Author: Jaclyn

Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May

Jaclyn4 Comments

Beltane, also known as May Day, is the beginning of summer and a great time to connect with your creativity. This post includes 30 creative writing prompts for Beltane, an explanation of what Beltane symbolizes, some Beltane ritual ideas, and how to celebrate Beltane as a writer. 

30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May

What is Beltane?

Beltane is a pagan holiday that celebrates the coming of summer. This sabbat takes place around the halfway point between the spring equinox (Ostara) and the summer solstice (Litha). In the Wheel of the Year, it is even considered the first official day of summer. It is a celebration of fire, flowers, passion, romance, and creativity. It is the time of year when the outside world begins to teem with life. Reproduction is on display, from the birds to the bees to the flowers and trees.  

Beltane is usually celebrated around May 1, though the exact date of the astrological middle between equinox and solstice can vary quite a bit. Beltane is also known as May Day or May Eve and shares similarities with Walpurgis Nacht and Floralia, the Roman celebration of the flower goddess. 

Beltane Rituals

Beltane Fires

Beltane is a fire festival, and bonfires are central in celebrating the holiday. My favorite Beltane ritual is the idea of lighting your hearth from the communal fire. Traditionally, all hearth fires would be put out and people would light their home fires from the larger communal Beltane bonfire. Fires were also used for cleansing and protecting livestock. Fire, even in the form of a candle or small fire in a fire pit can be a great way to mark this day. 

May Pole

Perhaps the most famous ritual of May Day is the May Pole. The most recognizable image of the May Pole is that of a large pole with ribbons strung around it. Often in the celebration of the May Pole, participants will erect a large pole or branch and dance around it. Beltane is a time of gathering after the harsh weather of winter, when everyone can finally come together outside and dance.

May Bush

One of the most beautiful traditional rituals for Beltane is the ritual of the May Bush, which is a small tree or even just a branch decorated with flowers and ribbons. The participants could decorate the tree to represent their wishes by writing them on ribbons, decorating the tree with something symbolic of the wish, or making the wish while they decorate. This ritual is easy to adapt to an at-home practice. Anything from decorating a tree in your front yard with ribbons to tying a wish on a favored houseplant will do the trick. Let the life and fertility of the plants around you help you find your own vitality and creativity. 

Beltane Symbolism and Correspondences

Beltane is especially known for flowers. Celebrants make wreaths and crowns and adorn themselves, their houses, and their beloved ones in flowers. White, red, yellow, and orange flowers are perfect for celebrating the strength of the sun and the arrival of summer.  Hawthorn, birch, and rowan are also associated with this sabbat. 

Oats, wine, and dairy are all foods associated with Beltane, so eat some oatmeal cookies after your wine, or drink some oat milk. But also, it’s an ideal holiday for feasting in general, so invite over some friends and be merry.

In case all the fires and phallic poles and vulvic flowers didn’t tip you off, this particular sabbat is also associated with romance and sacred sex. Beltane is often seen as the time of year that gods and goddesses come together to copulate and marry, so it can be associated with weddings, love, lust, and new unions. 

Colors associated with Beltane are green, silver, white, and the fiery romantic colors: red, pink, yellow and orange. In the same vein, crystals of these colors can also be used around Beltane. Emerald, malachite, carnelian, rose quartz, garnet, and bloodstone are all excellent crystals to celebrate this time of year.

How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer

For writers, Beltane offers new, exciting ways to connect with the creative energies around us and inside us. As the landscape bursts forth with new life, so too can we find these fertile forces in ourselves and our own writing practices. If you have felt stuck as the winter dragged on, or are looking for something new and inspiring to light your writing fire, Beltane is the ideal time to act on those impulses. Here are some ideas for how to bring the celebratory, fiery, creative energy of Beltane into your writing practice.

  1. Experiment. Beltane is an excellent time to let yourself play, let yourself dance around the metaphorical fire of your writing. Try new prompts. Try a new form. Draw your story. Beltane is a great time to try something new and see where the fires of creativity take you.
  2. Honor your ancestors. At Beltane, like at Samhain, the veil between worlds is thin. This is an ideal time to think about your literary foremothers. Who has inspired you and your writing? Reread the things that lit your literary fires and let yourself reconnect to what got you writing in the first place. 
  3. Lose yourself in music. Have you been wanting to create a writing playlist? To find music that helps you write? To create your own background music? Beltane is an optimal time to immerse yourself in the ecstasy and rapture that music can add to your writing practice. 
  4. Let nature guide you. Take your writing utensils outside and let nature be your muse. Find a flower, animal or tree to inspire you. You could use this prompt about plants, or just allow a nature bath to renew your writing. 
  5. Light your candle from the communal fire. As we all begin to come outside and rejoice in the warmth of the sunshine, it’s an excellent time to connect with other writers. Join or start a writing group. Attend literary events or conferences. Find community that will inspire you and get your creative juices flowing. 
  6. Connect to your creativity. One powerful way to connect with your creative side is to establish a writing ritual. Here’s a guide to developing your own ritual and here’s a ritual specially made for connecting to creativity. 
  7. Start a union. Beltane is also a fortuitous time to hook up with other writers (did you see what I did there?). Find an artist or another writer whom you’ve always wanted to collaborate with and ask! Beltane will be supporting the endeavor! 
  8. Adorn yourself. Perhaps you are the kind of writer who is inspired to wear flowers in their hair. Ahem. Or perhaps some bright red lipstick, a new scent, or a particularly special piece of jewelry might help you connect to a different side of yourself as a writer.
  9. Adorn your space. If your writing space is a little on the tired side, this is a great time of year to introduce plants, flowers, and fire elements. Buy a bouquet for your writing space and see if the beauty of the flowers rubs off on your writing. Get a new candle or a new plant to help transform your office (or kitchen table) into a place where magic can happen.
  10. Explore your sensual side. If ever there were a time of year to explore the more sexual side of your writing, this is it. If you’ve wondered about spicing up your stories or trying your hand at writing romance or erotica, Beltane is ideal.

Creative Writing Prompts for Beltane

  1. Write about a marriage that happens when the veil is thin.
  2. Write about two characters whose hands are fasted together.
  3. Write about a character who jumps over a broom and finds themself in a new life. 
  4. Go outside and find a plant or animal that piques your interest. Research and write about their reproductive habits. (Here is an example.)
  5. Write a story or poem that centers around the different wishes tied to a May Bush. 
  6. Write from the point of view of a flower.
  7. Write about something good that comes from a fire.
  8. Create a character based on a dangerous plant. 
  9. Use music as inspiration. Put on something entrancing and just let yourself write whatever comes to mind. 
  10. Write about a sexual fire being rekindled. 
  11. Start a collaboration. Find another writer or artist who inspires you and create a story, poem, or work of art together.
  12. Write about a romance that sets the world on fire. 
  13. Write about a union that starts at the May Pole.
  14. Write about a dance that changes everything. 
  15. Spend time in a wooded area and listen for nature spirits or fairies. What do they tell you? What are their stories?
  16. Write about a sexual ritual. 
  17. Write about what happens when the spirits of nature come out to play.
  18. Use your favorite line from a song as the premise for your own piece of writing. 
  19. Write about your wishes. 
  20. Create a character who is transformed when they adorn themself with flowers.
  21. Write about an old woman decorating a may bush. 
  22. Listen to a tree (bonus points for birch, hawthorn, or rowan, which is also known as mountain ash). Find one particular tree and connect with it. What are its stories? Write what the tree knows. 
  23. Write about what grows when the veil is thin.
  24. This photo by Jacob Rank on Unsplash. 
30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May
  1. This photo by Molly Mears on Unsplash. 
30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May
  1. This photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May
  1. This photo by Sasha on Unsplash.
30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May

28. This photo by Jennifer Marquez on Unsplash. (Seriously, check out her work for more inspiration. I had trouble picking just one!)

​​

29. This photo by Gaspar Uhas on Unsplash

30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May

30. This photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash.

30 Writing Prompts and Rituals for May Day How to Celebrate Beltane as a Writer Writing Prompts and Rituals to Celebrate Beltane and Inspire a Magical May

What are you doing to celebrate? If you use any of these prompts or rituals, please let me know how it goes! Your work could be showcased here. 

