The Writer's Lucky Charm

The Unnamed Bear

Joanna here, considering the delicate question of lucky objects for writers.

I have my own lucky object, a small brown Beanie Baby bear. It was sent to me by my first fiction editor after publication of my very first fiction book back in 1983.

He is ... unnamed. I think it’s because he is unique and therefore doesn’t need a name.

My bear sits on my desk and holds my glasses and is one of a half dozen object that have kept me company from desk to desk and country to country, over the years, waiting patiently while I wrote, or surfed the web, or read books on the computer, or tried to figure out if houses in 750 BCE Europe were covered with whitewashed wattle and daub or the relative cost of sweet oranges in London in 1800.

Is he lucky for me?
I think of him mostly as company,
But maybe he’s lucky.

 

Nicola says:

... and red squirrel

I have absolutely no lucky objects or customs that help me get ready to write

and I can’t help but feel it might be useful to have some at the moment as I’m stuck in the middle of “the revisions that will not end.”

A particularly lucky black cat

It’s surprising that I don’t, actually, as I can be quite superstitious in other ways.  When I see a magpie I always say: “Good morning, general,” and I’m always very happy if a black cat crosses my path.

That said, I do often have a random object or cuddly toy on my desk that I’ve taken a fancy to. At the moment it’s a red squirrel that I picked up on a trip earlier this year to Cumbria, when I saw real red squirrels in the wild. Rather unimaginatively, he’s called Red. At the moment he’s cuddling up with a glass angel that I found in Lindisfarne. The angel feels like a talisman and hopefully both of them together can inspire me to get to the end of this book!

Pat is another skeptic:

I’m just not a superstitious person.

Mementos from friends

I may believe in the possibility of ghosts because I can’t rule out the existence of different dimensions or some invisible ectoplasm that binds us all. If I happen to notice a ladder, I won’t walk under it because that’s just stupid.

But luck? Yeah, no. The only way I’ve ever won anything is by paying money into a lottery that had few other takers. Maybe it was luck that I—eventually—found the right editor and agent. But it took years and years of work to earn that luck.

Instead of lucky mementos, I have mementos from friends, a wooden doll with joints that can wave at me, a lovely koala dish, my feng shui stone, and my mother’s troll. . . I feel lucky to have such good people in my life.

Christina, on the other hand:

I’m extremely superstitious in every way and it’s all my grandmother’s fault –
she taught me all sorts of things, like don’t walk under ladders on Friday 13^th and don’t compare hands or feet as that’s very unlucky.

Unlike Nicola, I also regard black cats with suspicion because Grandma told me if one crosses my path from left to right I have to spit after it three times and say “Lycka, lycka, lycka, tvi, tvi, tvi …”

I’m now so paranoid I might do that with any cat, whatever their colour, and whichever direction they’re coming from! (Even though I have nothing against cats normally, I promise). For years, I used to carry around a tiny stuffed

A pair o' piglets

Piglet (from Winnie the Pooh) in my handbag for luck – sadly he became so damaged he now sits on my desk and I bought him a clean friend to keep him company. Perhaps they give me luck from there?

As for lucky objects or customs relating to my writing, I have been wearing the replica Viking ring the Piglets are holding in this photo ever since I started that series, and so far (touch wood!) it seems to have helped – long may that continue!

Anne gives us ALL the lucky bits:

A writer's altar

Some years back I did a course with Barbara Samuel, and one of the things she asked us to do was to make a writing "altar" to help inspire our muses. (Apparently it's quite a thing among some writers and if you google the term you'll learn more.)
 
This is mine — made from an old wooden chalk box with the label still intact —both my parents were teachers and this box is older than me. All the things in the box are small — that mother-of-pearl shell, for instance, is the size of my thumbnail.

At the back of the box is an Annie Leibovitz photo that reminds me I write romance.
There is also a tiny Japanese saki cup containing some red earth that a friend brought back for me from the centre of Australia, and a couple of bears, because we did a "spirit animal" exercise and bears were mine.

I made some little red shoes from fimo (polymer clay) because I hate the story of the Red Shoes and the horrible punishment it gave to a little girl who just wanted pretty shoes, and this was a reminder to write stories of hope.

