Writing Rituals - Jerico Mandybur
Jerico Mandybur
@JERICO.MANDYBUR
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, CREATIVITY COACH, AND TAROT WITCH.
Whether you’re an author, journalist, playwright, screenwriter or copywriter – every professional scribe has a different set of rituals that help them put pen to paper. Hemingway would write from first light until midday, Didion used one solitary hour before dinner to go over everything she'd worked on that day and Maya Angelou kept a hotel room in her hometown just for writing. Our new Writing Rituals series shines a light on some of our favourite writers and the private ceremonies they engage in each and every day.
writing rituals
Spotlight: Jerico Mandybur
Photo credit: Jerico Mandybur
“At many points throughout the day, I seem to blackout and then suddenly I’m pages deep in an obscure Discord forum or I’m on the Wikipedia page of a 19th century Assyriologist.”
Photo credit: Joe Brennan
Photo credit: Jerico Mandybur
Writing is a process that every writer approaches in a different way – how would you describe your own process?
“Usually, I sit alone to write. I’m a bit of a hermit about it. Even the sound of someone else typing can be like a foghorn in my ears, so I’ll jump from room to room in my house until I find the quietest and cosiest spot for that day. I love my writing desk but tend to rebel from actually sitting at it for some reason. I usually find myself leaning on the bedhead or cross legged on the floor or on the couch. All of which hurt my back, hence the need to move around a lot.
When I’m writing, I’m happiest and most productive if I’m not wearing jewellery or makeup (I will smudge it in five second) so I usually wear comfortable, lose, and warm clothing. Unless I need to stay awake, then I’ll let myself be slightly colder than I’d like. It’s masochistic but it works! Because of my autism and ADHD, I work best when I have long stretches of time. Both because it takes me a while to “get into it” and because once I focus, I’m hyper-focussed and nothing will pry me from my laptop. I’ll write until I realise I have to pee or eat. And then I’ll write for a bit longer anyway. Playing with fire!”
Do you listen to music while writing? Are you selective about what you listen to?
“The kind of music I listen to depends on the kind of writing I’m doing. Sometimes I need quiet, sometimes I want to blast fun, familiar songs. Most of the time, I’m somewhere in the middle; listening to ambient artists like Brian Eno, or else soothing abstract tones like binaural beats or solfeggio frequencies, which are said to be hypnotic and healing, emotionally. The only thing I won’t listen to when writing is music that I’ve never heard before, because I don’t know what to expect and I’ll get too drawn into the lyrics.”
Are there set times of day in which writing or even editing feels more natural?
“I’m the kind of writer that’s easily distracted by anything (everything) so my approach differs depending on what’s going on around me at certain times of day or night. I often try in vain to write in the morning, but I tend to half-arse it until about 4pm when I finally hit my stride. So, I’m at my most productive in the evenings and nights. Which is handy, because I have problems going to sleep.”
Name a handful of vices you use to get yourself going…
“My vices are all icons on my home screen! Namely Instagram and my new love/hate, TikTok. I’m easily distracted by my phone and I’m well versed in tricking myself into ignoring it. But some days, I don’t want to ignore it, you know? Then 2-3 hours will go by and I’m all the stupider for it. I don’t drink coffee or smoke cigarettes anymore and I miss both like a lover you can’t quit. Every single coffee-drinker or smoker makes me jealous! But they make my migraines twice as bad, so those romantic chain-smoking days are gone.”
Many writers find it hard to sit in a chair and stare at a screen all day. Do your writing rituals include anything physical like going for walks to help discover or build ideas?
“I’m a stuck-in-the-mud Scorpio, so it takes a lot to move me, once I’m nice and sedentary. But I’ve learned that walking is a quick and easy way to reset my brain between tasks, or to transition from work to being officially off the clock. So, I usually walk my dog or call someone to help with this. I also like yoga, but that’s certainly not a daily thing.”
Finish this sentence: When I get stuck or feel frustrated writing, I…
“I just write whatever comes to my head in a separate Google doc. I’m a huge fan of automatic writing. It’s cathartic and I find it helps “move” the energy and un-stick yourself. So, I’ll just type pages and pages of me shitting on myself until it feels old. Then eventually, I feel it pass and I can switch back to whatever I’m supposed to be writing.”
Does your writing routine or the rituals you perform remain the same each day or does it vary from time to time?
“It varies a lot. I’m really passionate about journaling and have been doing it since I was 12, but sometimes I go through phases where it’s just not appealing to me or I fall out of habit. Same with my daily routine. If I’m writing a book, I’ll get really motivated by time constraints and develop a sick daily routine that I manage to stick to. So, I guess I’m consistent when I have to be and not at all when I don’t.”
Are there any obstacles you face each day when you sit down to write, and if so, how do you try to overcome them and avoid distraction?
“Oh man. Everything is distracting for me! Both the external stuff I have no control over, but even more so, my own special interests and obsessions can really get in the way of writing. At many points throughout the day, I seem to blackout and then suddenly I’m pages deep in an obscure Discord forum or I’m on the Wikipedia page of a 19th century Assyriologist or I’m researching something I don’t even like, just because I feel like I have to know, now. And I have no idea how to overcome this outside of what I’ve already tried: setting a thousand reminders and calendar events, limiting time online, and using the internet as a rewards system. That’s why I recommend physical copies of dictionaries and thesauruses. It’s a slippery slope, looking up a word!”
What’s the first thing you do when you see a blank page?
“Cry! And then grab a pen and paper and write out the approx. word count by values of 100 as a list down the page. That way I can vaguely structure what I want to say and when, while being fluid enough to let whatever comes, come.”
Do you have a writing quote you live by or that inspires you each day?
“We write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to lure and enchant and console others. We write to serenade our lovers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it. We write to teach ourselves to speak with others, to record the journey into the labyrinth. We write to expand our world when we feel strangled, or constricted, or lonely...When I don’t write, I feel my world shrinking. I feel I am in prison. I feel I lose my fire and my color. It should be a necessity, as the sea needs to heave, and I call it breathing.” — Anais Nin