If you are looking for more prompts and rituals based on sabbats, you can find them here. For more creative writing prompts, look here. If you’re interested in reading creative work based on some of these prompts, they are here. To deepen your writing practice with rituals, check out this post.

The Writer’s Moon: Author Interview with Alicia Manson

Jaclyn4 Comments

The Writer’s Moon is a journal and planner for writers that helps you sync your writing practice to the phases of the moon. It’s a 30-day workbook for deepening your writing practice and getting more intentional and productive with your work by using the energy the moon has on offer. In this author interview, the book’s creator, Alicia Manson discusses her inspiration, her own writing practice, and how to use writing as a spiritual and therapeutic practice. 

The Writer’s Moon is a journal and planner for writers that helps you sync your writing practice to the phases of the moon. It is a 30-day workbook for deepening your writing practice and getting more intentional and productive with your work by using the energy the moon has on offer. In this author interview, the book’s creator, Alicia Manson discusses her inspiration, her own writing practice, and how to use writing as a spiritual and therapeutic practice.

The Writer’s Moon

The Writer’s Moon by Alicia Manson is a guide that walks you through the process of using the energy of the moon to enhance your writing practice. You all know I love planning and goal-setting and you all know I love the moon, so I was quite excited when I met Alicia Manson in the Writing by the Moon Facebook group and found she had created a book that combined them both. 

The Writer’s Moon has the tagline: Harness the Power of Lunar Energy to Make the Most of Your Time and Accomplish Your Writing Goals, A 30-Day Action Journal. It includes 30 days of goal-setting and journal prompts that help you explore what’s working and what’s not in your writing, and deepen your practice. It includes ideas for incorporating rituals into your writing practice, journal and reflection prompts, and space for goal setting. 

The book is designed to begin with the new moon and goes through each phase of one moon, about 30 days of structuring your writing around the lunar phases. The book begins by guiding you through creating goals and brainstorming for the new moon. The majority of the work of writing happens as the moon grows into a full moon. And then as the moon wanes into the third quarter, you are guided to finish up your writing goals, revise, and remember why you are writing in the first place.  

The Writer’s Moon is formatted like a workbook or journal, with space to write and answer the questions asked each day. Each day has a little introduction of motivation that follows the phase of the moon and guides you to deepen your practice. Then there are questions that prompt you to set your goals for the day and begin with intention before you write. Finally, there are questions about how everything went, gratitude, and plans for tomorrow that are intended to be answered after you write. 

Manson’s book even gives practical tips and advice for writers, whether they are adhering to the moon phases or not. She includes ways to hold yourself accountable, ways to support your writing practice, ways to practice gratitude, and reward yourself for a job well-done. 

I personally found that this journal helped me reflect on my writing both before and after the actual act of writing. Prior to this, I had mostly reflected after and it was helpful to do a little bit of thinking and journaling before I got started on my creative work. Also, there were simple ideas for making your writing into more of a ritual, and I find ritualizing your writing to be very useful. There were also simple ways to stick to my writing goals. I especially loved the prompt of gratitude each day, as I found it helpful to incorporate this into my writing routine.

An Interview with Alicia Manson

Alicia graciously offered to answer my questions about her inspiration, the book, and her own writing process.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for creating The Writer’s Moon?

A: The idea for this book came from my own writing process. Like so many writers, I have a lot going on in my life in addition to writing. I want to use my time in the best ways possible. I’ve worked with business/accountability coaches, as well as productivity and organizational experts, and learned there are various strategies to get All The Things done more efficiently; however, there didn’t seem to be many experts or coaches talking about ways in which we use the cycles of the earth or the moon to work more efficiently. This journal goes a bit further than the typical goal-setting book in that it incorporates loving advice, practical tips, as well as mystical solutions to the short-on-time writer. I wanted to put something out there to help writers like me who are incredibly short on time and are open to nature-based approaches to use their time well. I also wanted to show some kindness and encouragement to the writers who are in need of a writing coach, but for whatever reason, haven’t gotten one. This book is a DIY version of a 30-day coaching program. I help the writer using the book feel supported, encouraged, and excited to write. The journal also allows the writers to express themselves and their frustrations, and obstacles, as well as how to work through them. Last, the journal guides the writer on how to utilize the changing energy of the moon to write more efficiently. Just as it’s easier to swim with the current and not against it, it’s easier to do certain types of writing during certain phases of the moon. More fun, too.

Q: Are there other rituals or practices that you incorporate into your writing practice?

A: Absolutely! And I encourage others to explore their own energy patterns and work with those; test out some rituals that may be new to them; switch things up once in a while. Some of the practices I use most are inside The Writer’s Moon. There are endless ways to enhance your writing process, and these practices are also subject to change as we grow as people and as writers. One of my favorite pre-writing rituals is to do something meditative. For me, that means walking, doing yoga, and/or showering. The most effective mid-writing ritual I’ve found is so simple and shockingly helpful: I light a candle. I keep it on my desk in my view. Maybe it’s the power of the fire, or the focus it seems to provide, but I love it. During longer breaks, I go for walks outside. All of these have cleansing and transformative powers that I find necessary for my writing process.

Q: What kinds of books do you write? What kinds of writing projects are you currently working on?

A: I write the books I like to read and use, so I’m currently writing non-fiction and journals. I have several journals I’m using right now, and am currently reading 20 or more non-fiction books. I have several stacks around my room and pick one book each day to read from. My WIPs are much like that- so, so many. If you’d like to keep up with updates, you can follow The Writer’s Moon on IG, Twitter, FB, or subscribe to the newsletter by going to www.thewritersmoon.com. I update from there as I’m coaching, writing, and editing from that space. 

Q: Do you have a favorite moon phase? Which is it and why?

A: I have several, but my absolute favorite is the new moon phase. The new moon (or dark moon) is hidden and dormant, and so are we during this phase. In this state of repose, there is room to grow. There is space for ideas to take root. It’s a place where our creativity can simmer, where we can rest, and like during meditation, the universe seems to open up and, if you’re available for it, it’s a time of massive receiving.

Q: How does your writing practice intersect with your spiritual or therapeutic practice?

A: This is the best question ever. These are so intertwined that I’m not sure someone could have one without the other. Journaling has been a part of my spiritual life since I could write, and I’ve used writing as a way to get through family problems, teenage angst, deep love, shocking loss. More recently, journaling has been a way to design my life. I write out often what I plan to do, as if I’m commanding the universe to co-create my future with me. I’m not sure I would have left a friendship that was no longer healthy if I hadn’t explored it deeply by journaling and reflecting on it. I may not have gotten the fulfilling career I’m now excelling at if I hadn’t written down over and over that I’m worthy of a career full of purpose and meaning. In the past 15 years or so, I’ve used automatic writing to explore depths of trauma and heartbreak that I didn’t want to dive into previously. You and I could probably write a book on this subject alone. Writing is a powerful tool in any spiritual or therapeutic practice. 

For more on using astrology and the seasons to deepen your writing practice, check here. If you’re looking for more prompts and inspiration, you can find them here. And if you want to learn more about incorporating rituals into your writing practice, you might like this post about designing your own ritual and this ready-made ritual to inspire creativity. 

Alicia Manson author of The Writer's Moon

Alicia Manson is an author, editor, and writing coach living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University, and was an editor for a Cincinnati publishing company for over 15 years. On weekends and in the evenings, you’d likely find her spending time with her family, walking in the woods, lying in her hammock, playing guitar, or, more likely, writing.

Rituals and Writing Prompts to Celebrate Ostara and Inspire Your Spring

Jaclyn20 Comments

The spring equinox, also known as Ostara, is a special time of year when the day and night are in equal balance. You can use these rituals and writing prompts to celebrate Ostara and inspire your Spring. The energy of this time can help you strengthen your writing practice, develop your creativity, and plant the seeds you will harvest in your writing. Embrace your potential as a writer and get inspired by the light and new growth the earth is offering. 

Creative Writing Prompts for Spring Equinox Ostara for Writers Rituals and Prompts for Ostara The spring equinox, also known as Ostara, is a special time of year when the day and night are in equal balance. You can use the energy of this time to strengthen your writing practice, develop your creativity, and plant the seeds you will harvest in your writing. It’s a wonderful time to embrace your potential as a writer and get inspired by the light and new growth the earth is offering.

