Do you get up before dawn and write first thing in the morning? Do you have a special “writing nook” or space of some sort to work in? Do you write for five minutes at a time or fifty?
Writing can look like lots of different things.
The tl;dr version is that there is no ONE WAY to write!
And yet we’re curious (of course) about how other writers work. How do famous authors operate, and can we somehow steal some of their magic for ourselves? What habits would be helpful to emulate?
Here are a few well-known authors and how they write… what do you think? 🙂
Writing Habits of Writers
Dan Brown: Uses an hourglass to track writing time and after every hour takes a break for exercise. Will also hang upside-down in order to “relax” when thinking stories through.
This reminds me of the pomodoro method of writing, though I’m not sure I’ll adopt the hanging upside-down strategy…
Barak Obama: Wrote his (long!) memoir out longhand on a yellow legal pad. He said typing was too fast and “polished” for his first draft.
Stephen King: Writes 6 pages every day which takes around 3-4 hours. Though I hear he takes Christmas and his birthday (September 21st) off!
Maya Angelou: Went to a local hotel and would sit on the hotel bed to write from 6:30am until lunchtime when she would go back home.
Victor Hugo: When under a deadline he would write naked and tell his servants to hide his clothing so that he would be forced to stay at home writing instead of getting distracted.
Ray Bradbury: Describes being “driven” to write daily and takes circumstances as they come, such as writing in public libraries, in the living room, or in his bedroom.
Haruki Murakami: Has a very specific timeline and routines he follows for his writing and entire day.
E. B. White: Wrote in the midst of the hubub of family life and gave us perhaps some of the best writing advice of all time:
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”
Jack Kerouac: Identified the hours between midnight and dawn as the best for writing.
He was also known for abusing substances but please don’t emulate that behavior!
Susan Sotag: Created writing rules for herself such as “I will get up every morning no later than eight. (Can break this rule once a week.).” She described her writing as undisciplined but stated that it worked for her.
Henry Miller: Wrote 11 commandments of writing and made a distinction between whether he was groggy or in a “fine fettle.”
Miller would work on his projects even when not feeling his best but then he would take advantage of times when he felt inspired to really dig in and make creative progress.
Ernest Hemingway: Wrote standing up and would write first thing every morning and then stop before he ran out of inspiration so that he would be ready again the next day.
Along with, you know, writing, several writers included things like visiting friends, drinking tea, taking walks, doing pushups, and shopping as part of their writing routines. I love how they demonstrate how a healthy life has many parts and how our creativity requires both self-care and artistic input!
What about you?
What do your habits look like? What routines or attitudes towards writing and life do you find attractive or think may work for you?
As the fantasy author Ilona Andrews has said, “Find the best writing approach for you and then write like the wind.”
Happy writing! 🙂
For further reading check out:
The Daily Routines of 20 Famous Authors – Medium
The Daily Routines of 12 Famous Writers – James Clear
The Most Unusual Writing Rituals of Famous Authors – Penguin
Kurt Vonnegut’s Daily Routine – Brain Pickings
The Daily Routines of Great Writers – Brain Pickings
