Writing in the Nude

A Guest Post by Anthony Grooms

Those of you who follow my articles (and who doesn’t?) know that once I was asked what snacks I ate while I wrote. Of course, I answered with sardonic aplomb. Even though this was only a promotional feature, I found the query to be useless—even an invasion of privacy. Though, in part, my chagrin was that I didn’t have an interesting answer. I don’t snack while I write, except to sip on cold—often stale coffee. The answer to the question couldn’t possibly be of any help to anyone who wanted to improve his/her/their writing or to learn more about mine.

Recent reflection suggests I shouldn’t have been so irritated by the inquiry. In fact, this inquiry could have been helpful in establishing a concept, if not a specific prescription, for a student of writing. Whether I eat peanut butter crackers or sip whiskey makes little difference, but the establishment of regular pre-composition or composition habits may be useful to trigger the writer’s mindset and to support the discipline of regular writing. Such habits are sometimes called psychological associations.