What is Ostara?

Ostara is the pagan celebration of the spring equinox, the time when there is equal amount of daylight and night. It is the beginning of spring and usually falls around March 21st in the northern hemisphere and September 21st in the southern hemisphere. Astronomically, it can shift a few days from year to year. Ostara is considered the first day of spring and the last day of winter. It is the day that the earth begins to wake after the long winter. 

It’s a time of rebirth and a time of perfect balance. It’s a time to plant seeds and cultivate hope for the future. It’s a celebration of fertility and fecundity and creativity, which makes it an excellent time of year to harness the power of creation and imbue your writing practice with some magic. Things change on Ostara because it’s when the daylight begins to outweigh the darkness. Starting on Ostara, we get more hours of light than we do darkness, and it signifies the time of year when the light has overcome the dark. 

Ostara is the dawn of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is named for the Germanic goddess of Spring, Eostre, which is also where the word Easter comes from. (Easter, by the way, is celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Basically, it is the celebration of the first full moon of the Wheel of the Year.) Eostre, in turn, may be derived from the Proto-German Austro, meaning dawn. Though Easter and Ostara do not often correspond in terms of dates, there are many shared correspondences. Both holidays celebrate spring, rebirth, eggs, and hares. 

Ostara Correspondences

One of the most notable Ostara correspondences is the rabbit or the hare. The females of the March hare species can get pregnant with a second litter while they are already pregnant with a first, which is part of why they are a symbol of fertility and fecundity. Eggs are also a symbol of Ostara, and it’s easy to see why, given their connection with spring and new life. 

Ostara is also associated with spring flowers: daffodils, crocuses and pussy willows, all the flowers that are the first to come up in the spring. The colors of these flowers also correspond to Ostara: green, yellow, and purple. Also, pastels are always great for this holiday. The spring equinox is also a time to celebrate the trees coming back to life, so all kinds of seeds and seedlings are appropriate, as are venerating birch trees, alders, and ash trees. Crystals that are particularly relevant for Ostara are rose quartz, moonstone, and aquamarine, which are all associated with growth and new growth. 

Lemony and herbal teas and scents are also good representations of spring and freshness. Floral scents are also good: Rose, lavender, jasmine, and any kind of flower-scented incense or candles will help freshen up your space and make things feel renewed and abundant. 

​​How to Celebrate Ostara as a Writer

Ostara can be an magical time for any artist, and for writers especially. It’s a great time to set new intentions, let yourself be reborn, find more balance, and try something new. If you celebrated Imbolc, maybe you set new intentions and resolutions already. Here are some more ideas for developing your writing practice at this time. 

  1. Balance your writing practice. How can you create more balance in your practice? Are you pushing yourself too much in terms of marketing and not spending enough time on your writing? Are you concentrating on plot and not enough on character? Are you focusing on word count and ignoring your playful, creative self? Think about how you can find more balance in your writing practice and endeavor to use this time of balance and new beginnings to reset and begin new practices around your writing process.
  2. Start something new. As the buds begin to bloom on the plants, think about where you can also begin new growth. This is an awesome time to start a new project. A new draft, a new book, a new genre, a new job, a new writing ritual. What project have you been waiting to begin? What changes have you been wanting to make? The time is now! 
  3. Be playful and childlike. There is a childlike freshness to this time of year, and you can embrace that in your writing practice as well. This is an excellent time to take yourself less seriously, to inject some play into your writing practice. 
  4. Let yourself be reborn. You may have ideas about what kind of writer you are, and sometimes these ideas need to shift and change. Are there ideas about your writing or about yourself as an artist that you need to let go of? Maybe you think you are not creative enough, not fast enough, not prolific enough. Now is a time to let yourself be born into the writer you were meant to be. What can you do to begin to embrace your potential and new growth as an artist?
  5. Be intentional about the seeds you are planting. Take some time to think about what you want to see grow and blossom in your writing practice. Make a plan to take concrete steps to develop that. Maybe you want to develop a daily habit, be more inspired, read more. This is a great time to plant those seeds so that you can harvest what you have sown later in the year. 
  6. Do some planning. It can be invigorating and exciting to make a plan to start something new. This is a great time to use the energy of new beginnings to start planning and goal setting in new ways.
  7. Embrace your creativity. Ostara is all about fertility and creativity. It is the perfect time of year to tap into your creative juices and the fruitfulness of your writing practice. Here is a ritual you can do to enhance your writing practice and really open up your imagination. 

Creative Writing Prompts for Ostara

Use these creative writing prompts to support your creativity and writing fertility.

  1. What’s new this spring?
  2. Write about something just beginning to emerge.
  3. Do an erasure in which you delete exactly half of the words in order to make a new poem or story. 
  4. Write about an egg that hatches into something unexpected.
  5. Write about the world restarting, being reborn completely anew. 
  6. Go outside, and let the way the earth is changing inspire you. It’s a great time of year to take your writing outside and look for the small details. They are growing into something beautiful. 
  7. Write about the dawn of something new.
  8. Write about someone who is green.
  9. Write about someone who finds a strangely decorated egg. 
  10. Write about overabundance, the problems that can happen when you have too much of a good thing. 
  11. There is a folktale about Eostre changing a bird into a hare, which is why the Easter bunny is said to bring eggs. Write about an unbelievable transformation that radically alters the way the character gives birth or brings life into the world. 
  12. Write a story that takes place completely at dawn.
  13. Write a story about reconnecting with your inner child.
  14. Write an aubade, a morning love song about the ways that lovers have to separate as the sun comes up. 
  15. Sit with your back against a tree (bonus points for birch, ash, or alder!) and listen. Write the story of the tree. What does it see? How does it experience the world differently? What kinds of stories can it tell?
  16. Write about someone emerging from a long period of darkness. 
  17. Write about a death that is actually a rebirth.
  18. Write a piece inspired by Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits by the Magnetic Fields.
  19. Write about finding a frozen creature and nursing it back to health.
  20. Write a piece about someone who dies every evening and is reborn every morning. 
  21. Write a piece that centers around seeds being planted. 
  22. Write a story in which someone brings in a new dawn. 
  23. Write about someone who begins completely anew and reinvents themselves from scratch. 
  24. Write a story in which someone whose wings are frozen finds a new life because they cannot fly. 
  25. Pick one of the greens in the Sherwin Williams color families and create a piece based on the name of the color. 
  26. Go outside and write a haiku (or set of haikus) based on the new growth and signs of spring that you find.
  27. Spend time with a child and write about the world through their eyes. 
  28. Wake up early and observe the dawn. Free-write everything you see, hear, and experience in the first hour of the day.
  29. This image by Annie Spratt from Unsplash

30. This image from Ashley Bean from Unsplash

31. This image from Tangerine Newt on Unsplash.

32. This image by Sydney Rae from Unsplash.

33. This image by Chris Jarvis on Unsplash.

34. This image by Jessica Felicio on Unsplash.

For More

If you are looking for more writing prompts, you can find them here. If you want more creativity in your writing routine, check out this post about creating your own writing ritual, or this post for a ready-made creativity ritual. 

How to Keep Writing through Difficult Times

Jaclyn13 Comments

How do you keep writing when it feels like the world is burning? This post offers some advice on how to keep writing in uncertain times. Break through writer’s block and find motivation to write when times are tough. Your writing is important even in difficult times. This post will help you get back to work.

How to Keep Writing through Difficult Times Overcome Writer’s Block in Uncertain Times How to Write When the World Is Burning

How to Keep Writing When It Feels Like the World Is Burning

I don’t know about you all, but I am tired of living in unprecedented times. It seems like the “unprecedented” hits just keep on coming: wildfires, pandemics, hurricanes, grid failures, winter storms, political strife, and even war. 

You are a writer because you feel things, because you see what is happening around you and you’re moved by it. Maybe you are particularly affected by it even, because writing takes a kind of empathy and observation that not everyone has. But this is exactly why you need to do it. It is the most important time for you to make art. 

You are a writer—writing is what you are here to do. It’s not selfish of you to keep writing in difficult, uncertain times. In fact, you need to do it. 

