Image is a collage. In the background there is a blurry, black-and-white image of a tree. In the foreground there is a sphere in magenta and cyan.

<aside> 🕯️ What does “ritual” mean to you?

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<aside> 🕯️ What is your history of rituals? This could be in your family, your ancestry, your culture, your friendship group, your writing life, therapy, spirituality, religion, creative life etc. Do you have any/ have you experienced or inherited any? This could be an action, a prayer, a way of preparing food, a playlist, a weekly meet-up etc.

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<aside> 🕯️ Can you think of anywhere in your life where you currently practice a ritual?

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<aside> 🕯️ Which part of the day or week feels most supportive for working on your novel? Is there a regular time (or times) that would be possible to carve out just for you? Are you a night own or a lark? Or are you someone who’s happy to let others go dancing on Saturday nights while you curl up with tea and your fictional world?

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<aside> 🕯️ Exercise 1—Ritual and Habit

1. Where do you have an existing daily habit? This could be brushing your teeth, preparing a meal, going for a run, listening to a song, reading, wearing perfume, eating a piece of fruit, tending a plant etc.
2. What activities or experiences allow you to feel joy, care, or contentment?
3. How can you add this element of joy, care, and comfort to your existing habits? This could be putting on a favourite song every morning when you brush your teeth, having a special teapot that you use in the afternoon, inhaling the scent when you put perfume on, and feeling calmed by it, spending time with a plant and watching carefully as it changes by tiny increments, perhaps making daily drawings or notes to pay special attention.

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<aside> 🕯️ Exercise 2—Writing Environment

1. What would be your dream writing environment if there were no barriers? This is a reflection of the feeling you would like to have while you were writing, as much as of the physical space. Imagine the environment in as much detail as possible:

• What kind of landscape, setting, or place are you in?
• What time of day or night is it, what time of year?
• What are the sensory details: colour, sounds, and smells etc.

1. How can you add something to your writing practice to bring you closer to this environment? If your dream is a summer’s day but there is snow outside, could you cut open a lemon or an orange, inhale the citrus smells, and imagine you are there. Perhaps this scent could become a signal to your brain that you are in your writing zone. Or if you imagine yourself in the dark, stillness of night, could you close the curtains, light a candle, and create a secret space for your work? If you don’t have a private space where you can shut the door, could you programme an immersive playlist with rain sounds, to replicate a gloomy afternoon, perfect for writing?

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<aside> 🕯️ Exercise 3—Writing Routine

1. Please consider these aspects of your writing routine, and reflect on how your process supports your writing projects:

• How do ideas come to you?
• What is your writing process?
• How long do projects usually take you?
• Do you procrastinate?
• How do you work with deadlines?
• What inspires you?

1. What feels good about this process?
2. What feels frustrating?
3. How can you move closer to the good parts of the process, while honouring the frustrating parts?

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<aside> ⚡ FINAL THOUGHTS: This is an ongoing process that you can continue to work with over your writing life. Reflect on the answers you’ve given today, and synthesise the insights you’ve had into a writing ritual that will support your practice.

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