I have a few pieces of natural crystal because I'm fascinated by crystals and they look so beautiful.
There's a small Chinese wooden ornament base from Penang, and it's filled with smooth tiny stones I've picked up from beaches all over the world.

There's a small polished stone of Australian boulder opal given to me by a writer friend who found and polished it, and it sparks amazing colors when it hits the light, reminding me that a manuscript should contain sparks of bright, unexpected color.
There's a small grey stone from Beddgelert in North Wales, where I read the story of the faithful hound, Gelert, and wept.
 
I don't think my little writing altar was particularly helpful for my writing, but it was fun to think about and put together.

 

 

Andrea's talisman

Andrea with a bit of a mixed outlook:

I am not superstitious.
Okay, I go out of my way not to walk under ladders, and get the heebie-jeebies if a black cat crosses my path. That’s simply a rational acknowledgement that legends usually have a grain of truth to them. (Umm, don’t they?)

That’s said, I don’t have luck charms per se. I have “comfort” items that I keep around my writing desk—things that make me smile when I'm struggling with a scene, when or the Muse seems to have traveled off for a snorkeling vacation in Bali, leaving me treading water in the WIP.

There are a lot of little ones, but two of my favorite are Fox, a Steiff puppet I’ve had since I was seven. (He and I have numerous conversations when thing Aren’t Going Well, and during which he always manages to make me laugh.) And the heavy glass paperweight, given to me by a dear friend, sits by my computer to remind that there are elemental things far more important in Life than a bad day at the “office.”

 

And Mary Jo rounds it up at the end:

I'm another who doesn't have any interesting superstitions.  I never see ladders that I need to avoid walking under and if I see a black cat, I'll pet it. 

A necessary grey cat

But I do have one--Habit?  Technique?  Writing custom?

I usually do this toward the end of a book when loose ends are flying in all directions and I have to figure out how to make it to the finish line. 

It's simple enough: I sit down with a tablet of yellow lined paper (letter size, wide ruled) and a blue Flair pen, and I list all the things that need to happen, and how to organize them.  It will often become clear that A has to happen before B can happen, and I'll need to write another scene so that C will make sense. 

Sometimes I'll do a lighter version of this mid-book when I'm try to figure out what happens next.  But occasionally there are technical problems!

 

So what do you think? 
Do you treasure objects you think might be lucky? Or that help you think or that simply bring you comfort?

 

Comments

[Mary T]

I'm not superstitious - at least not about things most people would be. I never walk under ladders. But that is because it just seems like a good idea NOT to (smile).

However, for many of my work years I had a little plastic black cat that balanced a ball on its head sitting on my desk. The cat and ball had magnets that allowed the kitty to balance the ball, and if you sat the ball in front of the cat the ball would spin. It entertained many a small child who came into the office. I found it in a gift shop and bought it because it reminded me of a cat I had just lost and was missing terribly. It was my first cat that was truly just mine as an adult and I missed him so.

I hadn't thought of that toy in many years. I suppose it is packed away in a box downstairs with my other office memorabilia. Fun post.

[Sue McCormick]

I don't have superstitions as such, although I believe some of them are really cautionary advice (the much mentioned ladder is one of those. Don't walk under a ladder because it could endanger you OR the person using the ladder.) I do have some fun ones.

For example, my sister and I used to say "bread and butter" when something came between us when we were walking together. One day one of us got a twisted tongue and said "bud and bretter." We've been saying this for the past 80 years or so, simply for the fun of it.

[Maryellen Webber]

I am a little superstitious, I do occasionally knock on wood with the hope of bringing good luck. Like Mary Jo, if there's a black cat around, I will definitely pet it, especially since I have 3 black cats at the moment! I used to collect angels after having a serious bout of depression and they brought me joy and comfort.

[Kareni]

What a fun post. I can't think of any lucky objects I own, but I am fortunate to say that I generally feel lucky. I have a wonderful husband, daughter, sister; good friends; a roof over my head; food on the table; good health; and many good books to read!