It’s not easy. Even Toni Morrison wrote about feeling the crushing weight of everything happening in the world and not being able to write because of it. There’s something comforting to me in the idea that even a writer as seasoned and accomplished as Toni Morrison also felt the difficulty of sitting down at the desk in hard times. As important and influential as her work is, she too felt the resistance to creativity when times were tough. 

But her advice to herself is important for us all to remember: 

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

Step 1: Remember Why Writing is Important

This is probably the most important step. If you take no other steps today (even writing!), take this one. Your writing is important. Remind yourself why it is important, why the world needs it. Even if all your writing does is make yourself feel better, that has made the world a better place. Peace begins within each of us. Find your peace.

There are many reasons to keep writing, even in the face of overwhelming global hardships. Here are just a few of them:

  1. Writers bear witness. If you write about what is happening in the world or your experience of current events, you help shape the way that future generations understand the events happening around you. Write what is happening, as you see it. 
  1. Writers offer solace. Everyone is having feelings about political situations, global crises, and massive upheavals. Not everyone has the ability to put words to these emotions, but you do, my friend. When you put your thoughts onto the page, you are giving voice to others who may not be able to form their experiences into words. There are others out there who feel the same way you do; giving voice to your experience will also give voice to theirs. It is comforting when you find the words you need to express yourself. It makes people feel seen. Your writing can be a comfort.
  1. Writers offer relief. I know it is not easy to keep writing your fantasy novel when it feels like there is way more important stuff happening in the world. Climate change. Pandemic. War, even. It can be easy to succumb to the feeling that whatever writing you are working on is trivial unless it directly addresses whatever the current problems are. But people don’t just need to be informed or enlightened about what is happening in front of them. Sometimes they also need a break. Sometimes they need to allow themselves to get lost in art so that they can come back to the world refreshed and able to do something. You can offer that break. You can give them that relief.

Step 2: Take care of yourself.

We writers can be sensitive types. This is part of why we are good at writing. But in times like these, being sensitive is not easy. It’s not all creativity and dreaming and intuition. It is also empathy and compassion and suffering at the thought of others suffering. Sometimes it is also vicarious trauma. (Here is a helpful article about how to ease vicarious trauma if you are feeling that.)

If you are not feeling up to writing, you probably need to do something to take care of yourself.

I know there’s a lot of talk these days about self-care, but it really is important. You can’t get to work unless you take care of yourself first. So do what you need to do to get yourself right. Take a walk. Meditate. Take a bath. Bake a cake. Find solace in poetry. Do something to help if that makes you feel better. Whatever you need to do to get yourself in a mindset that is grounded and safe. Here is a huge list of ideas for different ways to take care of yourself. Pick one and help yourself feel better.

You need to take care of yourself so that you can do the necessary work. 

Step 3: Change your plans.

I was going to create a post today about candles for creativity, but that seemed ridiculous right now given what’s happening in the world. I am a planner. Every quarter, I make detailed writing plans and I have goals, dammit! But working on that blog post didn’t feel right. 

Then there was the part of me that wanted to just have some wine and watch MasterChef and try to tune it all out. 

Instead, I am here writing through tears.

It’s not easy. It’s not easy to keep going. There’s suffering and frustration and heartache and sadness and anger and injustice and all of it might be rattling around in your chest, in your brain, in your gut. So maybe writing that meet cute you had planned is simply not going to happen today. 

Maybe you need to change your plan. How can you move forward given the emotions you have? Maybe it’s just journaling. Maybe you just need to get your own feelings out so you can get back to your project. Maybe you can channel those feelings into another scene, or another project all together. Or maybe you need to write about what’s happening around you in the best way you can. Give yourself the grace to let go of whatever you had planned to be working on and allow yourself to respond to what you need. That is what the world needs.

Step 4: Channel your feelings.

This brings us to a related step. Change your plans so that you can channel your feelings. Find a way to make something beautiful out of what you are feeling. That is your superpower as a writer, to take conflict and uncomfortable feelings and to make them into something exquisite. There are several ways to do this.

  1. Journal. You might just journal to get your feelings out. This can actually be really helpful in getting yourself to a good place. Maybe it doesn’t feel important to journal, but most writers begin writing because it offers us some kind of relief. If you can get your fears and rage out on the page, they are no longer taking up space in your head. These prompts might help if you need a place to start.
  2. Write the situation. Maybe you can’t move forward on what you had planned to work on today, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create something. Let yourself write an unexpected poem. Document the chaos from your perspective. Write a letter to someone about what’s happening. Sometimes the most important writing is not planned, sometimes it’s what wells up from within when the unexpected knocks us down. Allow yourself to let those unexpected feelings well up. It could be the most important writing you ever do.
  3. Find the connections. Another way to channel your feelings but also move forward in your work is to find the connections between what you are feeling and the project you had planned to work on. Maybe this is the day you write that heart-wrenching scene. Maybe the wrench you throw your character is a pandemic, a forest fire, a war across the globe that somehow touches her life. Maybe you channel your anger into dialogue with the villain. Think of the butterfly effect. Everything is touched by even small actions across the globe. There are definitely connections between what you are working on and world events.

Find something that makes sense for you. How can you create something useful, something beautiful? How can you give a gift to the world formed from the chaos?

Step 5: Write.

And then, you have to get to work. Like Toni Morrison said, there’s no time for self-pity, no room for fear. There’s no more important time to be writing than now. By all means, remember your why and take care of yourself and channel your feelings and change your plans. But then, write. 

Do not let yourself give in to the feeling that you are powerless or that there is nothing you can do. Do not let them fool you into thinking that creating art is not important. 

As John F. Kennedy said, “Strength takes many forms, and the most obvious forms are not always the most significant… When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.”

Whatever you do, you need to sit down and write. That is how civilizations heal.

If you need help getting started, you might think about creating a writing ritual to lower the threshold for beginning. Or you might try a prompt to get the words flowing.

And if you still can’t write, go back to step one. Think again about why it matters and take care of yourself. Give yourself some grace. The words will come.

A Writing Ritual to Inspire Creativity

Jaclyn4 Comments

A routine can be great for creativity. But it doesn’t need to be stuffy or mundane. You can unlock your creativity by just taking small steps to create that magical space where you can connect with your imagination and your muse. Here is a writing ritual to inspire creativity and overcome writer’s block each time they sit down with their words.

A Writing Ritual to Inspire Creativity A Ritual to Unlock Creativity

Why Do a Writing Ritual?

Here I am, staring at the blank page. I know you know this feeling. The trepidation before starting. The pressure to choose just the right word to start. Perhaps even the worry about what that person would think if they read your writing.

Sometimes it can be difficult to get the creative juices flowing. You know you want to write. You know you want to create, but you just don’t feel like you’re in the right mindset. 

One thing we can do to help inspire creativity is to create a writing ritual that helps set the stage for our brain to enter that special space where ideas can flow. Having a writing ritual can help you develop a writing habit and routine, because it’s a way of creating a separate time and space for writing to occur. A ritual can help us limit distractions so that we can focus on the task at hand. 

It can also lower the threshold for beginning the act of writing. If just sitting down and getting started is too intimidating, the small actions of a ritual can get you moving in the direction of your writing with much less at stake. It can be so much easier to light a candle than it is to start that next chapter, or the first line of a poem. Making your first step in your writing process something simple, easy, and an act that you can do without thinking (or overthinking) allows you to get started without the pressure of the blank page.

The atmosphere you set while writing can also help you be more creative by encouraging you to stay in the present. Music, candles, your favorite beverage—anything that engages the senses can help keep you mindful of what you are working on and where you are in the moment so you don’t drift off into the regrets of the past or the worries of the future. These small cues are signals to our brain that this moment is where our attention should be.

Finally, going through the motions of a writing ritual can also make it more likely that you will write again next time. There is a lot of emphasis on pre-writing rituals, and the things you do before you get creative can certainly help prime the pump. But there is also value to closing out your writing practice. A little bit of gratitude or taking stock of what you’ve accomplished at the end of your writing session can give you a little push of motivation to get back to the desk the next time you want to write.

Here is a ritual to help get you in a creative frame of mind. 

