by Suzanne Lieurance
Ask most writers about their pre-writing rituals and they’ll tell you about routines that make sense: the fresh cup of coffee, the desk cleared of clutter, the timer set for a focused session.
All of that is fine.
But some of the most powerful rituals devoted writers use have nothing to do with writing at all.
They have to do with arriving.
Not physically — you can sit down at a desk without actually being present.
Arriving means bringing your whole self to the work rather than dragging in a distracted, half-engaged version of yourself who is still mentally finishing an argument from breakfast or scrolling through a newsfeed.
The Gap Most Writers Skip
There is a gap between the end of your regular day and the beginning of your writing session.
Most writers leap across it without thinking.
They close the work email, open the document, and expect the creative mind to be waiting for them like a well-trained dog.
It rarely is.
The creative mind needs a transition.
It needs a signal that says: this time is different.
We are leaving the reactive world and entering the generative one.
Without that signal, you spend the first twenty minutes of your writing session mentally still somewhere else.
The ritual isn’t about writing. It’s about becoming the writer who is ready to write.
Here’s What Works — and Why
The ritual itself doesn’t matter much.
What matters is that it is consistent, brief, and genuinely yours.
Some writers take a short walk before sitting down.
Others make a specific drink they only have when writing.
Some light a candle, change into comfortable clothes, or spend three minutes reading a passage from a writer they admire — not to imitate the style, but to remind themselves what good work feels like.
One writer I know keeps a small notebook on her desk where she spends five minutes writing whatever is in her head — worries, to-do items, random observations — before she opens her manuscript.
It’s a clearing ritual.
She’s emptying the mental inbox so the creative channel isn’t clogged.
Another simply closes his eyes for two minutes and thinks about the scene he intends to write.
Not planning it in detail.
Just imagining the world he’s about to enter.
Neither of these rituals is about writing.
Both make the writing better.
The Invitation
This week, pay attention to how you enter your writing sessions.
Are you arriving, or are you just showing up?
If the first ten minutes of every session feel like wading through mud, it might not be resistance to the work.
It might be that you’re skipping the transition.
Design something small — five minutes or less — that belongs only to writing time.
Something that signals to your mind and body: we’re here now. The other stuff can wait.
Then watch what happens when you actually arrive before you begin.
And here’s a Law of Attraction Technique to use if you suffer from Writer’s Block.
Want more on building a writing practice that sustains you?
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Suzanne Lieurance is the author of over 40 published books and a transformational Law of Attraction coach for writers who are ready to stop waiting to feel like the real thing. At Write by the Sea, she guides writers through the identity shift that changes everything — not just the writing, but the whole life built around it. She is the publisher of Manifesting Monthly and the host of Monday Morning Manifestors.
