I stumbled across an interesting weblog the other day – Daily Routines. It pulls articles from different sources to show “how writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days”.
I guess because I have my mind on habits lately, and have been on a bit of an organization kick, I had a great time browsing through the existing entries. It’s fascinating how structured and strict some of these people’s lives are. I don’t really have any structure to my day, apart from work hours, and even those change slightly depending on when I get up in the morning. I just flutter about most days, deciding what to do.
Here are some samples:
When I am working on a book or 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 you know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again. You have started at six in the morning, say, and may go on until noon or be through before that. When you stop you are as empty, and at the same time never empty but filling, as when you have made love to someone you love. Nothing can hurt you, nothing can happen, nothing means anything until the next day when you do it again. It is the wait until the next day that is hard to get through. – The Paris Review, Issue 18, 1958
His usual routine was to awake at 6 A.M., sit down at the typewriter by 7:30 and work until 10 P.M. – The New York Times, April 7, 1992
Briefly: Napoleon’s daily routine was perforce limited. Marchand awakened him early and served coffee in bed. One or more of the valets washed him and helped him shave, then rubbed him down with a coarse brush and doused him with eau de cologne (which soon ran out and was replaced with homemade lavender water) and finally helped him dress, an elaborate process that required one or two hours. – Robert Asprey, “The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte”
When I’m 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’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind. But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity. – The New Yorker, June 9, 2008
Oh my, thank you for sharing this! Toldya it wasn’t just you who struggles with these issues. ;)