Writing Ritual to Tune in to Your Creativity

You will need:

  1. Something scented: a candle, incense, essential oil, wax melts. These can be especially powerful if you have something in a scent that will help inspire creativity specifically, like lavender, clary sage, eucalyptus, jasmine, or tangerine. Look here for ideas about which scents can help increase your creativity. You can also choose a scent that you enjoy, or one that makes you feel more confident or transformed.

Directions:

  1. Dim the lights. Just a small change in atmosphere can make a big difference and dimming the lights is scientifically shown to enhance your creativity.
  2. Use your scent. Light your candle. Cleanse the room with your incense. Dab your essential oil behind your ears or turn on your wax melts. The idea here is to start using a scented trigger that will tell your brain that it is now time to start getting creative. 
  3. Meditate. Spend a few minutes meditating. You might prefer to do this in the quiet alone with your thoughts, but if you need guidance, you can check out this short and effective meditation on YouTube.
  4. Set your intention. You might want to set an actual goal for this session, like “I will finish Chapter 23.” Or you might want to say a few affirmations. Some of my favorites for creativity are: “I am connected to the inspiration from the universe.” “Ideas and words flow easily out of me.” “My imagination is limitless.” You can look here for more affirmations that might inspire you. Whatever your intention is, say it out loud three times. Then let it go and trust that it will be done.
  5. Write. This is, of course, the most important part. The stage has been set. All you need to do is show up and let your words fly.
  6. Give thanks. When you are finished writing, close your ritual by giving thanks. It’s been shown that gratitude can help boost your creativity. So thank your muse, yourself, the universe, or whatever power you connect with for giving you the time and space to write. 

A Creative Daily Routine

The more often you do this ritual, the more it will help prime your imagination and inspire your creativity. Each time you do it, you’ll be sending the signal to your subconscious that it’s time to open the imagination floodgates and slip into your writing. 

Of course, this is just one example of a ritual that you can mold and make into your own personal routine. You might want to create a ritual that focuses on productivity, focus, or intuition. 

We artists can be individual and fickle, with our own quirks and processes, so you could think about creating a ritual that is individually suited to your own style. Maybe you get motivated by music, or by wine, or by Pomodoro sprints. Maybe you work better in certain places or even in certain outfits. To create your own personalized routine, check out this definitive guide to writing rituals. It contains ideas and suggestions for each stage of a ritual to help you find what works best for you.

For more inspiration and help getting started, you might like these writing prompts.

Let me know if you’ve tried this, and if you’ve made it your own. 

Enjoy!

The Definitive Guide to Writing Rituals

Jaclyn15 Comments

What is a writing ritual and what are the benefits? How do you create a writing ritual that boosts your creativity or your productivity? How do you find that special set of actions that will inspire you and help you beat writer’s block? This post is a deep dive into the idea of writing rituals: what they are good for, how to create your own, some examples of writing rituals to try, and how to choose the best ritual for you.

writing rituals: the definitive guide

Writing Rituals

I don’t know about you friends, but sometimes it can be hard to get in the mood. 

Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about writing. 

It can be difficult with so many of life’s distractions to find the time and the space to write. There’s dishes and the post office and three-year-olds trying to show you what they made. There’s Facebook and Netflix and nature just outside beckoning you to take a walk. How do you find the room in your day to write? The answer is you don’t. You don’t find room. You make the room. 

You hear this advice all over the writing world. When I first heard it, I thought it was harsh. It seemed to imply that I needed to cut other things out of my life so that I could write. Spend less time with the kids. Sleep less. Don’t do anything for fun. Just sit at the keyboard and bleed, was what I heard every time someone lectured me about making the time and space to write.

But I am realizing I have been thinking about it all wrong. Making the time to write doesn’t have to be so harsh. What if making the time to write just means creating a special time, a special place where you can really just focus on your creativity? A special experience outside our mundane expectations where you can let yourself get lost in the words. You make the time and the space to write by creating a ritual around it. 

There is a long tradition of writers needing rituals. We’ve all heard the stories of idiosyncratic writing rituals of famous writers. Fredrich Schiller reportedly needed the smell of rotting apples to write. Colette would pick fleas from her bulldog until the muse arrived. Dan Brown hangs upside down and Victor Hugo could only write nude. Creativity requires a bit of magic, a bit of being outside of ourselves and being open to a wider, larger perspective. So how do we become more creative? More productive? How do we beat writer’s block and connect with our muse? We create the right conditions.

What is a writing ritual?

A writing ritual is a particular set of actions that you do over and over again in order to better your writing. It’s something that you do time and again to make the sacred space for creation. A signal that you are leaving all your worries and cares about the mundane behind and giving this time over to connection and grounding in your practice. It doesn’t have to be magical or woo-woo. It just has to be something that works for you. That special sauce of things you know you can do that will help you get in the mood.

Why do a writing ritual?

What are the benefits of creating a daily writing ritual that works for you? There are actually quite a few. You can think of it on a magical level, as if you are calling your muse, or you can think of it as something scientifically proven to help you get into the flow. Either way, there are clear benefits to having intention in the actions and atmosphere around your writing. Here are some reasons to create a ritual to help your writing process:

  1. Creates a separate space and time that’s devoted to writing. Creating a writing ritual allows you to transform yourself or your space into something special where you can let go of other distractions and concentrate more fully.
  2. Primes your brain for writing. The little things we do can send signals to your brain that it is time to write, and therefore help you begin sooner. As Stephen King puts it, “The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”
  3. Lowers the bar to get started. Psychologically, creating a writing ritual helps you lower the bar to start. It’s easier to light a candle than it is to write the first line of your novel. But all you have to do is take that one first step, and then the next step and the next. Creating a writing ritual allows you to control that first step, perhaps even the first few steps, to make them small enough that you never have an excuse not to start.
  4. Allows you to connect more to the process and the muse. There is quite a bit of talk of pre-writing rituals—about what to do to get started. But I think it is equally important to take stock of our actions while we are writing. Creating a ritual around your writing can help you stay more in the present moment and broaden your senses to things you don’t ordinarily stop to pay attention to.
  5. Increases motivation by creating time to take stock. In the same way that your actions before and during writing are important, so are the actions you take right after you finish. How do you leave your writing or story in such a way that you are eager to come back to it?

Parts of a Writing Ritual

Part 1. Separation: Setting the tone

To start your ritual, you want to set the tone and mark it as a special time and place. This should be an action that helps lower the bar to starting, something that is easy for you to do and tells your brain “Ok, it’s time to write!” Here are three ways that you might begin to prepare yourself to write and separate yourself from your daily distractions.

  1. Open and welcome. This is a chance for you to light the spark. Choose one small thing to be your opening signal, the signal to yourself and your muse (or perhaps your family) that the sacred time has begun. It’s good if this first step takes very little time, in fact, just a moment is best. Think of this as the moment that everything begins. Here are some ways to begin marking the moment: Ring a bell. Dim the lights. Light a candle. Say a special phrase that inspires you. Maybe your way of opening and welcoming is to gather with a group. Join a Discord group or plan to sit down and work with a friend. Community can be a powerful motivator.
  2. Transform yourself. You can transform your state of mind, by meditating, taking a walk, going outside, doing yoga, having coffee, etc. What puts you in the right mindset? Or you can transform your outer appearance. Maybe you throw on your most comfy sweater to settle in, or your most sassy lipstick. It could be as simple as taking a shower, or saying a prayer. Or it could be as ornate as getting all dressed into your “author” costume. Say affirmations to get yourself in the right mindset. Maybe you even free write for a few minutes. Get all those other pesky ideas out of your head so you can concentrate on the creativity in front of you. Have a glass of wine, even. Whatever you need to do to get yourself in the right frame of mind to write.
  3. Create a sacred space. What could you do to make the space special, to make it different than your living room or kitchen table? Or the place where you do your schoolwork? Sometimes it only takes a very small thing to transport you to a sacred space. Lay out a cloth. Put on white noise or ambient sound. Change the way the space smells with essential oils or candle melts.

Part 2. Liminal Space: Doing the Work

You’ve welcomed the muse. You primed your pavlovian writer-dog. You’ve set the stage for writing. It’s time to do the work of the ritual. Make it happen! The universe is supporting you. All the conditions are right. Then make it so. This is the part where you write! You have transformed your space to make it sacred, made yourself sacred. Now manifest it. Get writing!

