Weird traditions while writing?

Do you wear or carry anything special while writing? Is there something that helps you get through writers block or to try and fix a plothole? Do you mutter words under your breath or something? What are weird traditions do you have?

For me? I have a new tradition of wearing my pink, fuzzy bunny ears while writing. Whenever I hit writer's block, I turn them on and they start flashing blue, red, and green. It actually can help me sometimes, as odd as it sounds. Of course, the bunny ears make an awkward conversation peice. xD Especially to non-writers. 0.e

Whenever I have writer's block, sometimes I will go to my 'Paint' app on the computer and draw out the scene. Unfortunately, I can't draw at all on it and it comes out horrible. But! It does help me envision the scene and do something that works...I don't know why...

The least-weirdest thing I do is pull different faces, trying to work out the sorts of expressions my characters have in the scene (and, of course, how to describe them).
The thing that gets me the most looks? When I stand up and act out the scene. As every single character. Thankfully, I do most of my writing at home, but there was one incredibly awkward situation that I got into when I was doing this at school once x3

I have had a running in joke since my second NaNoWriMo. Each year, I somehow include some mention of the romance novel Bedded By Her Lord (a copy of which was left at work by someone who will not fess up to it and had become a running joke there).

Past appearances:
2008 - found in private library
2009 - Only book in the house where a group of zombie apocalypse survivors had gathered
2010 - Being filmed as a movie (or at least pay cable)
2011 - Purchased by old woman who pays in change (and short changes the sale)

I act out my scenes also (in the bathroom, my husband might think I'm going nuts)... and make faces.

To beat writer's block? I'll go for a walk/run, play out the story in my head while I exercise. I also like to talk to my characters, usually while driving. This is all probably pretty usual stuff, though.

I'm so busy looking for inspiration, it gets... strange. Last night, I had my neighbors over, and the son and my dad started talking about hunting. I thought, "What if there was a professional sniper that's amazing at their job, but sucks at regular deer/elk/bear hunting?"

Not as strange, I try imagining myself in my characters' shoes. I want to feel what they are feeling in any given moment. Embarrassed, cold, and madly in love with someone are probably the ones I feel the most of.

I always set aside a special pencil or pen devoted to a certain story, and try to write with just that. Of course I did so much writing that my pencil broke halfway through my story and I had to get a new one. :(

If I'm really getting after it? I take Ibuprofen. Not really a tradition as much as a necessity for the carpal tunnel . . .

I always play 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day. Like, at first it started out as just writing music but then it turned into something official that MUST be done. And, like, I'm not allowed to listen to anything else until that record's played all the way through. It actually goes like this:

1. Skrillex
2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. whatever I'm in the mood for

Always Nice Sprites first AND THEN 21st Century. This cannot be changed. Ever.

I spray Playboy New York Cologne on my wrist right before I write. Whenever I get stuck, I sniff my wrist. Insta-Inspiration!

And then I rock out to We Came As Romans or The Maine or Mayday Parade....basically whatevers in my ipod xD

and i talk to myself. all the time. "gosh darnit why wont Ian just tell her he's in LOVE." (i bet you my family's heard that 1000x of times...) and i always act out scenes. In public. During math. While taking a test. You can say that didn't go very well with the teacher.... LOL

lol. I also act out the dialogue while walking my dog. Whenever I walk past someone, they tend to give me or my dog a glance. xD In my room I might act out a scene or say some more dialogue to make my scenes fit together. xD At the computer I'll mutter to myself. 'Hey, why is he acting like such a sissy? He's supposed to be the villain!' and then, right after it, much louder: 'HEY!! MR. J!! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!! SERIOUSLY DUDE?' XD I'm sure second floor loves hearing thus.

I have quite a few traditions whenever I write. I always always ALWAYS listen to music - and it has to be 'Two steps from hell', rock or jazz. I won't accept metal, hip hop, country or any other sort. It has to be one of those three, and it needs to be the at perfect volume. I also need to have internet when I write. Really, I hate writing for too long at a time, so I frequently (every 5th minute) check facebook, the forums and facebook again, and then return to writing. I write the best when I have food/candy or/and something to drink by my side. I think the best when I'm chewing. I also need to have my notebook nearby so I can write ideas down that aren't supposed to be mentioned in my novel just yet..
I also draw the scenes I'm describing if I'm having a writer's block. It happens all the time and then instead of staring into the air or checking the internet, I pick up my sketchbook and draw the scene. It's not too pretty, but it helps me visualize. Or else I turn up the volume of epic music in my living room, where the view is amazing, and I dance around until I know just what I'm supposed to write next. ;D I'm so odd..

hot chocolate and mocha featured heavily during nanowrimo this year. Whenever I sat down to write, I had some form of chocolatey drink within reach.
I always listen to music when I write, often just one song that suits the mood of the scene is left to loop eternally.
The nano stats page MUST be up so I can see my progress. (don't know how I'm going to do without a progress chart for the rest of the year, actually.)

