Soda, Headphones, and Chinese Characters: Writing Rituals

Last night while finishing up my English Literature paper on James Bond I noticed something. Every time I write a big paper I go through a certain process or a series of "rituals" to help me think creatively. First of these rituals is to get a 2-liter bottle of soda.

I stopped by Walmart two days ago to pick one of these bad boys up. Usually I get Coca Cola, its kind of a family favorite. Whatever the soda is I always get one before a big paper or test, but this is the first that time I noticed that I do this habitually. It was a weird moment where I was thinking to myself that I couldn't even remember a time when I didn't have soda with me while I wrote. Maybe its the caffeine or maybe it reminds me of those super creative commercials that Coca Cola puts out. I don't even really know why I do it, but I just do it.

Next I put in my headphones and I go on Pandora or YouTube for music. This time I listened mostly to the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack and other alternative stuff, mixed with in with some James Bond theme songs to get some inspiration for my paper. I listened to Sweet Disposition by The Temper Traps like a thousand times last night:

Actually I am listening to it right now as I  am writing this blog post. There is something about music that propels us. It has an energy of its own that fuels our creative engine, giving us the momentum necessary to write for hours. Music is also very nostalgic. It brings us back to moments or emotions we had long forgotten. Sometimes we need to go back in time in order to find inspiration for our lives now. This ritual has also been with me since as long as I can remember and although writing without any noise around you is sometimes needed, writing with a soundtrack provides us with the best results creatively.

When I was a kid I used to sketch a lot in my downtime and I started sketching when I had writer's blocks in high school. When my creative flow would hit a wall I would simply go around it in another way with my sketches. Now that I am learning Mandarin Chinese I have decided to replace my doodling with Chinese characters. Chinese characters are notoriously known for their difficulty and there are nearly impossible to memorize without devoting hours to them. But they kind of remind me of sketching so I deciding instead of making  a bunch of mostly useless scribbles I'd devote my time to writing characters. They help think about something productively for 10-15 minutes then I get an idea for my paper. Having little diversions when we get writer's blocks can help tremendously. Its a lot better than just sitting there banging our head against the desk trying find something to write.

What about you guys? What are some writing rituals you have?