Friday 18 September 2009

Writers routines

It is really interesting to me and I believe, to many others, to know writers routines when they are working. Do they have a 9 to 5 schedule or they work just at night? They listen to music? They take notes, they go into a special place where no family or social life is allowed or they are normal like the rest of us?

On dailyroutines we can find some examples and a few interviews with writers. Some of them I know, others not really but in the end I read almost all of them just by curiosity.Image shows Benjamin Franklin scheme of his daily routine (via ffffound). Like this a LOT:P

Some examples:

Stephen King

"There are certain things I do if I sit down to write,” he said. “I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon."

James Thurber

"I never quite know when I’m not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, “Dammit, Thurber, stop writing.” She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph. Or my daughter will look up from the dinner table and ask, “Is he sick?” “No,” my wife says, “he’s writing something.” I have to do it that way on account of my eyes. I still write occasionally—in the proper sense of the word—using black crayon on yellow paper and getting perhaps twenty words to the page. My usual method, though, is to spend the mornings turning over the text in my mind. Then in the afternoon, between two and five, I call in a secretary and dictate to her. I can do about two thousand words. It took me about ten years to learn."

How interesting and wonderful is this? It's so cool to know how artists work, how their inner worlds work, how they function.

More about writers and other artists, philosophers and a lot more at dailyroutines :)

3 comments:

  1. This is so interesting. I truly enjoyed this post.

    I am sorry for replying so slow again.

    I am sure you will find a place in the marketing world :) Portugal....wow. My hubby wants to visit one day. Maybe you can be our guide :p heheh.

    Rhodec International is the school I went/go to. I am currently on a leave. It can lead you up to a degree in interior design ( you can finish your BA year at MET university in london) you can also study a MA. You also become a member of various organizations which leads to invitations to different big events.

    The course is extremly cheap if compared to other correspondance courses.Considering that this course you have the opportunity to gain a degree and not just get the diploma from the school itself. You can therefor transfer grades etc to other universities world wide. They also have an intro course (1 year).

    The tutors are very helpful and gives you good advice. It does feel like you are studying a bit on your own though. Students are very active in helping each other, but still you are on your own. You have to set enough time aside becasue there is alot and I mean ALOT of time spent on re-search. So this is definitely a busy full time course. Check out www.rhodec.edu. :))

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  2. Such an interesting post! thanks, Have a sweet day! x

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  3. me while a writer, i have no schedules or days.
    i just begin to nurture the ideias in my mind, where this bit is going to take place, what is going to happen, this and that. then some time, i try to write. i never get late on deadlines of course. if i do not feel well, or if i feel different feelings from what i need to write, i try to write in a better day... if it persists...then i do write even if i dont feel at all, or feeling something bad. it doenst matter, i get the work done, and it usually, turns out just fine. i love it.

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