Preparing to write - a ritual for creativity
Designing a creative environment can foster writing habits and avoid distractions. Inspiration from Maya Angelou & Twyla Tharp backed by behaviourial science from Richard Thaler.
eBay is chock-full of unwanted stock from supermarket ‘middle aisle’ products. Purchases that perhaps seemed sensible at the time but are later regretted. Inflatable kayak anyone?
The temptations of environment
What we do is influenced by our environment. Habit researchers call this the context - a force on our behaviour that includes everything in the world surrounding us. It’s the location we’re in, the people around us, the time of day and the actions we’ve just done.
All of these act as cues - and how close we are to those cues makes a difference, as we’ll engage with what is near us and overlook what’s further away. As the supermarket marketing folk intend, middle aisles are designed to temp you.1
Context is everything
Habits are forged in context - understanding that behaviour is triggered by what is around us can empower us to develop more positive routines. By changing the context we can trigger a good habit like opening up our work-in-progress when we get to our desk, and avoid a bad habits like checking email and getting sucked into a rabbit hole.
Writers throughout history have known this. Maya Angelou, who we wrote about in our book, described her daily routine as starting early, after coffee at home she’d go to her workplace: “a tiny, mean room with just a bed, and sometimes, if I can find it, a face basin.”
Angelou limited her distractions by working in an environment that minimised cues that would lead her away from writing and that maximised those that encourage it. All she had with her was what she needed to write, including: “a dictionary, a Bible, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry.”2
The creative environment
Twyla Tharp describes this in The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life:
“A lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves into that environment, they start their creative day. … Find a working environment where the prospect of wrestling with your muse doesn't scare you, doesn't shut you down. It should make you want to be there, and once you find it, stick with it. To get the creative habit, you need a working environment that's habit-forming. All preferred working states, no matter how eccentric, have one thing in common: When you enter into them, they compel you to get started.”
She’s right, designing our environment gives us the best chance to get started and keep going with our writing. The science backs it up. Nobel Prize-winning behavioural scientist Richard Thaler calls this choice architecture. While Angelou’s choice of a tiny mean room might not work for you, think about how you can alter your environment to prompt a creative habit. Explore these categories to trigger more positive writing routines:
Location – where you write and what is around you.
Time – when you write and how that fits into your daily routine.
Prompt – what you do immediately preceding will affect what you do next.
People – who is around you (or who you avoid being with) when you want to write.
What can you change in your environment to make writing happen? We’d love to hear what’s helped or things you’d like to try. Comment below and if you like this post send us some hearts. In the meantime, if anyone wants to buy an inflatable kayak let me know.
Keep writing, Bec
Side note on the German supermarkets’ infamous middle aisle, a seemingly chaotic but cleverly designed area to maximise temptation. In describing the ‘middle aisle’ one supermarket’s website welcomes you, “to a place like no other. A world of wonder. A destination full of mystery, magic…and unmissable bargains.” That’s the goal that you won’t miss it. It goes on to say, “Yes, you may come in for bread, but who knows what amazing possibilities you’ll leave with from the famous Aisle”.
Frankly, I could find a lot of distraction in those four items especially when combined together.
I recently rearranged my old desk in my office after I had to clear my desks/space for windows replacement. I also put my computer stuff back on my main desk differently. I feel like I have more space yet my writing area feels cozier. The new windows let in tons more light, and I put some plants and dried hydrangea flowers on my desks. It no longer feels like a weight, but a welcoming space. Environment matters, you’re right. 🙂
I avoid that middle aisle like the plague! Lidl and Aldi!
I recently downsized to 2 tiny places, a cottage in summer and apartment in winter in warmer weather. Both are one room affairs and I’m having a hard time fitting in a designated writing space.