. Some write only in one specific place in their homes, some have a particular beverage they sip while they get the words down, and others prefer to write only during a particular time of day. Some work off an outline, some have only a general idea of where the story is going and what they need to do to move things forward, and others simply sit down with their computer or a notepad and pen and see where the story takes them.

There are hundreds of blog posts and articles about how other writers write and which of their strategies are most productive, because the one thing that all writers have in common is a desire to engineer our writing time so that it’s as easy and linear and fruitful as possible. But when it comes to discussions of routine, what writers do before they do any writing or planning or thinking about writing at all tends to be pushed aside.

I first learned about pre-writing routines on Susan Dennard’s awesome website, which contains tons of great resources for writers. The link to that introductory post is here, if anyone wants to check it out. Although pre-writing and writing routines do tend to overlap, one of the many points Dennard makes is that a writer’s strategies for putting themselves in a creative frame of mind are just as important as the strategies they use when they’re actually writing.

When I stumbled across this post three or four years ago, I was intrigued by both the arguments made and the science behind them. But at the time, I also felt that taking an extra five minutes to set the stage for a productive creative session was impractical and a little ridiculous. For most of the last ten years, I’ve held firm in my belief that putting your head down and getting the work done regardless of how creative you feel is what gets words on the page and stories finished. I respect writers who believe in muses or creative energy or whatever force it is that sweeps through you at unexpected moments and makes the words and the work feel easy. I’ve just never been one of them.

That said, I’ve also spent a lot of the last five years wanting to write and being too exhausted, anxious, or distracted due to things in my life outside the writing–work, mental health, interpersonal relationships–to carve out the space for creativity. And although I don’t believe I’m entitled to that productive rush of motivation or inspiration every single time I sit down at my computer, I also hate feeling like I’m forcing myself to do this thing that I genuinely love.

I’ve considered implementing my own pre-writing routine at a few different points in the last few years, but some weird mental hurdle has stopped me every time. I don’t want to be reliant on a pre-writing routine to get work done, I’d tell myself. Or, sure there’s science to support it, but some of the suggestions these other writers make feel too hippy dippy for me. Truth be told, I don’t really know what changed in my life or in my perspective that made me decide to establish a pre-writing routine of my own, but the joke is 100% on that younger, more cynical version of myself. Because ever since I created my pre-writing routine and began taking a few minutes to go through it before I got started, I’ve seen an enormous change in my writing.

It’s not like I’ve been churning out staggeringly high word counts or putting nothing but brilliant prose on the page, or that I’ve suddenly ceased to struggle with plot issues or characters who don’t behave the way I thought they’d behave. But a lot of the other more psychological aspects of writing that I’ve also found stressful and unavoidable have diminished significantly. I don’t worry nearly as much about how to start chapters or scenes anymore, and not just because of the time I spend thinking them through before I sit down to write them. I don’t obsess half as much about whether I’ll be able to hit my stride or find that flow or reach a certain word count, and I’m convinced that that’s mostly because my routine helps remind me of what matters most: that I’m taking the time to sit down and center myself and prioritize my creative work.

And despite my old fears about the time I might waste routinizing my writing, my pre-writing routine is actually very simple. Every time I’m getting ready to start working, I take a minute to clear everything off my desk that isn’t relevant to the story at hand, turn my desk lamp on if it’s dark, and grab a bottle of water or a cup of tea or cocoa. I let my husband know I’m going to be writing, because the lack of personal space in my writing space makes it far too easy for him to unknowingly interrupt me, and I tell him how long I’ll be working for. Then I take ten slow, deep breaths to clear my head and let the outside world go, remind myself that I’m happy I’ve made the time to create, turn Freedom on so I won’t be distracted by the internet, and begin.

Maybe that sounds a little silly or a little excessive. If it does, that’s fair. But for the first time in years, my writing is more enjoyable to me than not. I’m not loving everything I put on the page, and I can already see some big, obvious things I’ll need to change, but I’m still mostly happy with the story I’m telling and the way that I’m telling it. I set myself a goal to write ten chapters in January, and I completed eight in spite of some unexpected stressors that arose near the end of the month. I can see the shape of the story as a whole and where it’s going, and I’m almost always as happy when I’m actually writing as I am when the writing’s done. Those things are all so important to me, and while it’s possible that I might still have found my way to this head space without my pre-writing routine, I feel confident that the routine helped facilitate this new/old sense of enjoyment.

Which is why it doesn’t matter if you’re reading this and shaking your head at me, or feeling a little skeptical. I’d still highly encourage you to establish your own pre-writing routine just to see where it takes you.

What strategies do you use to put yourself in a creative frame of mind? If you have a pre-writing routine or if you decide to try one, leave me a comment and let me know how it’s going.