When I sit down to write, it’s to the perfect music or just-right episode of “Columbo.” By the time I finish, I’ve shut off everything and am left with the sound of distance: Birds in their unreachable place outside my giant picture window; sirens off to assist, though likely too late; leaves rustling; boats bellowing; the cat scratching in her litter box, again; too close sounds of air travel. The apartment is clean when I have a successful day. Or it’s not. I’m showered and dressed, or not.

I’ve read infographics (see below) on writers’ routines and they all are different. We try to mimic them. We try to find our own routines so we can routinely meet our muse in her/his favorite room, chair, sunspot beside the river. Some of us are friends with Habits. For some, Habits find us boring and we him.

Still, I still love knowing what other writers are wont to do: What works for them, what does not.

“Poets & Writers” online is taking that one step further and asking authors to submit what inspires them. The page, called Writers Recommend, also allows us to comment.

One can hope  that by reading what works for them and by communicating with them in this virtual setting we might also be inspired. May this aid you in your quest to find that perfect ___, or at least entertain you as you fall down another rabbit hole.

Infographics:

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3028428/infographic-see-the-daily-routines-of-the-worlds-most-famous-creative-people#3

https://podio.com/site/creative-routines

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/16/writers-wakeup-times-literary-productivity-visualization/

Books:

“Zen and the Art of Writing” by Ray Bradbury: http://www.openculture.com/2014/05/ray-bradbury-on-zen-and-the-art-of-writing-1973.html

“On Writing” by Stephen King: http://stephenking.com/library/nonfiction/on_writing:_a_memoir_of_the_craft.html

“Writing Down the Bones” by Natalie Goldberg: http://nataliegoldberg.com/books/writing-down-the-bones/