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Author Writing Routines

A good writing routine is a well-written program you can safely submit to. A writing routine is outsourcing your uncertainties. It allows you to compartmentalize your worries and gives you space to unravel your thoughts in written form. It's a safe space of sorts.

Most of my day to day is scheduled. If it isn't scheduled, it's compartmentalized and within that partitioning, lies a prioritized list of things that I would need to do.

Anne Lamott

  • Wake-up time: 7:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Writes in the morning until noon.
  • Routine aids: Emphasizes "shitty first drafts" to reduce pressure.
  • Method: Focuses on consistent progress, not perfection.

Dan Brown

  • Wake-up time: 4:00 AM
  • Writing schedule:
    • Writes every day, starting at 4:00 AM and working for 6-8 hours.
      • He does 15 push-ups every hour while writing.
    • Believes that early mornings are when his mind is clearest and distractions are minimal.
  • Routine aids:
    • Uses an hourglass to track time—he writes for one hour, then takes a brief break to stretch or do push-ups.
    • Plays classical music (especially Mozart) while working to maintain focus.
    • Keeps a gravity inversion table in his office to hang upside down, which he believes stimulates creativity.
  • Method:
    • Begins with detailed outlines—his outlines can reach 100 pages before writing the first draft.
    • Research is extensive and ongoing, often involving travel to real-world locations that feature in his books.
    • He emphasizes discipline and consistency, stating, "If you want to be a writer, you need to turn writing into a job."

Charles Dickens

  • Wake-up time: 7:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
  • Routine aids: Took three-hour walks in the afternoon for inspiration.
  • Method: Required absolute quiet while working.

Ernest Hemingway

  • Wake-up time: 5:30 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote first thing in the morning until noon, aiming for 500-700 words.
  • Routine aids: Stood while writing to maintain energy.
  • Method: Stopped mid-sentence to make it easier to start the next day.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • Wake-up time: 11:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote late at night, often until dawn.
  • Routine aids: Drank alcohol, which affected productivity over time.
  • Method: Needed deadlines to stay focused.

George Orwell

  • Wake-up time: 8:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Worked in bursts throughout the day.
  • Routine aids: Lived in isolation while writing major works.
  • Method: Handwrote drafts to slow down and think through ideas.

Haruki Murakami

  • Wake-up time: 4:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Writes for 5-6 hours in the morning.
  • Routine aids: Runs 10 km or swims 1,500 meters in the afternoon for mental clarity.
  • Method: Focuses on physical endurance to maintain creativity and discipline.

James Joyce

  • Wake-up time: 10:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote in the afternoon while lying in bed.
  • Routine aids: Used large crayons due to poor eyesight.
  • Method: Wrote extremely slowly, focusing on precision.

J.K. Rowling

  • Wake-up time: 6:00 AM (while writing Harry Potter)
  • Writing schedule: Wrote in cafĂ©s while caring for her child.
  • Routine aids: Drafted ideas on scraps of paper.
  • Method: Focused on small, consistent progress during tough times.

Joan Didion

  • Wake-up time: 10:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote in the afternoon and revised late at night.
  • Routine aids: Kept a notebook for observations and ideas.
  • Method: Reread her work every evening to stay immersed in the tone.

Joyce Carol Oates

  • Wake-up time: Around 8:00 AM.
  • Writing schedule: Writes for 8-10 hours a day, often starting mid-morning and working into the afternoon. She sometimes returns to work in the evening.
  • Routine aids: Writes by longhand first, then types up her drafts. She believes in the tactile connection of handwriting.
  • Method:
    • Writes every day, including weekends.
    • Prefers a quiet, distraction-free environment.
    • Begins with extensive notes and outlines but allows for organic development.
    • Views writing as both a craft and an intellectual exploration—she writes consistently to engage deeply with her ideas.

Kurt Vonnegut

  • Wake-up time: 5:30 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote from 6:30 AM until 10:00 AM, then swam or did push-ups.
  • Routine aids: Balanced writing with physical exercise and teaching duties.
  • Method: Worked in short, intense bursts of creativity.

Leo Tolstoy

  • Wake-up time: 9:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote for several hours in the morning.
  • Routine aids: Kept journals to track thoughts and writing progress.
  • Method: Balanced family life with disciplined work habits.

Margaret Atwood

  • Wake-up time: 7:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote in the morning, with afternoons for correspondence.
  • Routine aids: Uses handwritten drafts before typing.
  • Method: Writes longhand first to engage with ideas physically.

Maya Angelou

  • Wake-up time: 5:30 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote in the morning in a hotel room she rented just for work.
  • Routine aids: Kept a bottle of sherry, a Bible, and a thesaurus nearby.
  • Method: Isolated herself to avoid distractions and treated writing like a job.

Octavia Butler

  • Wake-up time: 2:00 AM (in her early years while working a day job). Later, once writing full-time, she shifted to more standard morning hours.
  • Writing schedule:
    • Wrote daily, often starting early in the morning.
    • When working other jobs, she wrote for several hours before dawn.
    • Once she became a full-time writer, she aimed to write for 5-6 hours a day.
  • Routine aids:
    • Kept notebooks of affirmations where she wrote goals like "I am a bestselling writer."
    • Used index cards to organize ideas and plot points.
    • Believed in writing rituals, like setting clear intentions and working consistently.
  • Method:
    • Focused on slow, deliberate drafting and extensive revision.
    • Often wrote by hand before typing.
    • Practiced visualization—she wrote affirmations to manifest her career.
    • Stressed the value of persistence, once saying, "You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better."

Ray Bradbury

  • Wake-up time: 8:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote daily, aiming to complete a short story every week.
  • Routine aids: Wrote quickly to maintain energy and avoid overthinking.
  • Method: Believed in constant output as a way to improve.

Stephen King

  • Wake-up time: 8:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Writes 2,000 words daily, typically finishing by 11:30 AM.
  • Routine aids: Writes in a specific room with a fixed setup (same desk, same music).
  • Method: Believes in writing every day, including holidays, to keep momentum.

Susan Sontag

  • Wake-up time: 8:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
  • Routine aids: Avoided phone calls and distractions.
  • Method: Preferred writing by hand first.

Toni Morrison

  • Wake-up time: 5:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote early in the morning before her children woke up.
  • Routine aids: Needed to see daylight to begin working.
  • Method: Fit writing into life by focusing on early, quiet hours.

Virginia Woolf

  • Wake-up time: 9:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote in the morning for three hours.
  • Routine aids: Took long walks in the afternoon to process ideas.
  • Method: Revised her work obsessively and valued reflection.

William Faulkner

  • Wake-up time: 6:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Wrote from 7:00 AM until noon.
  • Routine aids: Drank whiskey but remained disciplined.
  • Method: Wrote without reworking drafts too much.

Zadie Smith

  • Wake-up time: 6:00 AM
  • Writing schedule: Writes in the morning, no more than five hours.
  • Routine aids: Avoids internet distractions during writing sessions.
  • Method: Writes by hand to slow the thought process.