The Highly Effective Habits of Ten Famous Authors

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Whether it is a form of self-validation, a chance to find kinship amongst the elite, or for practical research, writers seem highly interested in the writing habits of other writers—especially famous ones. What time do they wake up? Do they write in the morning or evening? Do they prefer a pen or pencil? Scrivener or Word? While emulating a famous writer’s routine may not make you a better writer, it is natural to adopt some of the habits of the people we admire.

Here are a few habits, quirks, and writing preferences of ten famous writers:

Douglas Adams: Preferred typing on Macintosh computers. The aesthetic even carried over into film adaptations of his book The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. There is often a Macintosh computer in pictures with Adams.

Barbara Cartland: The Queen of Romance’s writing style was so famous that it was the centerpiece of a recurring sketch on the show Little Britain. Cortland famously sprawled across her chaise lounge and dictated her novels to a secretary.

Roald Dahl: Dahl had a writing shed furnished with a comfy chair, space heater, and blanket. He placed a board across the arms of the chair and used it like a desk, writing out his stories by hand.

Neil Gaiman: Enjoys writing in Leuchtturm notebooks with a fountain pen. He changes his pen color daily to track how much he writes each day.

Ernest Hemingway: Papa wrote naked at a lectern. He used a pencil unless he was writing dialogue—then he typed.

James Joyce: While his preferences varied, he is known to have been able to write while lying on his couch in the presence of his family.

Stephen King: In his book, On Writing, Stephen King talks about buying a beautiful writing table after he sold his first book. He then admits he preferred a simple desk with a computer and works in the same room as his wife, a poet. King also avoids notebooks, saying they are where ideas go to die.

Vladimir Nabokov: The author of Lolita wrote early in the morning onto index cards. He then physically rearranged the cards as he edited them. Although it isn’t a writing habit in quite the same way, Nabokov preferred writing in English even though his first language was Russian.

Eudora Welty: Legend has it that Welty wrote her first drafts by hand. Then, she used scissors and pins to cut up and rearrange her scenes.

Virginia Woolf: Like Hemingway, Virginia Woolf sometimes preferred to write at a lectern—clothed, however, by all accounts. Other times, she wrote while sitting down with a board across her lap, similar to Roald Dahl.

What are your writing habits? What time of day do you write? What are your favorite or most indispensable writing tools? Let us know in the comments below if you have a particular habit or quirk you find helpful or that makes your writing experience more pleasurable.