Think You're Bad? Top 5 Writing Superstitions of the Greats

Guest post by Mariana Ashley

I don't know about you, but as educated as I like to think I am, I can be highly superstitious. And even though I don’t believe in any of the superstitious things I tend to engage in, my pre-writing practices are sacred, even the ones that have nothing to do with writing. And to console myself about this silliness I often turn to the writing greats who indulged in the same thing. While not all of these are throw-salt-over-your-shoulder type of superstitions, here are some good ones that you may consider picking up:

1. Pretending like you're going to work with all the other 9-5ers, John Cheever.
According to Tobias Woolf in a Paris Review interview, Cheever would put on a suit, get in the elevator of his apartment and pretend to be going to work with every other guy who lived in his building. While the rest got off on the ground floor, Cheever went to the basement where he would take off all his clothes because of the heat down there, then during lunch he'd put the suit back on and go home. He'd return again to work and would stop when the rest of the regular workers finished.

2. Standing when writing, Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway has famously noted many aspects of the writing process, which is slightly ironic considering he claimed to be superstitious about talking about the process in the first place. One of his signature habits was writing when he stood up, justifying it by saying, "Writing and traveling broaden your ass if not your mind, and I like to write standing up."

3. Being obsessively consistent with your writing tools, Walter Benjamin
Although Walter Benjamin wasn't a novelist or poet, he is one of the greatest literary critics and essayists of all time. According to an article featured in Inside Higher Ed, Benjamin was neurotic about using the same utensils. Benjamin noted, "A pedantic adherence to certain papers, pens, inks is beneficial. No luxury, but an abundance of these utensils is indispensible." Roland Barthes was likewise obsessed with buying different pens, although he eschewed the Bic pen, saying it was used only "just for churning out copy."

4. Picking one date every time you start a new project to begin, Isabel Allende
This is perhaps the most superstitious of the bunch mentioned here, although Allende admits herself that she wasn't always able to keep it up when she had added responsibilities like book tours. In an interview with Big Think.com, Allende noted that she always began her novels on January 8th whenever she could.

5. Writing in a country where you don't really speak the language, Tobias Woolf
This superstition is perhaps more of an idea that aids the writing process. According to Woolf in the Paris Review interview mentioned earlier, he moved to Italy only because having to struggle a bit with getting around using limited language communication skills placed him in an interesting bubble that made distractions less possible.

Now that you know that even the greatest of writers have their quirks when it comes to writing, what are some of yours? Do they work all the time?

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.