Maximizing Creativity

To be successful creative people need to have some latitude in structuring their own working environments — though there does have to be some order too, if businesses are to succeed. The most important rule of thumb for being a successful writer (or any creative person, for that matter) is to make a habit of your craft.

“No professional writer can afford only to write when he feels like it,” said author and playwright Somerset Maugham. “If he waits till he is in the mood, till he has the inspiration, he waits indefinitely and ends by producing little or nothing.”

Nevertheless, a friend recently sent me some very interesting examples (via Neatorama) of the daily routines of a number of celebrated figures, including the following world-renowned writers:

• Winston Churchill dictated from his bed in the morning and always took a nap at 5:00 pm.

• Charles Darwin smoked a cigarette every day at 3:00 pm. He found conversation exhausting and spent no more than 30 minutes on a single conversation.

• Ernest Hemingway wrote until he “knew what was going to happen next” — then he stopped.

• Best-selling author Roald Dahl wrote from 10:00 am to noon — then he tended to his farm.

• Stephen King starts his day with a glass of water or a cup of tea. Then — sometime between 8:00 am and 8:30 am — he takes his vitamins and sits in his usual chair, with all his papers arranged in their customary places. He says that “the cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, ‘You’re going to be dreaming soon.’”

Therefore, the creative road to success is not always the obvious road.

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