writing Routines
7 routines focused on writing
Maya Angelou
Poet, Author, Civil Rights Activist
1928-2014
American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist, best known for her series of seven autobiographies.
Key Takeaways
- •Separate creative space from living space
- •Morning hours for generation, afternoon for editing
Franz Kafka
Writer
1883-1924
German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature.
Key Takeaways
- •Creative work is possible even with severe constraints
- •Late-night hours can be productive for some creators
Victor Hugo
Poet, Novelist, Dramatist
1802-1885
French Romantic writer, best known for Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Key Takeaways
- •Morning hours for intensive creative work
- •Physical exercise maintains creative energy
Charles Dickens
Novelist
1812-1870
English writer and social critic, creator of some of the world's best-known fictional characters.
Key Takeaways
- •Rituals prepare the mind for creative work
- •Long walks provide observation and processing time
Sigmund Freud
Neurologist, Psychoanalyst
1856-1939
Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology.
Key Takeaways
- •Separate patient work from theoretical writing
- •Physical breaks between intense mental work
Thomas Mann
Novelist, Essayist
1875-1955
German novelist, short story writer, and essayist, winner of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Key Takeaways
- •Morning hours for primary creative work
- •Reading feeds creative output
Honoré de Balzac
Novelist, Playwright
1799-1850
French novelist and playwright, regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature.
Key Takeaways
- •Extreme routines can produce extreme output
- •Caffeine enables but also damages