{"id":1289,"date":"2019-03-13T00:18:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T00:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writingroutines.com\/?p=1289"},"modified":"2019-03-13T00:25:33","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T00:25:33","slug":"20-famous-writers-on-when-they-do-their-best-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writingroutines.com\/20-famous-writers-on-when-they-do-their-best-work\/","title":{"rendered":"While Everyone Else Is Sleeping: 20 Famous Writers On When They Do Their Best Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our interview with Daniel Pink, author of <\/span>When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>he explained, \u201cOne of the most important insights from the science of timing is that our cognitive abilities do not remain static over the course of the day. They change \u2014 in predictable and sometimes extreme ways. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to do the right work at the right time. Most of us have a period of the day when we\u2019re highest in vigilance, in our ability to focus deeply and bat away distractions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, writers use all sorts of different methods to bat away distractions\u2014listening to the same song on repeat<\/a>, building a cabin in the middle of nowhere<\/a>, blocking access to WiFi or turning off\u00a0devices altogether. Another method, shared by many of the greats, is waking up extremely early or staying up extremely late to do their work when the rest of the world is still or already in bed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 20 writers on when they do their best work:<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

The First Energy Of The Day<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI remember Salman Rushdie telling me how he gives it the first energy of the day. As soon as he gets up, he goes to his office and starts writing. He\u2019s still in his pajamas. He believes there is a \u201clittle package of creative energy that was nourished by sleep,\u201d and he doesn\u2019t want to waste it. He works for an hour or two and then goes to brush his teeth. I have a very similar approach. Only I brush my teeth before I start. I guess that\u2019s my pre-writing ritual.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Cal Fussman<\/span><\/a>, best known for the <\/span>\u201cWhat I\u2019ve Learned\u201d<\/span><\/a> Esquire column<\/span><\/i> and a master interviewer who has talked to the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev, Muhammad Ali, John Wooden, Richard Branson<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s All Downhill From There<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cA good writing day starts at 4 AM. By 11 AM the rest of the world is fully awake and so the day goes downhill from there.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Daniel Gilbert<\/span><\/a>, Harvard Psychology professor and author of <\/span>Stumbling on Happiness<\/span><\/i><\/a>, a <\/span>New York Times <\/span><\/i>bestseller, selling over a million copies worldwide, and was awarded the Royal Society\u2019s General Book Prize for best science book of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

No Interruptions<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI write in my study at my house in Belgravia in London, starting very early in the morning, usually around 4.30am, dressed in my pajamas, dressing-gown and slippers. That way no-one interrupts you for five hours, in which time you can get a huge amount of work done. (I averaged <\/span><\/i>5,500 words a day<\/span><\/i><\/a> for 100 days straight writing <\/span><\/i>Churchill: Walking with Destiny<\/span><\/i><\/a>).\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Andrew Roberts<\/span><\/a>, award-winning historian and multiple time bestselling author of books like <\/span>Napoleon: A Life<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2014winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and a finalist for the Plutarch Award\u2014and his latest, <\/span>Churchill: Walking With Destiny<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Keep It Consistent<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI generally start writing sometime between 5:30am and 6am. I have found that I am most productive if I start early. Doing this allows me to stay consistent\u2014even if I have a 9AM meeting or a class to teach later in the day, I always manage to get some writing done. And I know it\u2019s time to stop when I start thinking about everything else but the piece I am working on. For the most part, I am able to maintain this routine. If I don\u2019t write early in the morning, I feel unsettled throughout the day, so I try not to veer off schedule even when I don\u2019t feel like writing.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Keisha N. Blain<\/span><\/a>, award-winning historian and author of <\/span>Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2014one of <\/span>Smithsonian Magazine\u2019s<\/span><\/i> best history books of 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

