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The history of art is riddled with strange rituals. It is these quirky departures from ‘normalcy’ that make artists and writers revolutionary. In the hope to spark the writer in you, here are some interesting habits and traditions cultivated by some of literary history’s favourite figures.
(We’ve chosen to segregate the list based on habits, rather than the writers themselves, as we found that although there are variations and peculiarities there are still commonalities. )
There’s Method to This Madness
Time and time again, authors have dispelled the romantic myth that writers are erratic. Many of literature’s most revered figures, in fact, had very meticulous schedules to fuel their creativity.
There were a number of writers who found that the quietness of dawn suited them best. For instance, Haruki Murakami, during his most intense stages of writing (according to this interview in The Paris Review), awoke at 4 AM, wrote the whole morning, and went for a swim or a run in the afternoon.
Toni Morrison, too, had a habit of rising to write before dawn. But her habit arose from the necessity of taking care of her children along with jumpstarting her writing career. However, she stuck with this habit, long after her children grew up…
