--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do have one very brutal writing ritual…" description: "\"I do have one very brutal writing ritual. If I'm working in the morning, I don't allow myself a cup of tea until I've written two paragraphs. It's hars..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/anthony-lane-33469_brutal_i-do-have-one-very-brutal-writing-ritual_46626.png" --- # I do have one very brutal writing ritual. If I'm working… ![“I do have one very brutal writing ritual. If I'm working in the morning, I don't allow myself a cup of tea until I've written two paragraphs. It's harsh.” quote by Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/anthony-lane-33469_brutal_i-do-have-one-very-brutal-writing-ritual_46626.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/anthony-lane-33469_brutal_i-do-have-one-very-brutal-writing-ritual_46626.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/anthony-lane-33469_brutal_i-do-have-one-very-brutal-writing-ritual_46626.png) > “I do have one very brutal writing ritual. If I'm working in the morning, I don't allow myself a cup of tea until I've written two paragraphs. It's harsh.” [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author imposes a strict self‑imposed rule to delay a comforting habit until after completing a minimal writing output, using discomfort as motivation. **In simple terms:** Delaying gratification to boost productivity. Key Takeaway Use constraints to force action. Themes discipline motivation habit formation productivity self‑control Mood determined irritated focused Type advice personal anecdote When to use this quote - starting a writing session - overcoming writer’s block - building a daily habit Key Concepts writing ritual morning routine reward delay Practical Applications - improve output consistency - train focus Questions to Reflect On - How does discomfort affect your creative flow? - What small reward could replace the tea? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Cup of tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cup-of-tea/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Ritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual/) [Tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tea/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Be critical of but not brutal with your writing. If something isn't essential, get rid of it. Remember that good dialogue can serve a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/be-critical-of-but-not-brutal-with-your-writing-if-something-isn-t/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [“As they say, a word to the wise is sufficient. And here I’ve gone and written five paragraphs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/as-they-say-a-word-to-the-wise-is-sufficient-and-here-i-ve-gone-and/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [My only writing ritual is to shave my head bald between writing the first and second drafts of a book. If I can throw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/my-only-writing-ritual-is-to-shave-my-head-bald-between-writing-the/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [One constant writing ritual, no matter what I'm writing, is that I cannot write if people are around me. It wigs me out -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-armentrout/one-constant-writing-ritual-no-matter-what-i-m-writing-is-that-i/) [Jennifer Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-armentrout/) > [No new reader, however charitable, could open “Fifty Shades of Grey,” browse a few paragraphs, and reasonably conclude that the author was writing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/no-new-reader-however-charitable-could-open-fifty-shades-of-grey/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [Tea ceremony is a way of worshipping the beautiful and the simple. All one's efforts are concentrated on trying to achieve perfection through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/tea-ceremony-is-a-way-of-worshipping-the-beautiful-and-the-simple-all/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [If at first you don't succeed, have a cup of tea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-scott/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-have-a-cup-of-tea/) [Peter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-scott/) > [Usually she ordered a cup of coffee and a cup of tea, as well as a brownie, propping up her sadness with chocolate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/usually-she-ordered-a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-cup-of-tea-as-well-as-a/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [As soon as I reach my destination I have a cup of tea, something to eat and then sleep for about 13 hours. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-collins/as-soon-as-i-reach-my-destination-i-have-a-cup-of-tea-something-to/) [Jackie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-collins/) > [I always wanted to host a show, throw whipped-cream pies. Theater is not my cup of tea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-davidson/i-always-wanted-to-host-a-show-throw-whipped-cream-pies-theater-is/) [Doug Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-davidson/) > [The joy of life is born of concentration. When you are having a cup of tea, the value of that experience depends on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/the-joy-of-life-is-born-of-concentration-when-you-are-having-a-cup-of/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [May you get more out of life than a cup of tea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-st-james/may-you-get-more-out-of-life-than-a-cup-of-tea/) [Rebecca St. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-st-james/) > [Love, sex, food, friendship, art, play, beauty and the simple pleasure of a cup of tea are all well and good, but never forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-lorre/love-sex-food-friendship-art-play-beauty-and-the-simple-pleasure-of-a/) [Chuck Lorre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-lorre/) > [If someone says, hey, you know, this long weekend, let's go skydiving - I would say, no, are you nuts? I'd just as soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-mercer/if-someone-says-hey-you-know-this-long-weekend-let-s-go-skydiving-i/) [Rick Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-mercer/) > [I put hibiscus flower in every cup of tea I have. It's sweet, sexy, and cleansing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-batali/i-put-hibiscus-flower-in-every-cup-of-tea-i-have-it-s-sweet-sexy-and/) [Mario Batali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-batali/) ## More by Anthony Lane > [Cookbooks, it should be stressed, do not belong in the kitchen at all. We keep them there for the sake of appearances; occasionally, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/cookbooks-it-should-be-stressed-do-not-belong-in-the-kitchen-at-all/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [“Youth is a clearer witness to the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/youth-is-a-clearer-witness-to-the-world/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [We happen upon ourselves when nothing much happens to us, and we are transformed in the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/we-happen-upon-ourselves-when-nothing-much-happens-to-us-and-we-are/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is