I’ve said for a long time … writers are magicians.
We make something out of nothing. We take syllables and turn them into dreams, sights, sounds. Calls to action and detailed plans for shenanigans.
And as every magician knows, if you want to perform magic … you have to know a thing or two about ritual.
Nearly every writer I know is a bit superstitious about writing rituals and habits. So this month, our Editor-in-Chief Stefanie Flaxman suggested we share them with you (plus photos of our desks).
I won’t promise that these rituals will make you more creatively productive … but crafting a ritual of your own just might do the trick.
Each member of the editorial team was invited to share their own habits and preferences on the following points:
- Setting
- Time of day
- Beverage
- Tools
- Music or silence?
Stefanie Flaxman, editor-in-chief
Setting: My desk is my favorite place to concentrate on writing.
Time of Day: I like drafting and jotting down notes all day, every day. But my butt-in-chair writing time typically happens in the afternoon, after I’ve already completed my editing work for the day. That routine works for me no matter what type of writing I’m working on, but morning or evening writing sessions definitely happen when the words have already written themselves in my head and I need to get them out.
Beverage: Green tea. Mint tea. Cold-pressed green juice (see below). Water.
Tools: MacBook Air and an outline in a Moleskine notebook. If I start a digital draft before sketching out an article in a notebook, it usually takes me longer to tie all of my ideas together.
Music or Silence?: I write with music. Sometimes a topic I’m writing about will inspire me to listen to a specific album. If that doesn’t happen, The Decemberists Radio or Tom Waits Radio on Pandora are my default writing stations. Editing and proofreading happen without background noise.
Chris Garrett, chief digital officer
I have far more resistance to doing planned video where I show my face than I do writing, though I can do webinars, podcasts, or even live streams on short notice.
Setting: I have to sit at my desk with my desktop computer. Nothing else allows me to get in flow.
All social media, bings, beeps, and visitors must be banished. I have the good fortune, now that my role has changed, that it is okay not to be on Slack all the time. I love my colleagues, but the “got a minute” messages always seem to be when I have almost figured something out …
That said, stepping away from the challenge, getting angry at Facebook, then taking a sip of coffee can often reset the noggin to the point where I can have another go at a stubborn piece, too.
Time of Day: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
No lunch until I have made progress. Lunch is for closers. If I have lunch before I have gotten some good progress, then my productivity drops massively. My afternoons are best talking or brainstorming until my second wind at 6:00 p.m., which I am guessing comes from my programming days. I have a third bout of creativity around midnight.
Beverage: Anything coffee, but usually regular Canadian donut store coffee. We walk the dog down to the coffee shop quite often, which in itself sets me up better to be productive.
I have to be caffeinated, though.
Tools: Google Docs. WordPress in Chrome. iMac 27″
Music or Silence?: Silence to write, music to edit (though it can’t have much in the way of discernible lyrics — soundtracks are good, or very instrumental prog rock such as Pink Floyd or Marillion).
Kelton Reid, VP of multimedia production
Whether I’m working on a writing project or multimedia production, my habits and rituals tend to be pretty similar.
Setting: I’ve had great success working in coffee shops on tight deadlines, and studies show that working in a public space somehow motivates one to be more productive (not necessarily more cogent — interesting note there).
But I find that scheduling chunks…
