Creative writing prompts & rituals
Learn to observe the world from a writer's perspective, travel deeper into your imagination and get words onto the page. Never leave home without a notebook and pen. All in good fun. #thewritingritual
Welcome to The Writing Ritual by me, Simone Spilka. Writer, traveler, meditator, book club member & social cyclist.
I was going to write a more formal introduction, but the above autogenerated welcome sentence by Substack felt much too fun to delete, no?
If you’re here, I imagine you’re ready to dive deeper in the world of creative writing (however that comes to life for you—fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, IG captions, what-have-you). Great! But also note you don’t need any previous writing experience to find value in The Writing Ritual. It’s intentionally designed for all skill levels. So, if you’re entirely new to the craft of writing; if you’re someone who has ideas swimming in their head and unsure how to get them flowing across the page; if you’re creatively blocked; if you have stories to tell and are bursting from the inside out to share them…you are welcome here. In fact, you’re encouraged to be here!
The Writing Ritual is an extension of my own knowledge and experience gained from a career in journalism, professional writing and copywriting, but also as a student of creative writing and life. I am not an expert in writing, but I am someone with a keen eye for observation, a lover of a juicy, descriptive sentence, an avid reader of books (small/big/coffee table/etc), an aficionado of The New Yorker Fiction, and passionate about helping others tap into their innate creativity through ritual and intention. But enough about me! (unless you wanna hear more, in which case we can chat elsewhere :P)
Writing is a craft, and, like all crafts, we must put our energy and attention into developing it. Writing requires sitting down and showing up, if only for ourselves. It requires reading (a lot, a lot more, and even more!) It requires active observation of the world around us—smell, taste, touch, scent, emotion, dialogue. It requires patience with ourselves when we are stuck. It requires always carrying a pen and taking long walks without distractions so our minds can wander and our ideas can flow. (Meditation also helps, but we can speak separately if you are interested in developing a daily meditation ritual ;) )
That is not to scare you off! But it is to say that, like most creative endeavors, writing is not for the faint of heart. It can be long and arduous climb to translate the ideas in our minds to a blank page. But there are tips and tricks that have nurtured writers and their creative process for centuries, and it’s just a matter of opening this toolbox and taking a look what’s inside.
My hope with The Writing Ritual is to help you explore the myriad ways and avenues of tapping into your creative self, getting words onto the page, and feeling inspired in your own practice. Stay tuned for news on Ritual 01, starting March 1st.
In the meantime, you can subscribe for the free newsletters using the button below. And of course, tell all your friends!
www.simonespilka.com | @constantwanderings | #thewritingritual