Strange habits of very successful writers. Courtesy: Kelton Reid, Copyblogger Media writer.
1.Try writing horizontally.
George Orwell, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, 
Winston Churchill, and Marcel Proust
were all famous for churning out pages while lying in bed. Novelist Truman Capote also wrote everything in longhand in the horizontal position. Don’t forget, proper rest is crucial to creativity, so if you’re already there, why not grab the laptop and give it a try?
2.Take a walk or bike ride without a destination in mind.
Charles Dickens and Henry Miller both used to wander around Europe trying to get lost, a technique that psychologists say can foster creativity.
3.Write at a time of day that suits your productivity.
Honoré de Balzac would get up at midnight and drink black coffee well into the next day. Flannery O’Connor only wrote for two hours a 
day.
5.Loosen up.
Pulitzer Prize winning author John Cheever 
wrote mostly in his underwear. My friend and prolific travel journalist Adam Skolnick used to write only in a sarong.
6.Save your back.
Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus both found the exhilaration and pain-saving exercise of writing while standing, a technique that is finding resurgence among health-conscious writers.
7.If all else fails, have a drink … or two.
Immortal copywriter David Ogilvy would drink a “…half bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone.” He also claimed to be a lousy copywriter but a great editor. He would edit his writing 4 or 5 times before showing it to anyone.
In part two I will share my strange habits and rituals. I would love to hear from you about your writing rituals. I will post them if you send them.
Here are some from the authors I have interviewed: Jo-Ann Mapson: ‘No rituals other than a cool drink and fan blowing.’ Tasha Alexander: ‘I can write in an airport lounge, a coffee shop, on a bench waiting for my son to come out of his drawing class. My preferred spot at home is my bedroom.‘ Robert McCammon: ‘I do have my cup of coffee at hand. Sometimes it’s a glass of wine, just depends on the mood. Sometimes depending upon what I’m writing, it’s a glass of whiskey, too!’ Raymond Benson: ‘On a normal day, often I’m in my sleepwear in the mornings up until the lunch hour.‘ Read more
Check out ‘Rituals’ Part 2 on May 6th.
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