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Great post, Jo. I have a piece of jewelry that's a kind of talisman. Sometime in the last century, my parents gave my sister a delicate gold Jewish star that was outlined in garnets. I didn't get one. Oh, well. Fast forwarding - my sister, my mother and I went on a trip to New York - and the Jewish star disappeared, never to be seen again. Over the years I looked for it (unsuccessfully). Then one day, I wandered into an antique show in an upscale mall. After going from case to case, my eye fell upon a delicate gold Jewish star outlined in garnets. I asked to see it. My next word was: sold. When I brought it home, I asked my mother if I had to give it to my sister. My mother gave me a look, and said, "Who looked for it all these years?" Kismet, karma, and maybe Mercury wasn't in retrograde the day I found it...

[Janice]

I have a small polished sterling silver cross with a sketchy sort of an angel on it. There's no story behind it, I just liked it when I saw it so I ordered it. I don't think I'm particularly superstitious, but I feel better when it's in my pocket.

[Mary M.]

Great theme for a post, Joanna! BTW, your teddy looks like the original Teddy Bear, supposedly named after Theodore Roosevelt.

On my desk is a 1904-era, colorful glass paperweight with the motto "Keep Smiling" to remind me that I am a person who would rather smile than frown.

Above my desk is a paper towel (yes, you read that right) that says "Life is full of many wonderful things, you have only to look around you to find a few."

And, back to teddy bears, I do have one who is the opposite of Joanna's loosely stuffed one. Mine is a "cough cubbie," given to me 20 years ago when I had bypass surgery. He's tightly stuffed to provide resistance against the post-surgery coughing that could have unzipped my chest and all the good work the surgeon did. I've started sleeping with him again to keep me from hunching (impedes my lungs) in my side-sleeping position, but I'm also finding him very comforting in this strange world of 2020. I sleep well!

[Christina Courtenay]

I am forever knocking on wood too, Maryellen! Weird how these things become automatic, isn't it :-D

[Christina Courtenay]

That definitely sounds like fate, Binnie - so glad you found it (or one like it)!

[Anne Gracie]

Sue, it's not really a superstition, but more a habit from childhood, like yours, but I always try not to step on the lines of a footpath. It comes from having AA Milne read to me as a child — Lines and Squares.
"Whenever I walk in a London street
I'm ever so careful to watch my feet . . . "
https://allpoetry.com/Lines-And-Squares

[Karin]

I'm not really superstitious, but I have always had some little talisman hanging from my car's rear view mirror. For many years it was a tiny plastic black cat that used to come with bottles of a German wine called Zeller Schwarze Katz. Sometimes one of those artificial poppies that veterans hand out for a small donation on Memorial Day. Sometimes a string of Greek worry beads. Sometimes all three!

[Sue McCormick]

Oh!, I used to do that ALL the time as a child, and I shared it with my children. But I forgot it with my grandchildren.

[Annette N]

I am not superstitious - pretty much not. I have a couple of rocks on my desk, a tiny blue ceramic cross a friend gave me. I have a tiny ceramic flower, just cause it is pretty.

I have sayings. Most are Bible verses. They are reminders of Love from God. Right now there is one asking for blessings for my country.

Most important one - "My Dear Girl". It is a reminder of a TV show about EMT's who went into a home to save an elderly woman and they were unsuccessful. Her husband was in his bathrobe and slippers, patiently waiting for them to make her better. One of the men had to say they were unable to save her.

Her husband walks over to where she is on the stretcher and touches her hand and says "My Dear Girl."

That is a reminder that in this world there is love which lasts, and people who treasure one another.

I was not that fortunate, but I will tell you, the reminder of a man who loved so deeply, is a blessing for me every day that I look at that note. It is a gift I have given myself.

I hope everyone is taking care and staying well.

[Margot]

I love to whistle and have many times been told the line -"Whistling girls and crowing hens always come to some bad ends" I am not superstitious so keep on whistling and I have made it into "old age."
I have some treasures that will remain with me till the end. My husband loved old steam engines and had several caps with the engine numbers and manufacturer name. He always wore these and they are now quite faded. He is no longer here to enjoy them but one sits on my computer tower and others are in various rooms of the house. This way he is still with me.

[Joanne Bourne]

It sounds like a cute toy. Wish I could see it.

