Want to Write More? 8 Must-Try Writing Rituals to DIY

Writing rituals are the little things that you do before, during, and after each session to get your mind in writing mode. These rituals can take many different forms — pre-writing exercises, post-writing rewards, or sensory cues, to name a few — but they should all have the same effect: nurturing creativity and consistency in your writing practice.

Granted, they’re also sometimes discussed in near-mystical terms. But do good writers really have some secret weapon for unlocking their genius? In reality, anyone can create productive writing rituals that help them reach for their creative potential. 

So whether you’re starting your routine from scratch or looking to grow your current practice, here are eight ideas for writing rituals to try for yourself.

1. Set the scene for your writing ritual

If we take our cues from famous authors, we’ll find that many of them have claimed to write better in certain atmospheres. Jack Kerouac wrote by candlelight, for instance. Toni Morrison had to watch the light come in before starting her writing for the day, and Stephen King can only do serious writing with his office door closed.  

Not a fan of candles? No problem. You can create your own environment in which you feel creative and focused.

To develop this writing ritual, experiment with lighting, noise, and distractions (or the lack thereof) to find your perfect balance. Here are a few sense-based examples to get you started:

• Sight: What kind of lighting do you like? Candles, sunshine, bright lights, lamplight?

• Hearing: What noise level is most productive for you? Ambient coffee shop chatter, complete silence, or background music in your headphones?

• Smell: Do you write better when there’s a noticeable smell in the air? Maybe the springtime haze of fresh-cut grass makes you dreamy, or perhaps the coffee-scented air of a local café puts you in the mood to write. 

• Taste: Do you like to eat or drink anything while you write? Maybe the taste of a favorite tea or snack gets you into work mode.

• Touch: How do you like to sit? Is there a comfortable desk chair or a sofa by the window of your library that gets you ready to write? How about writing tools, what feels best in your hands?

When you settle into your designated writing environment — whether that means lighting candles, sitting down at your desk, or driving to your local library — your brain will get the message that it’s time to write. Over time, getting started will grow easier: as soon as you head to your writing spot, you’ll be ready to focus.

Touch — in this case, the writing tools you choose to handle — can be especially useful here, which brings us to our next tip.

2. Pick the perfect writing tool

The writing tool you use is one of the most important parts of your ritual. The right one can feel like the best kind of mediator, helping you connect your ideas to paper as soon as they pop into your head. 

For some writers, nothing beats an old-fashioned pen and paper. If you love the freedom of writing by hand, invest in a nice notebook and a pen that feels satisfying to use. High-quality writing tools can make the physical experience of writing more enjoyable, motivating you to write more. 

John Steinbeck was in the analog camp, writing only in pencil. He started each writing session with 24 sharpened pencils, and reported that writing East of Eden took him 300 pencils!

If you prefer the speed of typing (as many of us do in this modern age),  many digital writing tools are available to help you not only write, but also stay organized and meet your goals. Your ideal tool will depend on what kind of writing you like to do.  If you’re working on a novel, for instance, I can recommend Reedsy Studio: it offers a beautiful, distraction-free interface with boards that help me plan my characters, worldbuilding, and plot. If you’re trying to quiet your inner editor while brainstorming or freewriting, try Squibler’s “Most Dangerous Writing App.” This word processor has a clean, simple interface with a mischievous twist: it’ll delete everything if you stop to edit your work.  

If you like the speed of typing but not the distractions that come with working on a computer, digital typewriters like the AlphaSmart or the Freewrite might strike the perfect balance — they offer the speed and tactile feel of a computer keyboard, but they can’t access the internet.

Experiment to find the writing tools that best suit the different parts of your process. I write my best drafts on a computer, but prefer to edit in pen. Or perhaps you might prefer keeping track of your planning in a notebook. The bottom line is that you should choose a tool that you’re excited to use every time you sit down to write.

For more on the writing process, let’s move to the next tip.

3. Set a goal for every session

If you’re serious about honing your craft, make goal setting a regular part of your writing ritual. 

Just before you start to write, take a moment to think about what you want to get out of the session. Your goals should be specific and clear, whether you want to write 1,000 words, finish a scene, or spend an hour writing. Stephen King is a huge advocate for writing goals, with a relentless timeline (that doesn’t even break for holidays!). 

Of course, we can’t all be multi-millionaire horror authors whose literal job is to write all day. So it’s important to make sure your goals are realistic and specific to you. If you know you only have half an hour to write, don’t try to complete an entire chapter — you’ll likely fall short of your goal, disappoint yourself, or feel bad about your self-discipline. If you set more attainable goals, you’ll be able to build confidence and stay motivated. 

That’s not to say that you should never set big goals! If you do have your eye on one, break it down into manageable pieces. For example, if you want to finish a draft of your novel in six months, figure out how many chapters you’ll have to write each month, how many words you’ll have to write each week, and, finally, how many hours you’ll have to spend writing every day to make it happen. Use this breakdown to inform the smaller goals you set for yourself at the beginning of each session.

Goals are only effective if you reflect on them often, which brings us to the next tip. 

