Famous Writers’ Morning Habits: How to Start The Day, Get Inspired and Do Your Best Writing

I’m a writer, and a lover of early mornings. And I believe that these two fit together perfectly.

Writing in the morning (be it for work or not) is one of the best ways to start the day, improve yourself, be less stressed and more creative and positive in general.

And why not do your best work during or right after your morning routine?!

Some of the most famous writers have created a morning writing ritual. And once they see the benefits it brings to their work and life, they quickly decide to make it a permanent part of their day.

So here are the habits and rituals you can do each morning to become a better writer, get more done, feel accomplished before others have even woken up and make your days successful:

The Best Writing Morning Habits You Can Develop

I will share them in 5 different categories.

I’ll talk about:

• why do it first thing in the morning;

• how to get inspired and actually get yourself to work;

• how to change your environment for success, creativity and productivity;

• things to do to be disciplined and organized and how to take your work seriously (especially if you work from home);

• how to have a mindset shift, enjoy your work and be present.

1. Making The Most of The Early Morning.

Get up early.

The first hours of the day are a big inspiration for creative souls.

Many writers have done their most productive work before dawn. Here are some examples:

“Every day for years, Trollope reported in his “Autobiography,” he woke in darkness and wrote from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., with his watch in front of him.

He required of himself two hundred and fifty words every quarter of an hour. If he finished one novel before eight-thirty, he took out a fresh piece of paper and started the next. The writing session was followed, for a long stretch of time, by a day job with the postal service. Plus, he said, he always hunted at least twice a week.

Under this regimen, he produced forty-nine novels in thirty-five years. Having prospered so well, he urged his method on all writers: “Let their work be to them as is his common work to the common laborer. No gigantic efforts will then be necessary. He need tie no wet towels round his brow, nor sit for thirty hours at his desk without moving,—as men have sat, or said that they have sat.” ~ Anthony Trollope [source]

In The Daily Routines of 12 Famous Writers (And How They Can Help You Succeed), James Clear has collected a few powerful and inspiring examples:

• “When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours.” (Haruki Murakami);

• “When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. (Ernest Hemingway);

• “I awake at 5:30, work until 8:00, eat breakfast at home, work until 10:00…” (Kurt Vonnegut);

• “I tend to wake up very early. Too early. Four o’clock is standard. My morning begins with trying not to get up before the sun rises. But when I do, it’s because my head is too full of words, and I just need to get to my desk and start dumping them into a file. I always wake with sentences pouring into my head. So getting to my desk every day feels like a long emergency.” (Barbara Kingsolver);

Most of the times even reading about such people’s routines can be an inspiration boost and get you to your desk.

The early morning is the best part of the day for such creative activity (but which is still work) for a few reasons:

• no one distracts you;

• you’ve just woken up and your mind isn’t overwhelmed with the daily lifestyle and other people’s problems. So you will be thinking clearly and will be able to unleash the creativity within;

• there’s nothing else you should be doing (which can be a distraction itself);

• you can enjoy the silence and peace that can only be found in the early morning;

• writing and drinking your morning coffee are a great combination.

2. Finding Inspiration in The Early Hours of The Day and Getting Yourself to Work.

To get in the right mood to write productively, do some of these:

Read the last thing you wrote.

Simone de Beauvoir said “I spend a quarter or half an hour reading what I wrote the day before, and I make a few corrections. Then I continue from there. In order to pick up the thread I have to read what I’ve done.” in an interview.

Make an outline.

Do it like A.J. Jacobs:

“I am a big fan of outlining. I write an outline. Then a slightly more detailed outline. Then another with even more detail. Sentences form, punctuation is added, and eventually it all turns into a book.” (source)

Just read something inspiring.

Choose something that can motivate you, give you a productivity boost and just get you to work. Be it poetry, quotes, your favorite personal development blog, just read a few paragraphs/pages.

Then write down your thoughts on it. This will get you going. After that, continue with the writing you do for work.

Get in the mood by thinking how your writing can inspire.

Try morning pages.

This simple practice is one of the life-changing habits you can develop that will turn your life around in the long term.

The benefits are countless – you clear your mind, start your day by doing a creative activity, generate ideas, share your thoughts and thus feel free and relaxed for the whole day, focus easily and improve your writing and creative thinking.

There are health benefits too. You reduce stress. You can complain to the morning pages about everything that bothers you. This way you let your negative energy out and are more relaxed and calm during the whole day.

Morning pages make you use both the left side of your brain (the rational one) and the right one (where creativity is).

When combined, your brain becomes more powerful and you generate ideas, think of ways t