I hadn't thought about the top of a writer's desk being like the top of any other workers' desk -- full of little bits of familiar stuff. Humanizing the office. Sharing with friends.

[Joanne Bourne]

Wiki brings us:

"Bread and butter" is a superstitious blessing or charm, typically said by young couples or friends walking together when they are forced to separate by an obstacle, such as a pole or another person.

By saying the phrase, the bad luck of letting something come between them is thought to be averted. Both walkers must say the phrase, and if they do not do this, then a bitter quarrel is expected to occur.

The concept derives from the difficulty of separating butter from bread once it has been spread – buttered bread cannot be "unbuttered". Another phrase used in this way is "salt and pepper".

[Teresa Broderick]

I don't know if you'd call it a lucky charm but I have a doll that I got from 'Santy' when I was two. She is now sitting in a wicker chair on my dressing table. She lost her original clothes years ago but I make new ones for her myself. Her eyes are two different colours from me trying to wash her when I was young in the wrong stuff. I also cut her fringe at one stage.
She stands about 12 inches high and is one of those Crolly dolls with the hard bodies they made back then.
I couldn't imagine not having her now. She will be fifty six years old this year.
Enjoyed this lovely post.

[Joanne Bourne]

I'm a "touch wood" sort of person. And a toss a pinch of salt over your shoulder when you spill salt.

I don't "believe" in either of these. It's me holding onto tradition, y'see.

The origin of touch wood may be in Celtic folklore, where supernatural beings are thought to live in trees, and can be invoked for protection.

The salt one seems to be very ancient. Salt, valuable, useful and purifying is not to be spilled lightly, methinks.

[Joanne Bourne]

Rich indeed, says I, in all that pertains to luck.

I like a few colorful traditions in my life in the same way I like a few colorful flowers growing up in my lawn. Makes life rich.

[Joanne Bourne]

Awww ...

That's a cool story all round.

There's a theme in Fairy Tales of lost objects finding their way home, but I don't know if I've ever heard of it actually happening -- or kinda symbolically happening -- IRL.

[Joanne Bourne]

Sometimes we attach a story to a satisfying object. Sometimes we attach an emotion to it.
So human.

It would be a poor life if we interacted with the material world in an unemotional way.

If I can watch a sunrise and feel my heart just blossom, there's no reason I shouldn't take the same joy in an old Navaho pinch pot I keep on my desk to hold paperclips.

[Joanne Bourne]

These days we ALL need a teddy.

I am happy my own teddy bear looks a lot like the originals. I guess I'm a traditionalist.

[Joanne Bourne]

I'm a big fan of hanging stuff in the car -- though I kinda prefer the back window because I don't like the view obstructed in the front.

For some years I kept a pair of big blue fuzzy dice hung in the car as an ironic statement
but also because I thought it would make the car less likely to get robbed.

Blue dice, I thought, would convince strangers I was a local in my small southern town. They were, I was convinced, the sort of thing Bobby Jo who owned the beauty parlor and was the sister-in-law of the sheriff would sport.

Then somebody got into the car and stole them.
So I seem to have been wrong.

[Joanne Bourne]

I, too, am wishing everyone the best, every day.

No matter how bad things get, we must always remember that human kindness and care and love are with us at all times.

Mr. Rogers said -- "Look for the helpers." Look for the good folks who care for all of us.

So simple. So basic.

[Joanne Bourne]

Wonderful that those old stream engine caps are there for you. I can't help but think an object long owned and loved carries a little bit of its owner's spirit in it.

I have some old books my grandfather -- the professor -- owned. I never had the chance to know him, but I feel a connection through those books.

One's a thesaurus. *g*

[Joanne Bourne]

And for those not familiar ...
here are some Crolly dolls

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/sandrabarr7/vintage-crolly-doll-21/

I know I had some similar dolls with the little dresses in that era. I remember them because I have pictures.

Memory tells me I was more apt to cut off my own hair, given scissors, than my doll's hair. This was, perhaps, misjudgement on my part.

[Joanne Bourne]

For those of you unfamiliar, here are some Crolly dolls:

https://www.pinterest.ie/thedollstore/crolly-dolls-from-ireland/