4: Writing Rituals (or, ‘how can I improve the way I write?')

In our fourth episode of the podcast (which you can listen to here) we explored the idea of 'Writing Rituals'. Charlie and Olivia were joined by thier friend Ana de Oliviera Dias who has been thinking about this topic a lot in her recent career as a postdoctoral researcher.

The concept of Writing Rituals refers to our typical behaviours when we are preparing to write and when we are in the process of writing, and our overall discussion on this topic is geared towards maximising our productivity while doing what Cal Newport would describe as 'Deep Work'.

Step 1: Set your Environment

Perhaps the most important thing to think about when trying to write, is to consider WHERE you are writing, and what types of environments help you to write to the best of your ability.

All of us prefer to have different environments for working. Some of us prefer dead silence and solitude, while others like to work in busy and noisy rooms, like a cafe or a shared workspace (and others prefer a mid-point between the two).

For example:

• Ana prefers to work with plenty of natural light, a little quiet background noise (like an air conditioner, or a nearly street), and always makes sure to have enough food and drink to hand.

• Charlie admitted to being very picky! He prefers a quiet space, preferably alone, and struggles to adapt to a new workspace (for example, if you take on a new job and you're given a new office space). Charlie likes listening to quiet, ambient music (you can find good examples of this online, but this is one of his favourites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8AlDV6uiTQ

• Olivia told us that she still doesn't really know her favourite location to work, but argued that her mental state is the most important influence on her productivity.

All of these points are worth considering, but it is important to think about what you need when writing. Much of this is trial and error, so have a go at a few different environments and see which work best for you.

Step 2: Preparation: what to do before you start writing

Once you arrive in your preferred environment, it is time to begin your writing. But some writers find this part the most intimidating. Some of us feel pressure to perform, and we can often feel inadequate, as if your words won't be good enough. So our podcasters discussed their approaches to this tricky moment when you have to being writing.

Charlie told us that he writes best when he's working within familiar work patterns (including of course, the right environment). He usually spends some time before he begins, thinking about what he wants to write about and how much he can expect himself to write.

For Olivia, it was important t practice ‘attaching’ or ‘setting in’

• Breathing exercises, reading what you did yesterday, writing the (achievable) goal in the diary - all in the service of intentionality

• Decide on an end point in advance

• Then at the end of writing, it is also important to ‘detach’ - write down what you did, tick a 'to-do' off the list (and add one to the 'ta-daa' list!)

Ana discussed reading Julia Cameron's book, The Artist’s Way (1992) and Joan Bolker's book Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day (1998) both of which have some excellent tips for this part of the process.

Step 3: Getting started

You may find it beneficial to begin with five minutes of 'free writing': make space in a document, and write anything that comes into your head, in order to warm up the brain and the hands. You might write about your journey to work, or your plans for the day, or what you did the night before: anything at all that helps you to copy out words is useful. (When Charlie does this, he likes to do a rough plan for what he intends to write, sketching out some rough words. Usually, he finds that he doesn't want to stop at five minutes, and so writing has begun!)

When you are ready, try to get going by thinking about your goals as small, achievable steps, which will all add up to a bigger picture.

The most important point that we can make here, is to be kind to yourself. Sometimes, no mater how well you prepare, it just happens that writing won't come. Keep trying for a set period of time, but don't berate yourself. If you decide that today won't be a successful writing day, then the best thing you can do is move on and try to get some positives out of a different kind of work (can you do some more reading? do you have other admin tasks to complete?)

Make sure to take regular breaks. All of our contributors agreed that it is vitally important to take regular breaks for food, drink, and even just to walk outside for a few minutes in a different space for your body and brain. Most online and in-person writing groups use a pattern of 50 minutes of work followed by ten minutes of break, so try something similar to this if you think it might help.

Step 4: Finishing off

Knowing when to finish is very important! If you are writing well and you have the energy to continue, then by all means do as you please. But you should also remember that writing is a type of 'Deep Work' that can be a huge drain on your attention and energy, and so you may wish to limit your time to save energy for other work tasks.

On the podcast, Ana specifically highlighted how important it is to recognise early signs of tiredness and hunger etc. in yourself, as ways to know when you might be nearing the end of your writing capacity.

If you can, try to leave your work in a place that might help you the next time you can visit your writing. One helpful thing that you can do might be to write notes to yourself about what you want to do next, to help with getting started next time. Sometimes it is better to finish early when you are in a good frame of mind about your writing, as this can often help to boost your positivity and motivation to write when you can next return to the task.

It can also be a good idea to cross things off your to-do (or ta-daa!) list.

Conclusions:

Overall, the experience of academic writing can be one of the most stressful aspects of your carer as an Early Career Researcher. However, once you have established the writing rituals that work best for you, then it can also be one of the most fun parts of the job. It can be immensely rewarding and creative, so spending some time to explore your best practice is well worth investing in. Good luck, and let us know how you get on!