My writing routine: it’s all about the ambience.

Writers are often asked about their routines, about how they put in the work to make a book happen. I, too, am endlessly interested in what others do to create. How do other authors keep showing up, day after day? What tricks or routines or rhythms help them enter Book World again and again?*

My routines aren’t always the same, but over the years I can see definite patterns. When I can, I surround myself with lovely things: my wonderfully inviting office (I am fully aware how lucky I am to have a space like this!), soft light, a scented candle, books related to the project at hand, and most recently, background sounds that are especially engaging. (Right now I’ve been listening to this three-hour YouTube video called Cozy Rain on Window — Thunderstorm and Warm Fireplace. Yes, please!)

It’s not easy to coax a book into existence. Creating a welcoming space I want to return to feels like an invitation to relax and discover and find my way to the beginnings of a Book World just waiting to be explored.

What routines, rituals, or rhythms help you create?

* 🐦‍⬛ If you click this Book World link you’ll see the beginnings of a project I started in 2021 from the faintest of images: a tree full of ravens sharing raven lore. That project became Song of the Raven, coming spring 2027. I’ll be returning to that particular Book World any moment once my first-round edits arrive. 🐦‍⬛