The Power of Ritual

I like bars just after they open for the evening. When the air inside is still cool and clean and everything is shiny and the bar-keep is giving himself that last look in the mirror to see if his tie is straight and his hair is smooth. I like the neat bottles on the bar back and the lovely shining glasses and the anticipation. I like to watch the man mix the first one of the evening and put it down on a crisp mat and put the folded napkin beside it. I like to taste it slowly. The first quiet drink of the evening in a quiet bar – that ’s wonderful.

Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

At first sight, this is a strangely uneventful piece of prose. Raymond Chandler’s novels are usually regarded as masterpieces of slick-talking and fast action. So, what ’s happening here? What ’s it all about?

It’s about ritual and its significance to us as human beings. When we think of rituals, the first things that come to mind are things like religion or festivals, but a ritual can be anything that we always do in a particular way. American market researchers have discovered that late-night ice cream eating has ritualistic overtones, with people often using a favourite bowl and spoon. When a teenage girl brushes her hair one hundred times every day, that’s a ritual. Making coffee is a ritual, particularly if you have one of those fancy cappuccino machines.

THE EXERCISE

Think about the rituals and ritualistic behaviours in your own life. A ritual can be anything that involves a fixed routine or sequence of behaviours. Try starting with a creative search to jump-start your ideas. Then, write for five minutes on your chosen ritual. Remember that the most effective way of getting it across to the readers is to make the writing simple, but graphic. Readers don’t necessarily have to be familiar with your particular ritual but they must be able to relate to it.

What Are You Waiting For? Make a List

Think of all those odd minutes in the day you spend waiting for something: a kettle to boil, traffic to clear, trains to arrive, entertainments to start, etc. And what about people: the dentist, the doctor, the optician, the supermarket check-out operator, the post office clerk, the waiter, the waitress, the children, the children’s teacher? All these people keep you waiting. The individual slices of time may not be long, but if you add up those minutes, you may be surprised at how much you lose. Next time you find yourself waiting, start a list. I’m not talking about shopping lists but lists you can use as catalysts for your writing, words and thoughts that have meaning for you. The beauty of lists is that they fit into the cracks of your day and you will find that many of the exercises in this book make use of lists. You can start and stop as often as you want. And at the end, you have something to show for those lost chunks of time.

THE EXERCISE

To get you into list-making mood, here are some ideas.

- List your pet hates/irritations.

- List what you’d grab if your home was on fire.

- List some positive things about yourself.

- List your favourite childhood books.

- List your wishes.

- List the things you could never forgive.

- List your worries.

- List those feelings you’d rather not deal with.

- List some metaphors for sunset. The sunset looked like ...

- List the best presents you ever received.

- List some smells that have special meaning for you.

- List the things in your wardrobe you never wear.

- List the people you admire.

- List what you’d do if you won a million pounds.

- List some things you’d change about yourself if you could.