“Writing is about getting to a place of deep mediation. The writer’s job is, at a fundamental level, all about finding the habits that will get you there—somehow. Human beings are, fortunately, trainable animals. We can train ourselves, through habit, to access the parts of the mind that lead to great creative work.
Here are my three most repeated, most consistent writing secrets: 1. Get dressed. This may seem obvious or unimportant (especially if you work at home). And yet, what you wear is a statement of intention. If you have lucky clothes, go put them on. Grab that pink bathrobe. Don your hat with the moth holes and the bright, red feathers. You’re a writer. You’re encouraged to look eccentric. 2. Return to your lucky place. When I have a good writing day, I try to replicate it. Like a dog returning, again and again, to the place where it’s been fed, I go back to the same coffee shops where I’ve had success. Let your environment do some of the work for you. 3. Treat yourself. Yes, your back hurts because you are sitting in a chair. Yes, writing can create great cycles of angst in your life, and questions about money and art and time. But remember, you are a trainable animal. You like treats. So maybe you can have that eleven dollar kale salad, or that stack of sugar packets in your coffee, or that long, solitary walk through the rain. Bribery works, so use it. And a cautionary note: Since I don’t work at home, I often have to deal with table-takers and delays. Sometimes rude people set up camp in my lucky chair or at my lucky table. I have to glare at them with the steely eye of disapprobation. But then I remember: Often times, this is exactly how a new table is christened, and a new habit is born.”
—Peyton Marshall, author of Goodhouse: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014)
Photo credit: Mike Palmieri