Another of my many rituals is to stare at the wall of my book covers whenever I feel overwhelmed, or as if my prose aren't good enough. The many covers remind me that I have dozens of stories under my belt, and am capable of completing my WIP.
When I enter my office, I usually plug in my color-changing salt lamp. This relatively new addition to my work area provides me with something pretty to look at other than the organized chaos that is my work station.
When thinking about what I was going to write about for this post, I started looking around my desk area and it struck me that another ritual I have is to write with our kitten very close by. This isn't happenstance. I call her in when I enter my office, and she is happy to oblige. Of course, sometimes she takes the togetherness thing to extremes. Olive is happy to sleep on her cat tree, which is next to my desk. Problem is, the kitten has the energy of a toddler on steroids! She doesn't much care to play second fiddle to my computer, so when she wants to play, she cries, or plops herself down either on my keyboard or right in front of the monitor so I have no choice but to take a break with her. Hmm. I'm not sure if that's a writing ritual or a dodge work ritual;-)
Overall, all the distractions around my work area serve to prevent me from walking away and giving in to my ADD! Somehow, they keep me on task.
What about you? For the writers - what are your favorite writing rituals? For readers, do you have reading rituals when you sit down to read?