From Bed To Desk<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI get up at 4:00 AM and write from 4:00 to 8:00 AM every morning…I\u2019ve been doing for over 20 years. There are a whole bunch of reasons. I don\u2019t just open my eyes at 4:00 AM, I try to go from bed to desk before my brain even kicks out of its Alpha wave state. I don\u2019t check any emails. I turn everything off at the end of the day including unplugging my phones and all that stuff so that the next morning there\u2019s nobody jumping into my inbox or assaulting me emotionally with something, you know what I mean? So I really protect that early morning time.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Steven Kotler<\/span><\/a> is a New York Times <\/span>bestselling author<\/span><\/a>, an award-winning journalist and one of the world\u2019s leading experts on ultimate human performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Little Successes<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019m at the gym at 5:30 every morning but it takes me till around 11:30 to actually sit down and start work…From the moment I open my eyes, I\u2019m preparing myself to work, to confront my own Resistance and to overcome it. My friend Randy has a concept, \u201cLittle Successes.\u201d He tries to start his day with a series of successes, so that when he sits down to the blank page, he\u2019s got momentum. The gym is that for me. It\u2019s physical but it\u2019s mental too. It\u2019s a ritual, as Twyla Tharp says in <\/span><\/i>The Creative Habit<\/span><\/i><\/a>. I never want to get out of bed. I HATE the idea of getting up and going to work out. But I do it to do something I don\u2019t want to do. And of course it feels great when it\u2019s over. I feel virtuous. It\u2019s a Little Success.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Steven Pressfield<\/span><\/a>, The bestselling author of, among others, <\/span>The Legend of Bagger Vance<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>Gates of Fire<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> The War of Art<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Order Of Importance<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI write in the morning, before I turn on my phone or my computer. This last part being particularly important. I\u2019ve found that writing first thing helps even me out and allows me to feel like I\u2019ve accomplished something before I allow the world to invade my thoughts. This, though, wasn\u2019t always the case; it\u2019s only been in the past five years that I\u2019ve come to understand the importance of ordering one\u2019s day by importance. Or maybe it\u2019s that the internet has gotten more terrible and now it\u2019s easier to stay away.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Paul Shirley<\/span><\/a>, professional basketball turned writer, with work appearing in places such as <\/span>Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> Playboy. <\/span><\/i>He\u2019s the author of two humor memoirs, including <\/span>Stories I Tell on Dates<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Night Owl<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a night owl through and through, and the wee hours are when I\u2019m at my best. I need to be alone to write fiction, for I am a fragile flower \u2014 and the more utterly alone I am, the better. In the middle of the night, there are no distractions. I can get myself to a place where I feel like I\u2019m the only person in the world who\u2019s currently conscious, and that frees me up to be a little more vulnerable and experimental.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Liana Maeby<\/span><\/a>, novelist and author of <\/span>South on Highland<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which actor\/writer BJ Novak called it \u201cthe kind of book kids will steal from each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Fully Rejuvenated<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe earlier the better. Nobody is up. I\u2019m creative. I don\u2019t have the worries of the day infecting my thoughts and I am calm. I think some people write better at night but I always sort of think the whole point of \u201cnight\u201d is that people are tired (the brain and body become tired) and that\u2019s why we sleep. To rejuvenate. So when I am fully rejuvenated, I write.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>James Altucher<\/span><\/a>, blogger and author of <\/span>Choose Yourself<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2014listed as one of USA Today\u2019s \u201cBest Business Books of All Time\u201d\u2014 and <\/span>Reinvent Yourself<\/span><\/i><\/a> was #1 book overall on Amazon.com.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Rhythm Is Everything<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI definitely believe in writing rhythms. \u00a0Especially in New York City, I write best in the early morning or late night and I find the energy is too distracting to write during the daytime unless there is major breaking news on deadline. But when the city is asleep, you can focus for sustained periods of time. Otherwise, the adrenaline of New York is just too intense.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>John Avlon<\/span><\/a>, former Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of The Daily Beast and author of, most recently, <\/span>Washington\u2019s Farewell<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

