Writing Routines and Advice from Famous Authors

Introduction

Anyone can become a writer. The profession does not require you to have a degree in English or writing, it does not require letters of recommendation, it does not require x years of experience. If you have a pen, paper, and a dream, you are a writer. While this is very freeing, it can also be very intimidating because there is no traditional route of education or mentorship. Now, you can join workshops and book clubs, and I highly recommend you do to hone your craft, but I understand time and resources can be limited and these options may not be accessible to you. So, how do you learn to write?

When I first began writing I emulated the work of my favorite authors, went through any interviews I could find to get inside their minds and understand how they approach writing and read reviews of their work. It was then I realized I was making my own syllabus for How to Write 101 with works that interested me.

Which is what inspired this blog. So, sharpen your pencils and dust off your old JanSport bookbag; today is the first day of class, and your professors are authors who are in the western canon.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” — Ernest Hemingway

Prerequisite — Authors in the Western Canon

The western canon is a collection of classic, influential books and cultural works from European and Western traditions.  While there is no formal process for how a book becomes a part of the canon, it happens through conversation and discourse among critics, scholars, and educators who deem it as a “classic” for having a lasting impact on society. Traditionally, western canon has been predominantly made up by white men, but in recent years the canon has grown more diverse, and therefore, we will be deriving our lesson today from a variety of authors from many different backgrounds.

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” — Toni Morrison

Warmup

The video listed below in resources has more examples of famous writers’ exercises, but here is one we will try!

Toni Morrison was an author and the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. She is highly celebrated for her vital role of bringing African American stories into mainstream media.

Morrison taught creative writing at Princeton and asked her students to do the following exercise to practice empathy and stepping outside of one’s comfort zone.

Write about someone you do not know: Imagine their triumphs and struggles, what they value, dislike, how they go about their day-to-day.

Morrison said to her students who had been taught to write what they know their whole lives, “Don’t pay any attention to that. First, because you don’t know anything, and second, because I don’t want to hear about your true love and your mama and your papa and your friends.”

This exercise can help you create a protagonist or antagonist, as it helps you hone your skills of writing well developed characters while also teaching you to see the world with another perspective and enhance your empathy.

“I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.” — Stephen King

Source: Pexels

Writing Advice & Routines

Flannery O’Connor:

Flannery O'Connor is a famous southern gothic writer. She wrote two novels and thirty-one short stories. After her death, her work won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for fiction. O’Connor was strict with her writing routine. She wrote for two hours a day in the morning in the same place without fail. Consistency was her trick, and devotion to her work was her motivation. When I visited her home in Milledgeville, Georgia, the tour guide noted her eccentric layout of her room. She created a private corner of the room that was blocked from the door by a dresser and bed. O'Connor did this so she could hear her mother coming to her, and it gave her just enough time to finish a sentence or thought before facing her mother. O’Connor is quoted saying, “I’m a full-time believer in writing habits. You may be able to do without them if you have genius, but most of us only have talent, and this is simply something that has to be assisted all the time by physical and mental habits or it dries up and blows away. Of course, you have to make your habits conform to what you can do.” Due to her condition of systemic lupus erythematosus, she was only able to write for two hours a day, but consistency and determination are what forged her legacy.

Ernest Hemingway:

Ernest Hemingway was a novelist, short story writer, and journalist. His work is remembered due his influence on twentieth century writing style, which was understated following the flowery style of the Victorian era. He won the Nobel Prize in literature and the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway’s writing routine was similar to O’Connor’s; he was strict with himself and woke in the early morning to write. He started his routine by going over the work he wrote the day before. This technique is a strong one because it allowed him to look at his work with fresh eyes, and he was able to catch mistakes or inconsistencies he was not able to the day before as his ideas were forming. He also kept track of his progress, noting how many words he wrote that day. He did this because he said, “The higher numbers were days when I worked hard so I wouldn’t feel guilty about spending the next day fishing.”

Joan Didion:

Joan Didion was a writer and journalist. Her work stands out because it analyzes culture, politics, literature, family, and loss. It is a well-known fact that Joan Didion was a meticulous keeper of notebooks. She even wrote an essay about it. In her memoir My Year of Magical Thinking, she recalled talking with her husband about fragments of writing she wrote in her notebook and how those would spark conversations and ideas for work for the both of them. Keeping a notebook allowed her to practice her writing muscle, helped her keep a sharp eye and curious heart, which in turn kept her work witty and honest. In her essay, Didion states, “So the point of my keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now, to have an accurate factual record of what I have been doing or thinking. That would be a different impulse entirely, an instinct for reality which I sometimes envy but do not possess.” She used her notebook as an outlet for her “impulse” to write, and because of that, her notebook gave way to work that was rawly human.

James Baldwin:

James Baldwin was a writer and a civil rights activist. He was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain is regarded as an American classic. He would write at night when everyone else had gone to bed, a habit he had since his childhood. His relationship with writing was one of discovery; he believed writing was all about “finding out what you don’t want to know, and what you don’t want to find out”. But he believed that nothing could stop a writer from writing because it was “something that irritates you and won’t let you go. That’s the anguish of it. Do this book or die. You have to go through that. Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lies all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance.” Baldwin believed that writing went beyond discipline, that it was an impulse so strong you could not deny it, so you have to make room for it in your life.

Gabriel Garcia Márquez:

Gabriel Garcia Márquez was a Colombian writer and journalist. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the twentieth century and has won the Nobel Peace Prize and Neustadt International Prize for literature. He once told a crowd in Venezuela in 1970 that writing the story was the most boring part of the process. He said, “Because the most delicious part of a story is thinking about it, rounding it out, turning it over and over, so that when the time comes to sit down and write it, it doesn’t interest you very much, or at least it doesn’t interest me very much, the idea that’s been turned over and over.” So enjoy the process of creating and thinking of the story; you want the act of writing to be a little boring because that means you know the story so well it feels like it's always been there, and it will make it easier to share with others.

“You fail only if you stop writing.” — Ray Bradbury

Conclusion

The biggest takeaway from these authors is that writing is a deeply personal act. You will eventually find what works best for you. Writing is not something that is easy or always rewarding, so you must find ways to remind yourself why you write, reward yourself, and take breaks and be disciplined with your habits. While these authors, and other authors all around the world, are great sources of advice and inspiration, you also must put faith in yourself and your abilities. All of these authors faced rejection, failure, and writer's block. So take your journey day by day and remember that all those that came before you stood in your shoes and therefore prove that your dream of being a writer is possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToB6qr_U9Bk

Resources

Ernest Hemingway’s peculiar writing routine — Unlock your real potential —  A deeper dive into Ernest Hemingway’s writing routine.

I Tried Flannery O’Connor’s Writing Routine — A look into Flannery O’Connor’s writing routine.

On Keeping a Notebook — Joan Didion’s essay on how and why she kept a notebook as a writer.

James Baldwin’s Advice on Writing — Quotes from James Baldwin about his advice on writing and his writing routine.

How I began to Write — Gabriel García Márquez delivered a speech at the Athenaeum of Caracas, in Venezuela, on May 3, 1970, about his writing journey and process.

Emily Williams is the PR and Marketing Director for A.E. Williams Editorial and graduated with a degree in Public Relations and Minor in English from the University of Georgia. She is interested in marketing for the publishing industry and hopes to pursue a career in the field. The draw of reading and the community around books piqued her interest, and she's been hooked ever since! You can connect with her on the company Facebook, LinkedIn, or through email.