  1. Set intentions. What are you going to make manifest while you are writing? Is your intention just to write the most authentic piece you can? The most beautiful? Maybe you want to finish the next chapter, or write a certain number of words. Maybe you are editing, and your intention is to transfigure the rough draft you have into something beautiful. Maybe your intention is to spend some time looking within, or to connect with someone or some truth. What’s your purpose for this session? Write it down. Say it out loud. Keep it in mind. Hold it close.
  2. Be mindful of your time and your actions. Set a goal—an amount of time, an amount of words, finishing a chapter. You might do writing sprints, taking mindful breaks. Or write until you reach your daily goal. You might set a meditation bell timer to ring every fifteen minutes to remind you to stay on track. How can you keep yourself focused on the work at hand?
  3. Engage your senses. Play music that inspires you. Light incense. Lay out crystals that help empower you. Use your favorite pen. Pour a cup of your favorite tea. This is about keeping yourself in the experience. The more you engage your senses, the more present you will be in the moment, and that’s exactly how you get into that beautiful state of flow. 

Part 3. Reassimilation: Coming Back

Honestly, I think this is one of the most important parts, but also one of the most overlooked. You need some way to bring the power of what you’ve created and the sacred time and space you created back into your everyday life.

Though ritual creates a special space, the idea is that the work we do in the ritual continues to impact our daily lives. Maybe we leave the writing at the desk, but the growth we’ve experienced because we have created, the ways we have been changed by our characters, by the worlds we build, the lessons we force our characters to learn because we also have to learn them ourselves: these are the things we need to bring back with us as we re-enter the world of laundry, mac and cheese, and finally cleaning the oven.

This makes the symbolic return to the world pivotal  part of the ritual. This is the step that carries us through until the next time we get to visit the sacred space. Here are some ways you might honor that closing time.

  1. Give thanks. Once you’ve done the work, it’s important to recognize what has transpired and to give thanks for it. Find ways to be grateful for the work you’ve done. Wherever you think your creativity comes from, any beauty that we can create is a gift, and sometimes all we need is to recognize that we are creating and give thanks for that. Find your favorite line and share it with someone. Thank yourself, or your muse, or the universe or your creator or whatever source you feel your inspiration comes from. 
  2. Recognize your progress. Sometimes progress with writing can be slow. It can help keep the motivation up to celebrate every win, to recognize that every word you wrote was a step in the direction of your dreams, or of your work getting out in the world. You might keep a short journal of how you felt each day. Or back up your draft and make it so! Check your goals from this writing session off your list. You might even give yourself a reward of chocolate or stickers.
  3. Plan to be back. Blow out the candles and promise to return. Set a goal or intention for the next session. Do one very small thing to let the universe (And yourself!) know that you are finished, but only for now. 

How to Create a Writing Ritual

I am not suggesting that you do all of these things every time you write, of course. Some of these will work for you and some will be a waste of time. Think of this list as a menu. Choose one bit from each “course” to try. 

See how the music affects you. See if you are drawn to certain smells. And then choose the ones that seem to make an impact on you and the way you feel about your writing. 

It’s important to make sure that your writing ritual supports your writing and does not take away from it. The elements of the ritual shouldn’t take so long that it eats into your writing time. You want these to be things that support your writing, not procrastination, and it’s important to keep that in mind. 

The point is not for it to be something stereotypically “magical.” It just needs to be transformative to you. You are creating this experience for yourself. You are conjuring this other world and these other people in your writing. You are creating the magic. What makes sense to you?

Daily Writing Ritual Examples

This post is all about creating the perfect combination of actions to get you in touch with your creativity as quickly as possible. My advice is to choose one from each of the above parts of a ritual that feels like it speaks to you and give it a try. That being said, here are a few examples of writing rituals that might help spark your creativity or give you more focus:

  1. Light a candle. Do pomodoro sprints for a preset amount of time. Track your progress and thank your muse and/or yourself for showing up. 
  2. Put on your favorite writing outfit or article of clothing. Set your goals for this writing session. When you’re finished, read through what you have written and choose your best line. Express gratitude for that line.
  3. Lay out a cloth. Play some music that inspires you while you write. Set an intention for the next writing session, committing to show up for yourself. 

How to Choose a Writing Ritual

Here is the thing about us writers: none of us is quite the same, which is why we all have something peculiar to say. This also means that finding yourself as a writer is in large part a journey of finding your process. 

Writers give all kinds of advice: You must write every day. You must write by hand. You must write first thing in the morning. You must write drunk and edit sober. I call bullshit on this kind of advice. Some of us are binge writers, and write best one day a month. Some of us have overzealous inner editors when we are too loud when we’re by hand. And I, for one, felt like I never wanted to write at all when I tried writing first thing in the morning.

Your writing ritual is going to be the same. You have to find what works for you. This may sound counterintuitive, but I think we should treat our creativity, our inspiration, our magic, and our connections to our muses like science. Try different things. See what works. Record how you feel, or how much comes out. 

So here is my advice: try anything that speaks to you and record how it affects your work. Maybe you want to put on your sassy writing lipstick before each writing session for a week. Record how it goes. Then try a ritual with lighting a candle and some music. How does that go? Use what works for you. But in order to find out what works for you, you have to do some trial and error, so definitely find some way to keep track.

So much focus on craft (both the craft of writing and the craft of magic) is about doing things the “right way” and places value on what’s received. But connection with the past isn’t the only reason to do a ritual. People pass on this kind of wisdom because they find it works for them. Try things that have worked for others, but also try things that feel right to you. 

You know what resonates with you. Are you a person inspired by goal-setting and planning? Choose a ritual that speaks to that. Do you know that you respond to sensory experiences? Maybe a candle and music is right for you. The best person to craft a ritual for you is yourself.

Remember, Edith Sitwell used to lie in a coffin to get ready to write, so you do you. 

Do you already have a writing ritual? What other things help you reach that state of flow? What do you do to inspire your creativity?

Introducing: Marrow Magazine

Jaclyn3 Comments

Dark. Wild. Feminine.

Marrow Magazine is a literary magazine committed to publishing work that explores dark spaces. Send us your monstrous tales, your experiments in darkness, your crepuscular darlings poking their heads out from beneath rocks.

We like it weird!

We publish speculative fiction and nonfiction, magical realism, dark fantasy, surrealism, fabulism, wild fairy tales, and experimental work. We accept poetry, fiction, non-fiction, hybrid, art, and multimedia pieces. Help us challenge the boundaries of what a literary journal can be. Plays, confessions, songs, rituals: as long as it is literary and strange.

We do not charge submissions fees.

We accept submissions year-round. Please allow up to three months for us to respond, as currently we are a three-woman team.

We publish digital issues quarterly, with one new piece releasing each week. Our official issues include all pieces published that quarter as well as extras like author interviews, reviews, and commentary.

If you’d like to submit in a genre, we accept fiction and nonfiction of up to 10,000 words or 3 poems at a time. If you prefer to submit genreless or hybrid work, you can let us know in your email; we can publish with or without classification.

To submit, please use the form below. Use whatever font you like as long as it’s legible, and please keep any personal details off of the submission so we can read it anonymously. Let us know if you’d like us to consider your submission with or without genre.

Please wait until you hear from us to submit again.

We do not consider previously published work, but simultaneous submissions are entirely welcome. Please let us know if your submission is simultaneous and let us know as soon as you can if it’s accepted elsewhere. If we do accept your work, we humbly ask that you withdraw it from consideration elsewhere.

All rights revert back to the writer upon publication.

Click here to submit.

28 Creative Writing Prompts to Celebrate Imbolc and Inspire Your February

Jaclyn3 Comments
creative writing prompts for imbolc

Can you feel it in the air? It’s the depths of winter, but there’s something stirring. Even as the snow is still coming down, the end of winter is in sight. Even here in Alaska, the birds have started singing. 

It’s Imbolc! Imbolc is the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and it’s a great time to start new projects. In celebration of the day, I’ve created 28 creative writing prompts based on the sabbat. 

Imbolc is the first day of February, and in the year this post is written, it is also a new moon and the lunar new year. So, the number 28 is no accident. Try one writing prompt for each day of February, if you feel inspired. Or, you could think of it as one prompt for each day of this Snow/Storm Moon. A moon’s worth of writing prompts. Write your way out of winter, and start your lunar new year off right!