First Light<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Ernest Hemingway<\/span><\/a>, Nobel Prize winner and novelist, known for\u00a0classics\u00a0like <\/span>A Farewell to Arms<\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span>The Old Man and the Sea<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Can\u2019t Silence The Sentences<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI tend to wake up very early. Too early. Four o\u2019clock is standard. My morning begins with trying not to get up before the sun rises. But when I do, it\u2019s because my head is too full of words, and I just need to get to my desk and start dumping them into a file. I always wake with sentences pouring into my head. So getting to my desk every day feels like a long emergency. It\u2019s a funny thing: people often ask how I discipline myself to write. I can\u2019t begin to understand the question. For me, the discipline is turning off the computer and leaving my desk to do something else.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Barbara Kingsolver<\/span><\/a>, named one the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest for works like <\/span>The Poisonwood Bible<\/span><\/i><\/a> and<\/span> Flight Behavior<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Accept Your Best Hours<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cIt took me a long time to accept 1-5am as my best hours, which was the only timing that provided consistent progress. I also distinguish between idea generation and idea \u201ccreation\u201d (combination into a meaningful whole). 1-3pm was spent brainstorming fragmented concepts and anecdotes, as well as interviewing and note taking. I would circle the best ideas and then put them in order at 1am for an attempt at synthesis. I don\u2019t believe that it is possible to do more than 4 hours of good creative work per waking cycle. This can be extended only slightly by caffeine power naps (down a cup of espresso and then take a 20-minute nap) or \u201cultra-naps\u201d that are multiples of the 90-minute ultradian cycle (I prefer 90 minutes or 3 hours)…I also put a TV on in the background and mute it, but that\u2019s more a social coping mechanism, since most people sleep from 1-5am.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Tim Ferriss<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>New York Times, Wall Street Journal, <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> USA Today<\/span><\/i> bestselling author of several books, including <\/span>The 4-Hour Workweek<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Watch The Light Come<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cEventually I realized that I was clearer-headed, more confident and generally more intelligent in the morning. The habit of getting up early, which I had formed when the children were young, now became my choice. I am not very bright or very witty or very inventive after the sun goes down…I always get up and make a cup of coffee while it is still dark\u2014it must be dark\u2014and then I drink the coffee and watch the light come…And I realized that for me this ritual comprises my preparation to enter a space that I can only call nonsecular…Writers all devise ways to approach that place where they expect to make the contact, where they become the conduit, or where they engage in this mysterious process. For me, light is the signal in the transition. It\u2019s not being in the light, it\u2019s being there before it arrives. It enables me, in some sense.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Toni Morrison<\/span><\/a>, Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, best known for <\/span>The Bluest Eye<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span>Song of Solomon<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and <\/span>Beloved<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

A Form Of Mesmerism<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4:00 am and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for 10km or swim for 1500m (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at 9:00 pm. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it\u2019s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Haruki Murakami<\/a>, called one of the world\u2019s greatest living novelists by The Guardian for works like\u00a0Kafka On The Shore<\/a>,\u00a0Norwegian Wood<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a01Q84<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

An Unmoored Life<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cIn an unmoored life like mine, sleep and hunger and work arrange themselves to suit themselves, without consulting me. I\u2019m just as glad they haven\u2019t consulted me about the tiresome details. What they have worked out is this: I awake at 5:30, work until 8:00, eat breakfast at home, work until 10:00, walk a few blocks into town, do errands, go to the nearby municipal swimming pool, which I have all to myself, and swim for half an hour, return home at 11:45, read the mail, eat lunch at noon. In the afternoon I do schoolwork, either teach or prepare. When I get home from school at about 5:30, I numb my twanging intellect with several belts of Scotch and water ($5.00\/fifth at the State Liquor store, the only liquor store in town. There are loads of bars, though.), cook supper, read and listen to jazz (lots of good music on the radio here), slip off to sleep at ten.