📝 Ian Fleming’s Writing Routine

"I write for about three hours in the morning—from about 9:30 till 12:30—and I do another hour’s work between 6 and 7 in the evening."

Welcome to Famous Writing Routines, where we explore the daily habits, writing process, and work routines of some of the most renowned authors throughout history.

Ian Fleming was a British author, journalist and naval intelligence officer, best-known for writing the James Bond novels, which have since spawned a multi-billion dollar entertainment franchise.

I find that unless I stick to a routine, if I just wait for genius to arrive from the skies, it just doesn't arrive. I just get on with the work.

Desert Island Discs - Ian Fleming, 1963

For Ian Fleming, being the author of the James Bond novels wasn’t even the most exciting part of his life. The renowned British writer was a naval intelligence officer during the Second World War, and was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye, an Allied monitoring and sabotage mission focused on Spain and their possible alliance with the Axis powers. Fleming was also responsible for the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force.

Just before Fleming ended his service in August 1952, he began writing a spy novel at his house, nicknamed Goldeneye, in Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica. Casino Royale was published in 1953 via Jonathan Cape and the success of the book paved the way for eleven more novels and two short story collections, all written in quick succession in the last years of Fleming’s life.

During his novelist career, Fleming maintained a regimented work schedule that saw the British author write every day, with the target of 2,000 words per day. In an essay he wrote, titled “How to Write a Thriller,” which appeared in the May 1963 issue of Books and Bookmen, Fleming gave readers a glimpse of his daily writing routine.

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