A story idea suddenly appears in your head with a complete beginning, middle, and end. You sit down to write, and the words flow freely. It’s as if the story is typing itself.

How often do you experience that kind of burst of incredible inspiration?

I’m guessing that probably doesn’t happen to you very often. (If it does, I am incredibly envious of your superpower.)

However, for the majority of us writers, the Muse is more like a grouchy hibernating bear who refuses to leave its cave. If we wait for her to drop in on us before we start writing, we probably would only end up with a handful of words every year.

In Jack London’s 1905 essay on how to become a published writer, he wisely observed, “Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and if you don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it.”

London believed that writing daily was the best way to rouse the sleeping Muse. He advised in his essay, “Set yourself a ‘stint,’ and see that you do that ‘stint’ each day; you will have more words to your credit at the end of the year.”

However, implementing a daily writing habit is hard work, and even when we show up at the computer, the words might still refuse to come.

We need a way to lure the Muse out of the cave, and one of the best ways to do that is with a writing ritual. Read on to discover how several famous writers used writing rituals to spark inspiration and how you too can design a powerful writing ritual to achieve your daily writing goals. [Read more…]