Making
A rite for beginning the work
For artists, cooks, coders, and anyone staring at a blank thing. The muse is not on staff.
Timing. When you are stalling.
Materials
- The tool of the work.
- A timer.
- Scrap paper or a scratch file you are allowed to ruin.
- Water.
- Optional: one candle, watched.
Steps
- 1Clear a space the size of the work, not the size of a fantasy studio.
- 2Set the timer for fifteen minutes.
- 3Make the worst possible version on purpose for five of those minutes.
- 4Continue into something slightly less worst until the timer ends.
- 5Speak the words without stopping the timer.
- 6Save the file. Do not delete it tonight.
- 7Extinguish any flame. Note tomorrow’s start time in one line.
I do not wait to be struck. I strike the first ugly line and let it stand until morning.
Close. Tomorrow, open the same file before you open a new one.
The practical action, which is not optional if you want the rite to be honest. Keep the appointment you just wrote down.