4. Keep a writing tracker

Your goals won’t mean much if you don’t check back to see if you’re achieving them. This is where a writing tracker comes into play: it will help you keep tabs on how consistently you’re hitting those goals — and if you aren’t, it will identify for you the parts of your ritual that aren’t working, or whether your goals are realistic in the first place.   

If you’re not sure where to start, a digital tool like Reedsy Studio’s goal tracker does the tracking for you. Not only does it allow you to set word-count goals, but it also records the quality of your writing sessions for you, displaying your insights over time in an easy-to-read chart  — perfect for the data nerds among us.

If you’re doing it manually, track just a single element of your progress — word count, minutes spent writing, or how the writing session felt for you — to make sure your goal-setting and tracking aren’t taking time away from your actual writing. Like with the other tips, the most important thing here is to track this metric across every writing session.

For more on consistency, let’s take a look at the next tip.

5. Write at a certain time of day, every day

It’s hard to build a successful writing habit if you feel like you never have time to write. To solve this problem, schedule your writing time in advance — ideally at the same block of time every day when you feel most creative. 

When it’s time to write, eliminate as many distractions as you can. Turn off email notifications, silence your phone, and let people who might need you know that you won’t be available for a while. Devote this time entirely to the writing goal you’ve set for yourself. The more you stick to this kind of ritual, the easier it will be to enter “writing mode” when the time comes.

If you can’t get away from distractions, embrace the chaos like E. B. White. On his routine, White said, “My wife, thank God, has never been protective of me, as, I am told, the wives of some writers are. In consequence, the members of my household never pay the slightest attention to my being a writing man — they make all the noise and fuss they want to. If I get sick of it, I have places I can go.” If you always wait for distractions to abate, you may never actually write. Instead of fretting over the things you can’t control, focus on a consistent writing schedule that you can control.

6. Find a creative warm-up

If diving straight into your big project feels like too much pressure, try an introductory exercise to get started. A creative warm-up, repeated consistently at the beginning of every session, can clear your mind and help you focus on the task at hand. These exercises should be playful, unedited, and low-stakes.

Anything that helps you clear your mind and prepare for the task ahead can serve as a good creative warm-up, but here are a few examples to get you started:

• Freewriting: A ten-minute stint of freewriting can clear your mind and prepare you for the more structured task ahead. If you find yourself drifting into personal reflection and struggling to shake mental clutter during your writing sessions, starting like this might help you stay on task.

• Writing prompts: Writing a micro-story or a short, unedited essay can awaken the creative and analytical parts of your brain. Try writing a 300-word story about an object on your desk, or draft a short speech on one of your unpopular opinions. 

• Morning Pages: If you write in the mornings, start your day with three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing. This warmup was originally devised by Julia Cameron, writer of The Artist’s Way. 

Once the warm-up is done, let it be. Don’t edit it or build on it in the future. Remember: the idea of a warm-up is to get the creative juices flowing without self-judgment, and your warm-ups needn’t feature your very best writing.

If you need more pre-writing rituals, read on.

7. Train your mind with sensory cues 

Like coaxing a cat into its carrier, sometimes we need to resort to tricking our reluctant brains into getting ready to write. Here’s where sensory cues (remember them from the first tip?) can play a role again: if you repeat the same ones at the start of each writing session, you might find yourself willingly and consistently tricked into the writing mood. 

Here are a few ideas to start with:

• Light the same scented candle every time you sit down to write.

• Turn on a noise machine, a soothing playlist, or a track of background noises like rainfall or birdsong. 

• Brew a cup of tea or coffee and sip it as you write down your goals for the day.

• Do a quick body scan, closing your eyes and moving your attention down your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. 

Sometimes, our brains respond more readily to rewards. (Who doesn’t love positive reinforcement?) If that sounds like you, reward yourself for achieving writing goals, no matter how small they are. Here are some ideas:

• Eat a piece of chocolate or a favorite snack after each writing session.  

• Watch an episode of your favorite TV show or play a video game if you achieve your writing goal for the day.

• Treat yourself to a long-awaited gift after reaching a bigger milestone like completing a draft of your novel.

8. Write in company

Writers from Socrates to Ernest Hemingway preferred to work in the company of other people, finding that the presence of others could boost productivity by providing an external source of accountability and feedback. They were right — and it doesn’t matter whether you’re drafting the next great American novel or just cranking out a last-minute term paper. 

There are lots of ways to write in company, whether you join an online writing group, have a friend over to write together, or go to a coffee shop to write around strangers. If you struggle to hold yourself accountable when you’re the only one tracking your progress, that little bit of external accountability can make a huge difference.

Since consistency is so important, finding a group or a friend that can meet at the same time every day, week, or month will keep you on schedule. Decide what works best for you: some writing groups meet to write in sprints together, while others meet with finished drafts for critique. 

As with any habit, it’ll take patience, reflection, and iteration to get your writing ritual right. As you experiment with different aspects of your ritual, be mindful of what seems to be working. Regular reflection will help you refine your routine to make sure it supports your writing process as much as possible. Most importantly, find a routine you can be consistent with — if you only write at a coffee shop an hour away, you’re far less likely to write daily than if you can do so at your kitchen table.

Building a writing ritual that you like takes time, but the benefits are well worth the effort. By building a ritual that makes writing enjoyable, you’ll find that your writing practice becomes easier and more productive.