Writers are creatures of ritual. For some, it’s as simple as a cup of coffee at the same time each morning. For others, it borders on the eccentric, like hiding their clothes to avoid distraction or even lying in a coffin. But whether practical, mystical, or downright strange, rituals serve a purpose. They signal the mind and body that it’s time to write. Below, you’ll find a collection of the ways famous authors prepared themselves to face the blank page.
Time-Based Rituals
Toni Morrison – Woke before dawn, drank coffee, and watched the sunrise before beginning.
Isabel Allende – Always began a new book on January 8, a personal sacred date.
Simone de Beauvoir – Started at 10 a.m. with coffee and wrote until 1 p.m., then resumed in the late afternoon,
Stephen King – Writes every day (even holidays) around 8–8:30 a.m., treating it like “creative sleep.”
Ernest Hemingway – Wrote first thing in the morning, when his mind was clear and no one could disturb him.
Haruki Murakami – Up at 4 a.m., writes for 5–6 hours, then runs or swims; repeats daily.
Anthony Trollope – Wrote for exactly 3 hours each morning before work at the post office, using a stopwatch.
Place & Environment Rituals
Maya Angelou – Rented bare hotel rooms, lying on the bed with only a Bible, dictionary, thesaurus, sherry, and cards.
Virginia Woolf – Used a tall standing desk, arranging papers around her like an artist’s palette.
Gertrude Stein – Wrote in her parked car while her partner Alice B. Toklas was nearby.
Agatha Christie – Had no set writing desk; often wrote anywhere—on a kitchen table, in a bathtub, or perched in bed.
Edith Wharton – Wrote in bed every morning, tossing pages on the floor for her secretary to collect.
Truman Capote – Called himself a “completely horizontal author,” writing while lying down with coffee and cigarettes.
Roald Dahl – Wrote in a small shed at the bottom of his garden, in a sleeping bag, on a yellow legal pad.
Mark Twain – Wrote in a billiard room to keep away from household noise.
Objects & Talismans
Maya Angelou – Bible, cards, bottle of sherry, dictionary, thesaurus.
Gustave Flaubert – Surrounded himself with strange objects and exotic art for inspiration.
Charles Dickens – Needed his writing desk arranged with specific objects: paper knife, blue ink, fresh flowers, and figurines.
Victor Hugo – Had his servant hide his clothes to prevent him from leaving the house; he wrote wrapped in a blanket.
Friedrich Schiller – Kept rotting apples in his desk drawer, claiming their smell fueled his creativity.
Nabokov – Wrote on index cards, storing them in boxes so he could shuffle and reorder scenes.
Body & Rhythm Rituals
Joyce Carol Oates – Handwrites drafts in the morning, before talking to anyone.
Muriel Spark – Drank coffee before writing but allowed herself a glass of whisky afterward.
Honoré de Balzac – Drank up to 50 cups of coffee a day to sustain long writing marathons.
Jack Kerouac – Lit candles before writing and prayed to his “Creator” for guidance.
W. H. Auden – Took Benzedrine (an amphetamine) daily to maintain productivity, then downers at night to sleep.
Edgar Allan Poe – Wrote best with a cat on his shoulder.
Dame Edith Sitwell – Began writing while lying in an open coffin to sharpen her focus (!).
Regularity & Discipline
Ray Bradbury – Wrote every single day, believing quantity was the only path to quality.
Anthony Trollope – Timed himself with a stopwatch, writing 250 words every 15 minutes.
Henry Miller – Followed a strict daily schedule that included both writing and other creative or physical activities.
Flannery O’Connor – Kept her writing time short but steady due to lupus; two hours each morning, no excuses.
Kurt Vonnegut – Wrote from 5:30 a.m. until 10 a.m., then exercised, swam, did chores, and drank Scotch by 5 p.m.
The rituals of writers are as varied as their voices. Some needed stillness, others motion. Some relied on objects, others on strict schedules. The common thread is intention: each found a way to cross the threshold from ordinary life into creative life.
You don’t need to rent a hotel room like Maya Angelou or drink Balzac’s 50 cups of coffee, but experimenting with your own pre-writing ritual—a place, an object, a time of day—might help you slip more easily into your writing flow. After all, the ritual isn’t the point. The writing is.
Looking for support in your writing life and tips on creating your own pre-writing rituals?
Learn more about Alchemy of Writing.
Sending you mad writing mojo…
Happy writing!
Johnnie
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Watch my YouTube video about pre-writing rituals.