now fourteen, and, while he gives little sign of doing what Lord Rochester planned to do at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/harry-potter-daniel-radcliffe-is-now-fourteen-and-while-he-gives/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/the-general-opinion-of-revenge-of-the-sith-seems-to-be-that-it-marks/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [The obvious precedent for Beijing 2008 was the Berlin Olympics, in 1936. Both were showcases for a muscle-flexing nation, although Hitler made an elementary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/the-obvious-precedent-for-beijing-2008-was-the-berlin-olympics-in/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [No new reader, however charitable, could open “Fifty Shades of Grey,” browse a few paragraphs, and reasonably conclude that the author was writing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/no-new-reader-however-charitable-could-open-fifty-shades-of-grey/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [Children, viewed from one angle, are philosophy in motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/children-viewed-from-one-angle-are-philosophy-in-motion/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [That is why the ideal literary diet consists of trash and classics; all that has survived, and all that has no reason to survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/that-is-why-the-ideal-literary-diet-consists-of-trash-and-classics/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [“There’s no two ways about it, Tolkien fans are a funny bunch. I should know, for I was one of them. Been there, done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/there-s-no-two-ways-about-it-tolkien-fans-are-a-funny-bunch-i-should/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [ There is more suspense, more dramatic torque, in one page of \[Nathaniel\] Hawthorne's heart-racked ruminations onthe Christian consciencethaninall Demi Moore's woodland gallops and horizontal… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/there-is-more-suspense-more-dramatic-torque-in-one-page-of-nathaniel/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [We are not merely tempered and schooled by failure but compelled, in however subtle a fashion, to become something other than we were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/we-are-not-merely-tempered-and-schooled-by-failure-but-compelled-in/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [Still, there remains so much to relish and remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/still-there-remains-so-much-to-relish-and-remember/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [That's the trouble with cookbooks. Like sex education and nuclear physics, they are founded on an illusion. They bespeak order, but they end in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/that-s-the-trouble-with-cookbooks-like-sex-education-and-nuclear/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) [Explore all 15 Anthony Lane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) ## More Brutal quotes > [In 2001, we were told that the war in Afghanistan was a feminist mission. The marines were liberating Afghan women from the Taliban. Can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-2001-we-were-told-that-the-war-in-afghanistan-was-a-feminist/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers, they were his enforcers, they were his thugs. And Hitler discovered that he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fischer/hitler-recruited-around-him-homosexuals-to-make-up-his-stormtroopers/) [Bryan Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fischer/) > [The Lord expects us to enjoy our lives. He says there will be some brutal times, but we shouldn't get all bent out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-henderson/the-lord-expects-us-to-enjoy-our-lives-he-says-there-will-be-some/) [Paul Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-henderson/) > [We face a brutal enemy who will kill the innocent for one purpose and that is to gain control of the Middle East and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-rove/we-face-a-brutal-enemy-who-will-kill-the-innocent-for-one-purpose-and/) [Karl Rove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-rove/) > [No matter how well-born, how intelligent, how highly educated, how virtuous, how rich, how refined, the women of to-day constitutea political class below that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-corinna-putnam-jacobi/no-matter-how-well-born-how-intelligent-how-highly-educated-how/) [Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-corinna-putnam-jacobi/) > [I find that truly heartbreaking that, like, it's such a common, constant thing in people's lives - a brutal abuse of people by other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-duritz/i-find-that-truly-heartbreaking-that-like-it-s-such-a-common-constant/) [Adam Duritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-duritz/) > [I think brutal honesty is extremely important. Don't be afraid of being up-front about your feelings and your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minka-kelly/i-think-brutal-honesty-is-extremely-important-don-t-be-afraid-of/) [Minka Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minka-kelly/) > [When my friends have been heartbroken, I give them a shoulder to cry on and some brutal advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maura-higgins/when-my-friends-have-been-heartbroken-i-give-them-a-shoulder-to-cry/) [Maura Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maura-higgins/) > [Something that comes to us, some gym shoe that comes to us as a result of child labor from a brutal dictatorship, where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/something-that-comes-to-us-some-gym-shoe-that-comes-to-us-as-a-result/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [In my experience sometimes the darker the material that you're doing, the more necessary it is to have some sort of levity around. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-stahl/in-my-experience-sometimes-the-darker-the-material-that-you-re-doing/) [Nick Stahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-stahl/) > [The circle of an empty day is brutal and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/the-circle-of-an-empty-day-is-brutal-and-at-night-it-tightens-around/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“I had brutal beginnings. I will not let the darkness in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jennings/i-had-brutal-beginnings-i-will-not-let-the-darkness-in/) [Melissa Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jennings/) > [Usually I avoided college students, whom I considered brutal, wrapped up in themselves, particularly in their youth, in which they found material for drama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/usually-i-avoided-college-students-whom-i-considered-brutal-wrapped/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Painful life is brutal and painless life is superficial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/painful-life-is-brutal-and-painless-life-is-superficial/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) [Browse all 790 Brutal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do have one very brutal writing ritual. 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