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Kurt Vonnegut<\/span><\/a>, novelist and essayist, who penned the classics\u00a0Cat’s Cradle<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Slaughterhouse-Five<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Breakfast of Champions<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Afraid Of\u00a0 Sleeping<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI usually get up fairly early, I got up at 4:30 this morning, but I usually get up between 6 and 6:30. I always have a pad on my bedside, in case I want to write straight away. I also have a habit at night of leaving a sentence unfinished, so I can pick up on it the next morning. I\u2019m also a bit afraid of going to sleep. If writing is flowing, I\u2019m afraid it might disappear. I\u2019m also slightly afraid of mealtimes. If the mood is upon me, I tend to write nonstop. But I\u2019m not very systematic…I get up, a pad by my bedside. I have my usual breakfast of oatmeal, again with a pad in the kitchen, because you never know what\u2019s going to go through your mind when you\u2019re eating your oatmeal. I then usually go for a walk. I like to walk before 7, when there are not too many people around, and there\u2019s something about exercise that gets my mind going.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Oliver Sacks<\/span><\/a>, renowned neurologist, physician, and bestselling author of\u00a0Musicophilia<\/a>,\u00a0Awakenings<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0On The Move<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Candy Store Hours<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe overriding factor in my life between the ages of six and twenty-two was my father\u2019s candy store…I was pressed into labor…What was really remarkable about the candy store was the long hours. My father opened the store at 6 A.M., rain, shine, or blizzard. He closed it at 1 A.M…I must have liked the long hours…I have kept the candy-store hours all my life. I wake at five in the morning. I get to work as early as I can. I work as long as I can. I do this every day of the week, including holidays. I don\u2019t take vacations voluntarily and I try to do my work even when I\u2019m on vacation. (And even when I\u2019m in the hospital.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In other words, I am still and forever in the candy store. Of course, I\u2019m not waiting on customers; I\u2019m not taking money and making change; I\u2019m not forced to be polite to everyone who comes in (in actual fact, I was never good at that). I am, instead, doing things I very much want to do\u2014but the schedule is there; the schedule that was ground into me; the schedule you would think I would have rebelled against once I had the chance.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Isaac Asimov<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>credited with writing over 500 published works, most notably the <\/span>Foundation<\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span>Robot<\/span><\/i><\/a> series\u2019. There are also <\/span>estimates<\/span><\/a> that Asimov wrote more than 90,000 letters and postcards.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Dreamers Left To Their Own <\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cAt night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour. No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 H.P. Lovecraft, horror fiction author of short stories, novels, and novellas, including The Call of Cthulhu<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Like The Chickens<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cI go to bed at six or seven in the evening, like the chickens; I\u2019m waked at one o\u2019clock in the morning, and I work until eight; at eight I sleep again for an hour and a half; then I take a little something, a cup of black coffee, and go back into my harness until four. I receive guests, I take a bath, and I go out, and after dinner I go to bed. I\u2019ll have to lead this life for some months, not to let myself be snowed under by my debts.\u201d
\n<\/em>
\n\u2014 Honor\u00e9 de Balzac<\/a>, author of eighty-five novels over twenty years, including his most famous La Comedie Humaine<\/a> <\/em>(\u201cThe Human Comedy\u201d).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our interview with Daniel Pink, author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, he explained, \u201cOne of the most important insights from the science of timing is that our cognitive abilities do not remain static over the course of the day. They change \u2014 in predictable and sometimes extreme ways. That\u2019s why it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhile Everyone Else Is Sleeping: 20 Famous Writers On When They Do Their Best Work - Writing Routines<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writingroutines.com\/20-famous-writers-on-when-they-do-their-best-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"While Everyone Else Is Sleeping: 20 Famous Writers On When They Do Their Best Work - Writing Routines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our interview with Daniel Pink, author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, he explained, \u201cOne of the most important insights from the science of timing is that our cognitive abilities do not remain static over the course of the day. They change \u2014 in predictable and sometimes extreme ways. 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