Monday 19 November 2007

On superstition


I just posted a rather rambling entry on writers and superstition in my blog, so I thought I'd open the floor to discussion in here as well. Are any of you prone to superstitions regarding your work?

8 comments:

Eliza Graham said...

I would answer this but it's the third Monday in November.

I have my little superstitions. When I get off the train I have to reach the railway bridge before the departing train reaches it. Without running. If I don't make it, it means my next book will be turned down.

If anyone asks me about a WIP I always have to include the phrase: 'Of course, there's no guarantee anyone will like it.'

Faye L. Booth said...

If anyone asks me about a WIP I always have to include the phrase: 'Of course, there's no guarantee anyone will like it.'

Snap! (Or do I mean 'jinx'?)

Eliza Graham said...

Jinx! definitely.

David Isaak said...

Other than keeping my lips zipped, not much.

But in the old occult lodges the the three challenges were:

To Know
To Dare
To Remain Silent

and I'm not sure that's a bad motto for a writer's coat of arms.

no said...

I'm more prone to superstition in life than in writing. No shoes on the table, no opening umbrellas indoors... For instance, when I found a dead baby bird outside my back door, it was a sign that the world is going to end shortly, not that my next novel is rubbish (I always assume that...)

Faye L. Booth said...

Poor baby bird.

Out of interest, though, whence came the related Apocalyptic prediction? Is there a legendary correlation I'm unfamiliar with?

Faye, who is too lazy to log in

no said...

No actual correlation, Faye: Just a general feeling of imminent mass destruction. I get them every now and again.

David Isaak said...

Umm, I haven't heard the shoes on the table thing before. Though, much like walking under ladders, it seems like something someone's mother invented to keep us out of trouble.

In these here parts, putting your hat on the bed is considered bad luck. I'm not sure why, apart from the fact you might sit on it.