I sometimes talk out loud when I'm stuck and some how that can sometimes get me unstuck. I also have to be sitting down, with my back agenst something. And I write best when it's quite and i'm eating. When I used to handwrite my books I ALWAYS used blue ink. ALWAYS. To this day I still carry around blue ink pens. Oh, and I like having a pillow or something to throw or punch when needed.... Which can be often............ =) Oh, and the weirdest of weird as I mutter song lyrics. Random, doesn't-even-go-with-this-scene song lyrics. My Nano novel song lyric that i said over and over was "Bless your soul you got your heads in the clouds" from Adele. Of course it ended up being intergrated into my novel of course. Yeah, I'm a little weird. =D

Heh... this is sort of embarassing... Sometimes, when I wanted to keep powering through, I would do driink a ton of water and then do continuous word wars/sprints... and when I had to go to the bathroom, I would tell myself I had to get 1,000 more words first. (Amount varied.) It's obsessive and weird but totally motivating... X)

And sometimes I would sit in the middle of the room and just start freaking out over how much I loved/hated the scene I was writing. I don't know why, but telling everyone made some difference.

I make faces when i'm thinking, especially when i trying to come up with words to describe things. I also talk out loud, and replay conversations in my head whilst bored during classes or on the bus. and i often try to get the characters to have weird conversations that have nothing to do with the story when i have writer's block.

i always have about 3 bottles of water near me, and there's generally background music, and it's general just the radio or something i dont really listen to, just so that there's something playing. but sometimes, on the odd occasion i like to listen as my fingers click across the keys on the keyboard.

i like to write in the dark. i dont know why, but whenever someone turns the light on i stop writing until they turn it back off, or i got and turn it off.

Having a drink of Pepsi. Not coke, Pepsi. When I hit a block I get up and act out that scene. Luckily I go to my room if I'm at home and if I'm at school, I make an excuse to leave the class so I can mutter it to myself. If I need inspiration I'll listen to music but I have found myself writting without.

I use a clipboard for my writing, one that is aluminum and has a special vinyl drafting board pad to protect the pages beneath. I tend to press down hard, so the pad is needed to protect the page I'm writing on and the pages beneath. It also provides a bit of weather proofing for the pages that have been written and the blank pages I carry.

Each page gets a header with the year, day of year and time of day it was started, so I know what got written when. It allows to sort things when needed and can be used as a way of tracking words per hour. I also try to create a sequential document number for the story so I can do a rough approximation of words completed.

Pens, in recent years, have been Bic Round Stics. The translucent grey ones are nice because I can track how fast the ink goes down. Sometimes, if I know that I'm going to be writing a lot, I'll put a line at the ink level and a date beside it. There have been instances where I'd drained an inch or more of ink in a twenty four hour period.

Outside of my 'standardized' and always available writing 'hardware' I don't have that many special habits or traditions to help me overcome problems. The creative juices flow too fast to worry about writer's block or plot hole fixes. If anything, I have too many options and not enough time to play with them all.

XD I go to random rooms/places while I write, whenever I need a change of scenery. Some of the oddest places I've written:

-Underneath the kitchen table
- In a cabinet
- Behind a couch
-Sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
- Underneath my bed
- The top shelf of the linen closet.

As well, I act out scenes or mutter lines to see if they make sense.

I usually, but don't necessarily need to listen to music while writing. More often than not, it's soundtracks from movies, because then I don't get distracted by lyrics. When I'm writing action packed scenes, I tend to default to Hans Zimmer or John Williams.

When I get stuck and I'm typing, I'll close my eyes, try to envision the scene, and then keep typing. It's nice being able to type without needing to see the keys or the screen. This doesn't work so well when I'm writing by hand, of course.