I’ve been asked a couple times in interviews whether I have any pre-writing rituals, like “lighting a candle” or “drinking a glass of tea” or something. I don’t do either of those things (though they do sound very romantic and “writely”). But I do have one tradition I break out whenever the revision/writing process starts to make me a little nutty: I dance.
No joke. I put on some music, sing out loud, and dance in my office. Think of it as a pre-football game, get-psyched, “Go team!” ritual in the locker room that looks a little something like this:
What you might find odd is that my get-psyched music is surprisingly mellow. It’s not Bon Jovi or anything. I rock out to Dido.
Yeah, the English singer-songwriter. Not exactly club music, I know. But for some reason this skinny little Brit inspires me.
Here are two of the classics I dance to most often:
Now other music might work for you. Stephenie Meyer has publicly thanked The Muse in her Twilight novels for being so inspirational to her writing, and well, I don’t like a single one of their songs. So whoever it is that gets you in a writerly mood, I suggest pumping up the volume before you sit down and belting out a few notes (bonus points if your neighbors can see you). Trust me, it really is a nice stress relief when you’re on the edge of typing, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
POP CULTURE RANT: So You Think You Can Dance
What’s up with all the injuries? First, Alex goes down with an injury so bad he needed surgery. That alone, in my opinion, should qualify the whole season for a mulligan. I don’t about you, but he was my favorite to win. So with that star gone, there’s really no one left to care about. Then, the girls get picked off one-by-one with Ashley going down in another injury. And then Billy Bell has the nerve not to dance because of a “soar knee” the doctors cleared him of earlier in the week. I think the rapid-fire season with only ten contestants jumping straight to the two-dances per night round might have been a bit much for the dancers, psychically. Just sayin’. However, on a side note, props to Tabitha & Napolean for giving us the best hip hop routines since “Bleeding Love.” Go Nappytabs! I’d vote for them as the winners if I could.
