Famous Writing Routines
Uncovering the daily habits of iconic authors like Hemingway and Atwood, offering insights and inspiration for writers at all stages to hone their craft and achieve their goals.
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“You have to trust your own voice. You have to earn the right to be read, and then you have to fight to keep every reader.”
“I would not think about whether I had a good idea; I would just write it. I would not think about whether I was capable; I would just put my pen on the page.”
“I don’t go out. I forget to eat. I sleep very little. And once it’s done, I veg out and play video games for six weeks.”
“Finish what you’ve started. Then put it away for a while. Come back to it with fresh eyes.”
“Even though you have a busy life, try to reserve an hour a day to write. Some very good things have been written on an hour a day.”
“I can write in my backyard, by the fire, on the beach, on an airplane. It helps to be disciplined, but I also believe creativity follows discipline.”
“I have absolutely given up on the idea of peace and quiet as being necessary to writing,” she said. “I work in the time I have.”
“Hilary Mantel once wrote that you should write ‘with the maximum uncertainty you can tolerate,’” Hawkins said. “That is what I endeavour to do.”
“I don't feel like I have to scramble to find opportunities or say yes to every single thing that comes my way.”
“At five in the morning, I’m too sleepy to do anything but think about what I was last working on. My mind is clearer.”
“I usually try to write five to seven original pages a day,” she told WSJ. “If I go over that, I’m often really depleted for the next day, and I find it’s better to hold onto the continuity.”
“It’s quite easy to talk in grand terms about why you write,” he’s said, “but a lot of the joy is solving the problem.”
