Wake up, little Muse-y, Wake up!

Interesting post on his writing ritual:
Developing Your Writing Ritual

A writing ritual can help get you in the right frame of mind. It tells your brain, "All right. Time to sit down and get creative!"

I usually start my writing work at around 9 am. First, I hide myself away in my office. The next thing I do is turn on the heater/box fan (my writing room is always too hot in summer, too cold in winter). Then I turn on my writing music. Sometimes it's drum music from David & Steve Gordon, sometimes it's one of my CDs of thunderstorms. Sometimes I'll mix it up a little with other music, as long as it doesn't have lyrics--I'm notorious for caterwauling along with anything that has lyrics. It's embarrassing enough having hubby pop his head in the room, wondering who I'm talking to when I'm really editing my story by reading it aloud. I'd rather not have him walk in on me squalling out "Karma Chameleon."

Last, I light a scented candle (scent is the sense most strongly associated with memory). And then I sit down and write. Every hour or so, I'll take a break and check my email and some of my social media (my little treat for putting my butt in the chair). By 4 pm or so, all my creativity will be drained and I'll pack in my pencils for the day.

I've found that since I started doing this ritual, the writing starts easier. Before it, I'd often spend an hour or more piddling around, staring at the screen and wondering what to write (or re-reading the same sentence four times, if I was editing). Now, my ideas are flowing and ready to write almost as soon as I sit down (MOST of the time).

I guess it's the same as anything else . . . you have to warm up your brain. We all know people who say, "Don't even look at me until I've had my coffee" (or in my case, my Mt. Dew and an MSN jigsaw). The muse needs a wake up ritual, too!