What is Imbolc?

Imbolc is a traditional Celtic holiday that falls halfway between Yule (winter solstice) and Ostara (spring equinox). It’s the day the tide changes in favor of spring. The world is waking up from the slumber of winter’s darkness. The sunlight is coming back in a way that’s actually noticeable and though the world is still covered in snow (at least here!), the earth is beginning to awaken with the light.  We are now closer to the balance of the equinox than we are to the drastic darkness of the solstice. It’s a time for hope and preparation.

It’s also celebrated as Candlemas, St. Brigid’s Day, or February’s Eve. Imbolc honors the goddess Brigid, especially in her roles as the goddess of the hearth, of fertility, and of creativity. It’s traditionally a fire festival, a time when baby lambs are on the way, and when there is the promise of spring and new life. 

Imbolc is, to me, one of the most underappreciated pagan holidays. One of the things I love about Imbolc is that it is really a time for a fresh new start. Imbolc is a recognition that you need a period of rest and readjustment after the busyness of the winter holidays. It’s hard to start fresh the day after New Year’s Eve, especially if you’ve been out celebrating. If you are already falling down on your New Year’s resolutions, never fear! Imbolc has your back. It’s time to start anew.

How to Celebrate Imbolc as a Writer

Imbolc is an especially powerful holiday for writers. Why? It’s Brigid’s day, and Brigid, in addition to being the goddess of hearth and home, is also the goddess of poetry. This means that anything we do to boost our words and our creativity will be supported. 

There are lots of ways to use the Imbolc energy to move your writing forward. It’s a great time to start a new project, to daydream and to plan. It’s the original spring cleaning. Here are some ways that writers can observe Imbolc to support their writing practice:

  1. Spring Clean your Writing Space. Out with the old, in with the new inspirational space. Imbolc is a great time to declutter, rearrange, and create a space that will inspire a new year of writing.
  2. Start a new habit. It’s a great time to start something small and daily that could have a big effect in the long term. Read a poem a day, start a new writing habit, start a new hobby, pick something new to learn about, journal, or pull a tarot card each evening. Find something small and manageable that will help support your writing. 
  3. Set some new writing goals, or spend time daydreaming about your vision. It’s time to focus on the new year and this fresh start. Now that the hustle and bustle of the depths of winter is over and we can finally see the light again, it’s a useful time to make a new vision board, or create goals for the new year.
  4. Create a new writing ritual. Especially if you (like me) are the kind of person who has trouble getting in the mood for writing, a little ritual to start you off could be just the thing to connect you with your muse. Put on some music, light a candle or some incense, do a meditation, wear your sassiest lipstick or cozy up in the sweater that makes you feel like your best self. This is the time to think about how the small actions you take can be seeds that grow into a new way of being. 
  5. Spend some time writing outside. It’s not always easy to get outside this time of year, but Imbolc is a great reminder that it still does the soul good to be out in the trees and under the sky. 
  6. Try something new. Imbolc is a time of new beginnings, and sometimes the most refreshing thing you can do for your writing is just to try something new and get out of the same-old-same-old rut. You could do this with your writing (take a playful stab at a new genre, or a new voice), but I also think trying any kind of new thing can revitalize our writing. Go ice skating, go to a new park, or try a new activity. Anything that can give you a fresh perspective also helps make you a better writer.
  7. Start a new project. See below for prompts to help with this one! 

Creative Writing Prompts for Imbolc

  1. Celebrate Brigid with some poetry. Use the Poetry Foundation to find one line of poetry that really speaks to you, and start there. You could create a poem, a story, or even nonfiction. Use the line of poetry that spoke to you as the starting point for your own writing.
  2. Write about something waiting to be born. 
  3. Write about someone who meets the goddess Brigid.
  4. Go outside and see it with new eyes, and ears, and… Use synthesia to describe what you see. What do the colors taste like? How does the sky smell? Bring us there by mixing all your senses and letting your metaphors run wild. 
  5. Write a story about a character who finds something magical while cleaning out their home. 
  6. Use this Image, from Tiffany Laura Danyelle on Unsplash.
  1. “The world has been still. But something has started to stir underground…”
  2. Write about what happens when the snow starts to melt. 
  3. Check out the Ace of Wands tarot card. This is the card of new growth and emerging to a new state of being. Use this card as the jumping off point for your writing. 
  4. What happens when St. Brigid and the Goddess Brigid meet?
  5. The nuns of Kildare, the monastery founded by St. Brigid, were tasked with keeping an eternal flame. Write about keeping a flame alive. 
  6. It was rumored that if a man crossed the hedge of the Church of Kildare, he would be cursed or be driven insane. Write a story about a man who crosses the hedge and goes insane.
  7. Clean it out! Do an erasure poem of the wikipedia page of Imbolc. (Or another related page of your choosing).
  8. Use this image from Foundry Co on Pixabay.
  1. Write about making a bed that never gets slept in. 
  2. Write about a girl made of reeds who comes to life.
  3. Do a meditation. (You can find Imbolc-specific meditations here.) Jot down the images that come up and create your work from there.
  4. “It’s time to burn it all down. She lit the match…”
  5. Write a story that begins with an initiation. 
  6. Find three things that need to be cleared out of your house. Use those three things to describe growth, without using the word growth.
  7. “When I looked into the water of the well, it was not myself looking back at me…” 
  8. Write about something that has died within you, thank it and lay it to rest.
  9. Winter is ending, and this means new beginnings are on the horizon. Write a story that begins with an ending. 
  10. Write about something unexpected “in the belly.”
  11. “The serpent awakens…”
  12. Write a story that takes place at the exact moment between seasons.
  13. Write about starting a small new habit that changes the character’s life (or yours!).
  14. Use this image, from Annie Spratt on Unsplash.

As always, if any of these prompts inspire you, I would love to read what you create. Drop a link below or send me a message. Truly, nothing makes my heart happier than helping people create, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this special time of year than to write new possibilities into being. 

Enjoy!

For more writing prompts, click here.

Top Blog Posts of 2021

Jaclyn2 Comments

It can be so important to reflect every now and then. I am taking a moment to look back on the top Lightning Droplets blog posts of 2021. These are the posts that were most popular last year. Maybe you will find them useful as well?

Enjoy!

Most Popular Blog Posts of 2021

  1. Planning and Goal Setting for Writers: A blog post that takes a look at Sarra Canon’s HB90 Planning Method, which is designed especially for writers but can work for any kind of creative entrepreneur. The method walks you through the process of visualizing your ideal life, outlining specific goals, and making a plan to see them through each quarter. This way of planning has been a game changer for me!
  2. Dangerous Plants: A Writing Prompt for Character Development: A unique writing prompt paired with craft advice about developing characters. It includes instructions for the prompt, the three most important to ask any character, and an explanation of why this prompt works. If you do this prompt, definitely share it with me. I would love to see what you come up with. This was my personal favorite blog post to write in 2021. I would love to create more posts like this, so if you like it, let me know!
  3. Seen Like the Sea: A poem for my daughter’s third birthday. This was the only bit of poetry that I shared this year, and it was a hit. If you’re a parent or love the ocean, check this poem out. You might like it!
  4. Writing Roulette: Plot Generators to Spice up Your Literary Life: This is one of the oldest prompts I posted (2014!), and it’s still a favorite. A round-up of several online plot generators to get your creative juices flowing. Sometimes inspiration out of nowhere can really get the juices flowing in new directions. Also, you can see my own response to this prompt here.
  5. How to Design a Writing Life: This blog post looks at Publish and Thrive, a course by Heart Breathings that is designed to give indie writers all the info they need to launch their career, or develop their skills even further. It is a five-week course that encompasses the process of developing your ideas into publishable books, marketing those books, and building a writing life that will bring more than money (but also money!). This course really changed the way I think about my writing and the possibilities of a writing life.
  6. What Counts?: NaNoWriMo Days 16-18: A possibly-controversial blog post about how to decide what to include in your word counts for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I did a whole series of blog posts for NaNoWriMo this year and this one was the most popular.
  7. Falling off the Horse, A Haiku for NaNoWriMo Days 9-12: An ode to all those who are trying to grab the reins of their goals and still sometimes fall behind.
  8. 20,000 Word Reward: A blog post about the importance of celebrating your wins, even when you are behind, and about appreciating and loving your cheerleaders. All progress on that novel is something to celebrate. Don’t forget that!
  9. Novel Excerpt from the WIP: A small snippet of The Snow Witch, my current work in progress. It’s a surreal scene in which the main character falls into a tree well. Did you that’s something that’s possible? I love the places novel research can take you.
  10. It’s November!: NaNoWriMo Day 1: Another post from the NaNoWriMo series. An announcement about my intention to blog every day during November, which I turned out to be a very inspiring goal. This post got lots of love, which ultimately inspired me to keep going later in the month. I so appreciated that.

