Every individual has their routine or time when they like to do certain things – like studying at night and sleeping in the morning, listening to lo-fi music while studying, drinking coffee the first thing in the morning and more. But, in this article we are going to read about the daily routine of some famous writers – let’s see how different their routines were which helped them to write so brilliantly.
Daily Routine of Some Famous Writers:
Haruki Murakami
In a 2004 interview, Murakami opened up about his routine while he is writing a novel. He starts his day at 4 a.m. and he continues to work for 5-6 hours. In the afternoon, he goes for a 10-kilometer run or swims for 1.5 kilometers, or maybe both. Then he reads for a while and listens to music. He goes to bed early, at 9 p.m. He believes that physical strength is as essential as artistic sensitivity.
Nathan Englander
Nathan Englander is speaking directly to today’s generation. In an interview, while talking about his writing routine, he says “Turn off your cell phone”. He believes that if one needs their work to be done they cannot be using Facebook, Instagram, or doing any sort of texting or mail. He even writes with his earplugs in sometimes, even if there is no noise in the room. According to him, everything needs to be stopped while writing.
E. B. White
White was different than most of us, he never listened to music while working. He considered that to be a distraction and never liked it. He worked quite normally in between common distractions. He used to write in his living room. Although it was bright and cheerful, the sound of the phone conversation, kitchen, and traffic all could be heard from that living room. He believed that if a writer has to wait for a certain ideal condition to start his work, there would be no words on a paper.
Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut had a quite scheduled routine like Miller but it was not as strict – waking up at 5:30 in the morning, working till 8 a.m., walking a few blocks, doing some errands, swimming for thirty minutes, returning home at 11:45, eat lunch. He used to start his afternoon with some school work, after getting back from school at 5:30 pm, he used to numb his nerves with some scotch, cook supper, read or listen to jazz and sleep at ten. He used to do pushups and sit-ups all the time and thought he was getting lean but perhaps not.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou had a hotel room that she used to pay for by the month. There was no painting, house décor in the room. She also asked the housekeeping to not enter the room just in case she had thrown any paper on the floor. Almost every two months, Angelou used to receive a note slipped from under the door that asked for her permission to change the linen because it may be moldy.
Henry Miller
Unlike most other writers, writer and painter Henry Miller had a schedule – to work on one thing and not move on till it’s done; to not be nervous, and work joyously and recklessly; to not work according to mood but according to program, and stop at the appointed time; to work when you can’t create; to see people, go places; forget the books you wish to write, and focus on the one you are writing; writing comes first, and then painting, music, friends, cinema afterward, and more.
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway like Murakami was a morning person too. He preferred to write soon after the first light is visible. The weather was suitable cold and after starting his work he used to get warm. He used to write till noon or sometimes he used to get over prior noon when he was certain about the things that he would write the next day.
