Writers live in a different world of their own. It is interesting to know what they do to ensure that their compositions are original, interesting and inspiring. To get into the right mood for writing, they have their own unique methods, some of which are inspiring while some others are strange and quirky. In this article, we have described interesting anecdotes and habits of some renowned writers.Some writers are in the habit of writing while lying down. They somehow find their rhythm and flow only in that position. The moment they lie down on a comfortable bed, the flood of words comes forth. Mark Twain was one such writer. American novelist, screen writer and playwright Truman Capote was also of a similar disposition. He had himself said that his brain does not work until and unless he lies down on a bed or a sofa. He always wrote lying on his back.
There are some other writers in complete contrast to the above, who like to write while standing. Ernest Hemingway, Charles King, Albert Camus, Virginia Woolf, Lewis Carol and Philip Roth are all distinguished writers who wrote their best pieces of literature while standing. One of the reasons for this could have been that they were health-conscious because there are quite a few benefits of standing. Charles King considered traveling to be very helpful in maintaining good health, which is why he travelled to many places in Europe either by foot or on a bicycle.Gabriel Garcia Marquez used to read the newspaper before commencing on writing. He used to get up well before sunrise, then read the daily newspaper and begin his writing. This could be because he was a journalist before becoming a novelist. The authenticity and realism depicted in his novels won him the Nobel Prize. Marquez used to type using the fore fingers of both his hands on the typewriter and measured how much he wrote in meters and not in terms of number of words. In those days, long reams of paper were used for typing.There have been other writers who measured how much they wrote in terms of number of words and composed a stipulated amount of words each day. Jack London used to write 1000 words every day. Similarly, Thomas Wolfe wrote 1800 words a day while Stephen King wrote 2000 words. Arthur Canon Doyle wrote about 3000 words every day. Raymond Chandler did not have a specific quota per day, but in his most active years of writing, he wrote as many as 5000 words per day. Anthony Trollope used to begin writing at 5:30 am every morning and would complete 250 words every 15 minutes. He even had a clock in front of him to check the time. Hemingway wrote 500 words in a day and believed that a book of 100 pages contained only one page of masterpiece.
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp. – Somerset Maugham”
The remaining 99 pages are worthy of being thrown in a dustbin.Vladimir Nabokov made use of index cards for writing. He used to organize them with paper clips and store them in a box. Thus, he had the flexibility to re-arrange these cards and change their sequence at a later time. He used to keep such a card under his pillow while sleeping so that he could note down immediately any thought that arose in his mind. He was very flexible in his schedule and duration of writing but he nevertheless took great care of things that he used in writing. Ruled Bristol cards and dark pencil that wrote smoothly and had an eraser at the end were among his companions while writing.Honoré de Balzac used to keep a lamp lighted near his writing table. He used to wear pyjamas and dressing gown while writing and mentioned that this setup inspired him. Johanna Spyri of Switzerland found the rumbling sound of the train to be stimulating to her brain. Whenever she wanted to write, she would travel in a train. Renowned poet, writer and painter Kahlil Gibran used to note down his thoughts on bits of paper, on cigarette boxes or on torn envelopes. He always had the knack of expressing the most intense and powerful thoughts in a very concise manner – in 1 or 2 sentences or in the form of verses. His secretary Barbara Young would later collect, compile and publish his works.The great English poet William Wordsworth was an ardent lover of nature. He used to get inspiration for writing in the lap of Mother Nature. So, he used to go off into a jungle, enjoy the presence of trees and birds. He would get the mood to sit and write amidst the chirping of birds and sounds of nature. In addition to this, he used to dip the top end of the pen in fragrance. Some writers invoke the divine inspiration before beginning to write. Author of inspirational books like ‘The War of Art’ – Steven Pressfield used to recite a prayer (the Invocation of the Muse from Homer’s Odyssey) before he began typing his words. Prior to Pressfield, great stalwarts like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, etc also followed this procedure.
Great literary icon Alexandre Dumas used different coloured paper for each of his works. According to him, this habit made him feel as though he was writing a different essay each time. Edgar Allan Poe used to write on different papers and would eventually paste them on a bigger paper to prepare the final draft. German novelist Kurt Vonnegut had the strangest style of writing. He could not write without doing push ups.French writer, philosopher Jean Paul Sartre had a very interesting method of writing. Whenever he got tired of writing with hands, he would start writing with his legs. Wallace Stevens used to write on bits of paper and his secretary would type the content and send it out for publishing. Russian writer Chekov had the habit of keeping a clock in front of him while writing.Indian writer Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza also had a strange habit. He used to say that he could write only at home where he could hear the voices of his wife and children. When he wrote, the noise of children or the chaos at home did not disturb him since he was completely focused on his writing. He also had the habit of drinking black tea without sugar at least 50 times in a day. Even when he had several film scripts to work on, he“You can’t be a good writer without being a devoted reader. – J.K. Rowling”would focus on only one at a time. KaifiAzmi, another famous poet had the habit of writing only with the most expensive Mont Blanc pen.
The prominent Hindi novelist who has written more than 150 books in his short life span of 39 years – Rangeya Raghav also had an interesting way of writing. He would take a big registerkind of book and allocate few pages for each chapter. Once he made the demarcation, based on his flow of thoughts, he used to write chapters in random order. Novel named ‘Murdon ka Teela’ (meaning – The Mound of the Dead) – the story of Indus valley civilization – was written in this manner.
When he got saturated with writing essays, he would begin writing stories and when he got tired of stories he would compose poems or paint pictures. He used to read books on profound topics with such concentration that he could remember what was written on any given page. When he felt fatigued with an intense topic, he would switch to reading simple stories. The works of Devaki Nandan Khatri were very dear to him.
Hindi Story King Munshi Premchand was also wonderful in this regard. He did not need any external stimuli for thoughts to emanate in his brain. It is said that he could write on any topic at any time in any place. Whenever he sat to write, he would focus his mind and start writing.
In fact, writing calls for a yogic state of mind. How one achieves this depends on one’s own temperaments and habits. This diversity of behaviours and characters leads to creation of a strange and interesting world of writers.
A mother gave two pieces of sweets to her son and instructed lovingly that “eat bigger piece yourself and give second piece to your friend”. Son nodded his head and left the house. However, he gave the bigger piece of sweet to his friend and ate himself, smaller piece. Mother was watching her son’s action from the window. She called him and asked, “Why did you eat smaller piece yourself”. Child answered: “Mother I enjoy giving more to others.” That child was none other than “Bal Gangadhar Tilak”. Mother got very touched and kept thinking about her son’s compassionate nature. Her son is a noble soul and an ideal person to bring peace and unity in the society. If all of us practice to give more to others and keep less for ourselves, the entire chaos of the world will be over and there will be more affection, love, care for each other. In other words, we can create real heaven on earth.
“Good prose should be transparent, like a window pane. – George Orwell”