Do You Have A Lucky Charm?

• Do you have a magic trick to get your writing started each day?

• Do you have a specific routine that you must follow before you can settle down to work?

• Do you have a lucky charm on your desk? A piece of jewelry you must be wearing? Some kind of talisman to ward off writers block and bad grammar?

We writers seem to be a superstitious bunch. If we don’t get to read the morning’s Pooch Cafe comic, we can’t write. If there was only enough coffee for three mugs full, we can’t write. If the internet is broken and we can’t check our email, we can’t write. If we can’t find our fuzzy bunny slippers, we can’t write. If we can’t find our favorite green pen and have to use a blue one instead, we can’t write.

This intrigues me.

I don’t think of myself as having a standard routine I have to follow each day to write. I don’t spin clockwise three times and spit on my shoulder (ick), or drop crumbs as offerings to the Writing Gods (and my dog), but that doesn’t mean I don’t have certain things I need just so to be able to write–especially the creative, fiction stuff. I can’t stand having clutter on my desk, and I can’t write at all with any type of audible words around me. No television, no radio (except, perhaps, classical music). If there are words to be listened to, my brain tends to latch on and then I can’t think of my own. Heck, I can’t fall asleep with the television on, either, I’m too busy listening to the dialogue.

While I lack a specific, superstitious routine, though, I do have a couple personal talismans I like to keep around.

One is this necklace:

Hope necklace

I bought this back in 2008 from Kathryn Riechert’s Etsy shop, when we started having family financial issues and I needed something tangible to remind me that Hope was vital. Except for the weekends when I usually don’t bother putting on any jewelry at all, I’ve worn this just about every single day since then. The fact that the chain constantly eats my hair I just put up with because, well, hope can sometimes be painful. Even an optimist like me can use a reminder now and again.

Penny for your thoughts ring

The other is this ring from Nina Gibson Designs, which I find wonderfully symbolic for a freelance writer. First, it’s made from money … sure, it’s just a penny, but when you collect enough of them, it really starts to matter … and anyway, it’s the symbolism thing.

Penny for your thoughts band

And then, the band is stamped with “Penny for your thoughts,” which is the whole point, don’t you agree? Because my thoughts ARE worth money, and even more, I want people to be offering to pay for them. Anyway, it’s symbolic (and it didn’t come in silver dollars, which would have been way too big to wear anyway).

So … I shared mine.

What lucky routines, talismans, charms, superstitions, or habits do YOU have to get you writing?