Ask JKM a Question #30: Screening and Writing Rituals?

A reader and aspiring movie journalist named Chris asks me if I have a “movie watching ritual” or “writing ritual” and if so, what those rituals entail.

Thanks for asking the question, Chris. 

I understand that ritual can be an important part of the creative and writing process because it’s like priming the pump, or stretching a muscle.  In other words, you undergo a series of familiar actions as you ready yourself to begin writing.  Ritual is, essentially, exercise, or the preparation to exercise.

In terms of movie watching, my only ritual is that that every time I screen a film I have a college-lined notebook and pen with me for extensive note-taking.  I generally write two-to-three pages of notes per movie I watch, and often write the time stamp of memorable or important images.  If I’m screening the film at home, I make certain I have at least one light on in the room, so I can see what I’m writing.  I prefer watching movies at home, because in movie theaters, writing notes is much more difficult.  On the left side of my note pages, I write comments on the plot line.  On the right side, I write impressions, make connections, and pose questions (to answer as I compose my review.)

In terms of how I gear up to start writing, I begin every day by blogging, and save my book-writing for the afternoon.

I do this because I find that the blogging experience gets my creative juices flowing, and gets my mind working at a faster and more efficient pace.  Some days, I’ve learned, I just don’t feel like working on a specific book assignment right off the bat, and if I start out forcing myself to work on a project I don’t feel ready to write for, the day generally goes…badly. 

Writers are not machines, and in my case, the more I force myself to do “one thing” at the outset of the day, the less likely I am to actually get that thing accomplished.   Instead, I just kind of idle for a few hours, wallow in self-loathing, and admit to my wife that I have to work for a few hours at night to catch-up for a wasted day.      

If, however, I start out blogging -- and the blog offers me so many possibilities, from horror to toys, to sci-fi TV to movies, to creating galleries -- then I can invariably figure out a way to get started and “activate” my writing muscles in time for a productive afternoon. 

Effective time management is a critical aspect of the writing life, and so I generally have enough time built-in to my schedule to blog in the morning and devote afternoon to paying assignments.  Also, I try to be ahead on my blog by about a dozen or more posts, with some gaps, obviously, so I can leap off blogging and go to work on something else if I should fall behind.

I should hasten to add, you have to do what works best for you.  If I’m not writing and writing steady by 9:00 am, for instance, it becomes harder and harder for me to “get into” writing.  I know that other writers prefer working at night.  I’m most productive if I start writing early…and don’t stop until late afternoon.

If in terms of rituals you’re thinking about something like Misery (1990), wherein the author Paul Sheldon always has a chilled bottle of champagne handy when he completes a deadline and finishes a manuscript, I think that’s mostly bullshit, or the kind of things that only very, very wealthy authors can afford to do, especially in this day and age.  I’m generally suspicious of writers who feel the need to reward themselves or pat themselves on the back after finishing each and every task. 

Besides, the one time I did do something like that -- drinking a glass of white wine after I met a book deadline in 2006 -- I spilled the drink on my laptop and destroyed it.

Don’t forget, ask me your questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com