Faffing.
The Heart Leap writing hour starts at 9am.
“Serious art is born from serious play.” Julia Cameron
I am a bit of a faffer. Especially before a deadline. I can suddenly become deeply interested in making another cup of tea, checking one completely non urgent email, putting something away, looking something up or wandering around the house doing small jobs that have apparently become matters of national importance, all because I am procrastinating. And I think this is where ritual can be surprisingly useful.
I do not mean anything particularly mystical, but simply having a tiny signal that tells my brain, this is the moment when I move from ordinary life into creative space.
For me, the Writing Hour has become one of those rituals. I turn up at the same time, make my coffee, open the doc in my folder and begin, and because I have done it often enough now, something in me knows what is coming.
Your ritual might be putting on the same piece of music, lighting a candle, walking once around the block before you sit down, making coffee in the mug you love, opening your notebook at the same chair, or simply switching your phone off and closing the door.
The ritual itself is not the magic.
The magic is that it gets you across the threshold.
It removes a little of the negotiation, because instead of asking yourself whether you feel creative today, you simply begin doing the thing that tells your creativity you are here and ready to listen.
I think we often wait for inspiration to come and fetch us, when perhaps what it needs is a familiar place where it knows it will find us.
Writing prompt:
What small ritual could tell your creative self that it is time to begin, and what would help you make that ritual part of your week?
Want to create a writing practice? Come join us at Heart Leap.
If you’ve been meaning to write — your journal, your Substack, your book, your Big Beautiful Thing but somehow always end up reorganising the fridge instead… welcome home.
At Heart Leap, I host four writing hours a week Monday to Thursday from 9–10am GMT. We chat for five minutes at the start, five at the end, and the rest of the time we simply write together. No pressure or performance, just a calm, friendly corner of the internet where pages get filled and ideas stop hiding.
If you need accountability, a regular rhythm, or a space where other writers are also muttering “why is this so hard?”, you’ll be in excellent company.
We also have a Writing Rehab class on the first Wednesday of the month and we run the 12 week Artist’s Way once a year (we start 4th September 2026).
If you want 2026 to be the year your writing life finally feels supported, fun and alive, subscribe for £7 a month and come write with us.
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