Looking back, you do really learn a lot just looking at what readers responded to most over the course of the year. I know January 2022 is mostly over already, but the Mercury Retrograde has been calling me to look back and reflect, and sometimes, that’s the most useful way to move forward.

Thank you for reading!

How to Make the Most of Mercury Retrograde For Writers

Jaclyn2 Comments

Mercury Retrograde for writers

I have been thinking a lot about how to link my writing practice more closely to the cycles of the seasons, moons, and stars. There is a part of me that feels some dread every time Mercury retrograde approaches, and because of Mercury’s connection with words, this dread is especially acute when it comes to my writing. Though Mercury retrograde has a terrible reputation, we can work on using the energy of the messenger slowing down to rethink our direction with writing, revise our work, and refresh our plans, our spaces, and ourselves. 

What is Mercury Retrograde?

Mercury retrograde is the time when instead of traversing forward in its march through the night sky, the planet Mercury seems to move backwards. In Greek astrology, Mercury is the messenger of the gods. The planet symbolizes language, expression, and communication. When Mercury goes retrograde, all kinds of things about our communications can go haywire. We might get in arguments, be misunderstood, or have trouble with our words. Mercury also rules technology and travel, so people often report computer problems, vacation hiccups, and trouble with contracts.

A lot of people dread Mercury retrograde. It’s famous for creating trouble and basically gets blamed for every single thing that goes wrong. Ex back in town? Mercury retrograde. Computer on the fritz? Mercury retrograde. Stubbed your toe? Mercury retrograde! 

Mercury retrograde is so famous, there’s a whole slew of memes about it.  And I mean, A. Whole. Slew. 

Why Mercury Retrograde Matters for Writers

Are you a writer? Mercury is the planet of communication, self-expression, messages, and verbal communication. He is all about words, ideas, speech, and language. My writing friends, Mercury is our guy! So it’s no wonder that when he goes retrograde, we feel writer’s block or the story doesn’t flow or we lose our last draft or whatever. It’s a time when we accidentally hit send on that unfinished email to our publisher, drop our notebooks in puddles, or send out messages that we haven’t actually thought through. 

But it’s not all bad! When Mercury goes backwards, he’s just slowing down, and with that, he’s also asking us to slow down, to look within a little more than usual, and to take care with our words. 

This is not the time to send things out in the world. It’s the time to look within. This can be so difficult because we want to always be moving forward, getting in our word counts, or sending out submissions. But instead of working against the energy of Mercury retrograde and trying to force our way forward, we might be better off trying to slow down with the Messenger and use that energy to our advantage.

How to Work with (not against!) Mercury Retrograde

My favorite way of thinking about Mercury retrograde is to think of it as an opportunity to slow down and do “re-” activities. A big shout out to Stephanie Gailing at CreativeLive.com for introducing me to this way of thinking. She writes, “Mercury Retrograde is an amazing time to rewrite, re-edit, revise, reorganize, et al. Put “re”- at the beginning of any communication activity and discover the great new insights that this time period can offer.”

Basically, this is a great time to reset and re-evaluate all of your communications, self-expressions, and messages. If you are a writer, there is lots of room to move forward in purposeful ways while avoiding some of the troubles that Mercury retrograde can bring. 

Revise

Probably one of the most useful things we can do for our writing during Mercury retrograde is to revise. Mercury is inviting us to slow down and take a hard look at our words before we send them out into the world. If you are a writer, this is a clear sign that the universe has your back on any revision. Have a short story or poem that hasn’t felt quite right? It’s time to look at it with fresh eyes and get the words right, slowly and carefully.

Re-read

Often, we are told to re-read contracts during Mercury retrograde because those teeny tiny details can really come back and bite you. But for writers, this is an excellent time to read over old work. Maybe the last book in your series needs to be re-read before you start the next one. It might be useful to re-read an old favorite for fresh inspiration. Maybe it’s time to re-read that old draft before you start an edit, or maybe it will be useful for you to re-read some of your old work from decades past. You might be surprised at what you find. 

Re-envision 

Perhaps the retrograde is calling you to revise in a different way, perhaps it is telling you to rethink the vision you have for yourself and the direction of your writing or your life. Mercury retrograde is actually a great time for introspection, and maybe you, like me, need to rethink the words you use when you are talking to yourself and the story you tell about yourself. I am currently working through Rewrite Your Story: Get Unstuck, Reach Your Goals, and Become the Empowered Author of Your Life by Dan Teck. The book is focused on rewriting the narrative you tell yourself and it is geared specifically toward writers. I think this is an excellent use of some Mercury retrograde down-time.

Replan

I don’t know about you, but I often make plans that just don’t seem to stick. This might be a good time to re-evaluate what’s most important, what’s working for you and what isn’t. Can you do less and get the same results? Do you need more direction in your writing career? Remember, this is the universe explicitly asking us to slow down and rethink our direction. You couldn’t ask for more support in doing this. 

Reset

This is also an excellent time to reset your space. Maybe your workspace has you feeling uninspired or frazzled. Use this energy of going within to revisit that space and make it work for you. I wouldn’t make any large changes, like painting or buying new furniture. But it’s an awesome time to refresh. Move your desk to a new spot. Hang that picture that you haven’t had the chance to hang. Put up some inspiring quotes and get out some candles. Get your space looking spiffy, comfortable, and inspiring. Then when Mercury goes direct, you will be ready to go!

Reorganize 

This would be a great time to reorganize your files. I don’t know about you, but my folders often get messy because I feel like I don’t have time to sit down and organize them. Perhaps you want to create a Google Drive system, organize your thoughts in Scrivener, or finally dive into Notion.  Think of retrograde as the universe giving you time. Just make triple sure to back everything up! 

Reflect

Mercury retrograde is a great time to just sit with your thoughts. Maybe if your creative writing is not moving forward in the way you would like, you can use this energy just to journal about what you want for your writing. If you are looking for some introspective prompts, you can find a whole month’s worth here. Mercury retrograde usually lasts about three weeks, which is a great amount of time to start a habit. Perhaps this is an excellent impetus to commit to sitting down each day, just for the period of retrograde, and take a little time to journal. 

Relax and Rejuvenate

Sometimes it can be difficult to give ourselves permission to just relax and take care of ourselves. There are so many things pulling at our attention and asking for our time that we might feel guilty if we are not constantly being productive. Think of Mercury retrograde as the heavens expressly giving you permission. With all the mishaps that can happen during this time, the universe is practically forcing you to relax. Take a bath. Do some yoga. Take a walk. Play video games or whatever fills your cup. During Mercury retrograde, rejuvenating might be a much better use of your time than accidentally sending that embarrassing email to all your coworkers.

Recommit 

Maybe all you need to move forward after Mercury retrograde is to recommit to your writing practice and your goals. This is such a great time to think about what you can do to support yourself moving forward. Maybe you start working with writing sprints, start giving yourself rewards for your accomplishments, join a writing accountability group, or even just find a friend that can help you move in the direction you want to go.

We do not need to be scared of Mercury retrograde. Like all the cycles of nature that ask us to slow down and look within, Mercury retrograde can be a gift. If we work with the energy of slowing down and looking within, we can actually do some really important writing work during this time. Remember, when it comes to our writing, all of the “re-” actions will be supported at this time. So revise that manuscript, reread old work, re-envision and replan, relax, rejuvenate, and reflect. Mercury has got your back!

But also, recheck and reconfirm that you’ve backed up your work!