The anxiety and pains of writing are much more beautiful than what is written
Souad Khalil | Libya
Does writing have specific rituals that a writer performs when they want to write a story, novel, poem, or dramatic work? Writing is considered one of the most important creative fields we engage with according to our intellectual and cultural tendencies.
Certainly, one of the most important moments in the life of a writer or literary figure is the moment of writing—the moment of creative flow, the moment of poetic inspiration, the moment of expressing overflowing emotions, the moment of intense reflections. So, when these states affect a writer, do they have particular rituals or conditions?
Writing, on one hand, is a continuous effort to reach a form that achieves at least a minimal harmony between the creative self and their world. But is writing only continuous effort?
Perhaps. No… Writing is more ritual than creativity.
Writing breaks the usual, the routine, because it creates its own usual from its kind. The anxiety and pains of writing are much more beautiful than what is written. Every literary person has their rituals, undoubtedly, when they retreat into their creative state. Some prefer isolation and renunciation of the world and its pleasures; others take pleasure in strength, and so forth. The meaning of ritual:
We will refer to a part of a study by the writer Muhammad Eid Al-Khuryutli about rituals in writing. He says:
The concept of ritual refers to the secret practices among peoples performed by religious groups, and also to secret practices or specific signs performed by followers of a certain religion as rituals of peace, which vary from one culture to another. This is the general concept of rituals. But contemporary writing constitutes a radical break from some old forms of writing or art of speech. Also, the modern concept of the writer has undergone multiple epistemological changes that moved him away from mystical realms and brought him into the whirlpools of objectivity. The writer is no longer surrounded by secrets.
Philosophy professor Muhammad Shweikeh asks: Do writing rituals represent the preparations and practices the writing self performs before starting the act of writing as a human act? Or do they manifest in rituals of sanctification, prohibition, and desecration based on contradictions like forbidden and desired, sacred and profane?
Does the writer always write? Or is the preoccupation with writing a harsher ritual than the act of writing itself? What is the difference between the act of writing and the act of reading? Isn’t the written text just the beginning of an authoring process that might not necessarily be written? Reading is a psychological, interactive act. The reader authors while reading. The preparation for writing is a ritual because it is characterized by stability. No matter the circumstances, a writer must prepare to practice this act, even in the simplest ways: searching for the pen and paper, turning on the computer, preparing the appropriate program—all these express tangible and real readiness.
Why the rituals of writing in the ancients? Why heritage?
It is natural to give everything its due, at least not to belittle it. Therefore, it is natural to care about heritage, not to curse or disdain it, as some who see nothing worthy of even contemplation in heritage do. Returning to heritage is not, as some imagine, retreating into a shell or closing in on oneself, nor is it an inability to surpass the present. Rather, it is a return to roots and uncovering the bright landmarks of our past. No matter what the focus of returning to heritage is, it should be a prelude to launch and liberation.
If we discuss mistakes and search for shining aspects, it is to embody them and surpass them for what is better. A nation that wants to rise must return to its intellectual heritage and cultural legacy to make it a deep and firm foundation upon which it builds a lasting structure.
This study by the researcher is very long. We will summarize the most important points:
About rituals in writing stories, novels, and poetry
Writing is mysterious, distant, maybe obscure and unclear. It may begin with a word, a sound, a smell, or a scene that often gathers in the creator’s imagination. At some moment, at a specific time, it announces itself. This moment is called the creative moment.
No matter how different creators’ habits during work are, most consider regular daily output important and necessary, relying on the method “putting black on white” instead of fierce, intermittent writing bursts which are more typical of poets than novelists. The first half of the day is the preferred time for work, though there are exceptions like Dostoevsky who always wrote at night.
The novel’s writing may begin at once or take the form of a title living with the creator. The Algerian novelist Taher Wattar said about his novel The Mule’s Wedding: “I lived in the atmosphere of the novel for five years. The obsession lived with me; I made friends and enemies by it, and involved people in its framework. But then I sit for three weeks to edit, writing ten hours daily with one breath.” The psychological and moral charge continued for five years. During this period, he did not take any notes. When he began writing, he placed the logical introduction of the novel. Any work without a logical introduction is a failed work.
The ritual of writing is very important for poetry, as poet Abdelkader Al-Hosni equates the poem itself to the ritual. He says: “Several poems rest deep inside me, fully formed and complete in their backwardness, needing only to find their ritual—a gathering of atmospheres necessary for their birth inside me so that the inner becomes their outer and the first becomes last. When the poem is complete, I feel it has detached from me, and I become one of its readers. I feel bitterness and estrangement; it has become for the tears and I am one of them.” He clarifies that the poem begins from a spark embraced by the soul. The internal interactions grow into an obsession to the point that everything around me chants this obsession until I reach a moment when I can no longer bear what I carry, and the latent must turn into the visible written on paper.
The study cites many writers and poets and their opinions and rituals of writing.
Literary writing is considered an art among the fine arts, and like other arts, it is adorned with its own special rituals related to time, place, appearance, and tools. Many writers agree that all times are suitable for literary writing, but the writer chooses specific times they get used to, which become a persistent habit according to their circumstances.
Time also holds value for writers and researchers—it is their capital.
In ‘On the Experience of Writing’ by S. Martin and C. Simenon, he wakes at six a.m., prepares his coffee, takes his cup to his study where the curtains are drawn because he likes to work under electric lights, and writes for three hours daily.
Other writing rituals include reading before writing, as many writers sit down to write only after reading, even a little, which has become a habit or ritual. Some writers have rituals for invoking ideas. Zola spent nine or ten hours daily at his desk, often sitting with his chin on his hand, staring outside the window trying to recall some scenes or characters to bring them to the page. To overcome such difficulties, he gave great importance to order in his work, with a motto carved: “No day without a line.”
Some prefer quiet and solitude, the highest traits of creative rituals. Just as the best worship happens when a person retreats to themselves and communes with God away from eyes and hypocrisy, the writer, when isolated, begins to be flooded with ideas that flow between their hands if ready to receive them, copying words from a language unknown before it happened.
Some write amid noise in cafes, like Muhammad Afifi and others who write anytime and anywhere. Some writers have rituals about paper choice—some use plain paper, others colored paper, some small sheets, others only newspapers or lined paper, some only white paper.
Some write on anything that comes to hand if they get an idea or the start of a poem. Some have rituals about pen choice—some use ink pens, others pencils, others calligraphers’ pens. There are other rituals: some prefer writing at night, others during the day. Many writers and poets have specific rituals when writing, as mentioned; some prefer writing in winter, others in summer. Some listen to music while writing; others prefer complete silence. In short, writing rituals vary greatly between writers.
I say: one of the most important writer’s qualities is the importance of acquiring knowledge and honing experience in writing in general. However, talent still occupies a fundamental space in a writer’s superiority over others, even if the concept of talent is replaced with other expressions that soften what lies behind it, such as love for writing, dedication, and practicing it with patience, passion, and perseverance.
Nevertheless, the testimonies of authors and writing experts through their works show the skill writers have in capturing what is essential and rewriting their text in an original and impactful way. This, in itself, is an invisible charge that transfers to readers and makes us adore one text and reject another.
It can be said that true creativity can neither be deprived nor underestimated.
Read: Eternal Bond of Beauty and Creativity
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Souad Khalil, hailing from Libya, is a writer, poet, and translator. She has been writing on culture, literature and other general topics.
