Writer's Rings

"Ms. Beck, your nails always look so nice and I just love all of your rings. You really have the best rings." Spoken by one of my creative writing majors. "Oh," I reply. "There's a reason for that. I like to have my nails done and wear beautiful rings because writing can be painful, you know? It's nice to have something beautiful to look down on in the process."

Little "tricks of the trade" actually. We writers do have strange quirks in order to fuel the alchemy of writing. Not only do I wear rings, I like to have certain objects around my desk. Skeleton keys, amethyst crystals, at least one plant. Objects contain power. They should be carefully cultivated when arranged around one's writing space. Other writers need to drink coffee from the same chipped mug. Sit in the same corner of a coffee house while finishing a piece. Listen to the same music while immersed.

Like my writing sweater. I wore the same sweater the entire winter I wrote one of my books. The elbows are thread-barren. It's stained. Torn. Faded. No matter. I still had to don that sweater to finish the book. So, I smiled when my spiritual daughter came to our home to finish a full-length manuscript saying, "I need to change into my writing pants first". Of course she did.

I can only write with one kind of pen. And I'm super-protective of that pen. I won't loan it out. Won't share. Freak out when it runs out of ink and I need to buy a new pack. I can't write in any other ink. It must be black. Not blue. It must be the Pilot G-2 10. Not 7. 10. I only use sketchbooks for my journals. Plain, heavy white paper. No lines. Absolutely no lines.

And all poems must be printed single-spaced. Times New Roman. 12 point font. No exceptions. My students groan, but they're getting used to it. The rituals of writing. Here is a photo from the Facebook group "Glad to be a Teacher". I think it says it all!