Writing Ritual: Music as Muse 2
Tap into your happy space even when you’re not feeling it.
Get up and dance. Shake your booty. Rock steady. Shake your groove thing. Move to the music. Disco. Funk. Hip hop. Country. Pop. House. Jazz. Whatever buoys your mood. You should be dancing.
When I was much younger, I rocked out to music before starting a writing session. Letting the music take over my body and mind helped me make the transition from my analytical side — thinking in terms of beats or outlines or just my routine to-do list — and get into my creative side enabling the narrative to flow. Sometimes characters would take shape in my head as my body let loose. Dance is also a good exercise to ward off the stiffness that comes from sitting at a computer (typewriter back then) for hours.
There’s nothing better than dancing to upbeat music to help you get in the right headspace before sitting down to write comedy or generally happy scenes. Over the years I trained myself to detach from reality at whim but dancing helped me do this for many years. Some people who’ve known me for a long time might say I was never grounded in reality. Proof of this was in a passage I read in an old journal the other day where I wrote about my dad calling me a dreamer in a non-complimentary way and I complained that my mom told me to “snap out of it” declaring that being a dreamer was a sign of laziness. Perhaps that explains my eventual list-taking obsession and need to accomplish things that led to developing a dancing ritual so I could free my mind and allow myself to write. Ironically, in this same journal entry, I commented about how approving my parents were when they’d come into my bedroom and read the poetry I’d written on poster-sized sheets of paper I taped all over the walls.
Dancing was commonplace in our household. It was normal to see my mother and father dancing in our living room, in the kitchen, or anywhere really. Dad’s stereo turntable was in perpetual motion when he was home and when there was music playing, my parents would dance. They danced together at every event they attended and cruise ship they sailed on through their 60 years of marriage.
My sister and I took ballet and tap together when we were very young. All of my siblings danced at some point in their lives, whether taking lessons or in performances. There is an iconic family photo of one of my sisters performing a dance routine in her talent portion of the local Junior Miss pageant. My youngest sister takes tap lessons now, as an adult.
But it is the sister who took those long-ago dance lessons with me that made dancing her profession, becoming a high school dance coach and running a dance studio in Virginia for more than 20 years. She’s the only one of my siblings who does not have back problems — there’s something to be said for keeping your body moving.
Okay, getting off track here. Dancing helps you stay on track, btw. Maybe I should add it back to my pre-writing ritual!
You know what else dancing does? It reduces stress, improves your heart and lungs (great cardio exercise!), and helps your posture, which in turn helps ideas flow. Don’t believe me? Give it a try. Turn up the music and give in to the proverbial saying “dance like nobody’s watching.” Maybe you’ll find a go-to song to play each day before you write, or create a “writer” playlist. Or just set your music app to random and see what happens.
Happy writing!
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