From Edie: Discover how successful writers create writing routines that fit real life. Learn practical strategies to write consistently without waiting for the perfect moment.
How Successful Writers Actually Work: Finding a Writing Routine That Fits Your Life
by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth
Don’t you wish you could discover how ‘famous’ writers do it? The popular writers. Those they talk to on TV and whose books are in the windows at Barnes and Noble.
I think most of us feel this way. In every interview I’ve heard with a writer, the question of how they write soon comes up. And you can see every listener lean up in their seat, hoping that this time, this time, they will hear those keywords that will make a difference in their own writing.
Is it coffee or tea? Should I wake up at oh-dark-thirty or stay up until the wee hours of the morning? Pen or laptop? Word, Scrivener, or the pen from Harry Potter?
There has to be a catch to this, right? If I can just talk to the right person, maybe join the right group, they will let me in on the big secret.
Instead, it seems like Fight Club, where the first rule is not to talk about Fight Club. It’s as bad as trying to learn the secrets of the magicians’ tricks they do on stage.
At the risk of losing my reputation, I will now let you in on the secret. The secret that every real writer knows. Are you ready? Bend in close.
The secret is … It takes work.
A bit of a letdown, huh? I can’t believe Edie let me get away with it. But good writing only comes from showing up, learning what it takes, and doing the work.
Coffee, tea, water, or Red Bull — that’s up to you.
So, what’s the big deal about the rituals of famous writers? I googled ‘weird writer’s rituals’ and there’s quite a list.
Virginia Woolf wrote standing up at a special desk. (As does our own Diane Mills.)
Truman Capote wrote his stories lying down.
Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in a basement typing room at UCLA. He had to insert a dime for every 30 minutes.
Maya Angelou rented a hotel room near her home, where they had taken everything off the walls. She would leave her home about six am and try to be in her room at six-thirty. She wrote while sitting on the bed and wouldn’t let housekeeping change the sheets during her stay.
Many writers write early in the morning. Some write only on Saturday when they’re off work. A couple of my friends wrote while sitting in their cars during their child's ball practices.
I think we’re now getting to why most rituals begin. They don’t start off quirky (although we are talking about writers). But to write, to make the time necessary, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. You can’t add hours to the clock, so you have to use the hours you’re given, wherever you can, and in whatever increments.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to sit in your home office and write whatever you want from 8 to 1? Many of us would say, “Yes, sign me up.”
Is it practical? For most of us, no. Parents of preschoolers would love to get just ten minutes. They’d use that to get some much-needed sleep.
And bosses tend to take a negative view of workers writing a story on their time. (Like, really?)
Instead, we have to use the time we can scrape up to feed our writing obsessions.
And that’s how rituals develop. Instead of listening to other writers to find the secret sauce, we need to discover what will work for us to become more productive with our time and situations.
Should you write in the hours before you get the kids off to school? Maybe after they go to bed? Or maybe you can get a friend to watch your elderly parent on a Saturday morning so you can go to a coffee shop for dedicated writing time.
Time and place. Two important assets we need to be productive.
We often hear you should write 500/1000 words or 2 pages a day, every day. And that’s great if you can do it. But many published writers aren’t able to do that. John Grisham wrote for a couple of hours in the morning before he went to his law practice.
The best time to write is when you are able to. And be flexible when life throws a curveball. The main thing is to keep at it. Don’t quit.
Rituals aren’t only about where and when you write. They’re also about what helps you face that blinking cursor. (O R? Really? Who votes on these spellings? Because only a committee would come up with that.). Tea, coffee. Do you use pen on paper first or do the first draft on a tablet? Listen to music? Burn a candle? Work in a dark room or at a nearby coffeehouse?
What works for you? What helps you get into that creative place in your mind where the words just flow to your fingers? That’s what you’re looking for. What worked for Charles Dickens probably won’t help you today. In fact, he wouldn’t do it that way if he lived today.
Your rituals might change. I’ve written four books, and each one had its own process. Life kept changing. I had to adapt. But the words kept getting down on the paper.
The mothers I mentioned earlier no longer have to take their children to practice. Their writing routines have changed, but their pages are still being written.
Now, you discover what works for you. God has given us stories to share and readers who need to hear them. Let’s be faithful to our callings.
May God bless our efforts.
I would love to hear some of your writing rituals in the comments below, whether it’s when you write or what helps you get into the mood.
And thank you for reading. It is an honor to be able to write to such dedicated and talented writers.
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