How the literary greats get their books to the finish line.
As a writer, we have our ups and downs, our good and bad days. This article serves as your dose of inspiration and what better way to get inspired than by visiting the words of writing legends?
1. Stephen King
The best-selling American writer—regarded as the “King of Horror”—has famously said that he writes every day, no matter what. He always aims to write a minimum of 2,000 words per day.
He also advises aspiring writers to read regularly, to write what they love instead of trying to follow trends or write for the sake of money.
Check out his memoir, On Writing. It is a treasure trove of golden advice.
2. J. K. Rowling
The British author has said that she first got the idea for her Harry Potter books while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990. She often carries a notebook with her to jot down ideas and gradually built up a mass of notes.
She wrote mostly in longhand and says she outlines her plots thoroughly before beginning to write. This practice helps her stay organized and focused.
3. Margaret Atwood
The Canadian author has often been asked: “How did you come up with the idea for The Handmaid’s Tale?” Much of her inspiration is derived from real-world events and news. She often asks herself “what if?” questions to spark her imagination.
She advises writers to be disciplined and persistent, to be willing to revise their work extensively.
On finding ideas for stories:
“One never knows where writers get ideas. They just come and there is always more information that you can deal with. Getting the ideas is not the problem, getting the time to sit and work out the ideas is the problem.”
—Margaret Atwood, from a 1990 interview in Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market
4. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Nigerian author of Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah has said that she draws inspiration from her own experiences and observations, that she often writes with a particular audience in mind.
She advises writers to be authentic and true to themselves, to not be afraid to take risks or challenge conventional wisdom.
5. Ernest Hemingway
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls famously advised writers to “write drunk, edit sober”—while this may not be the best advice, it does suggest that Hemingway believed in the importance of being bold and uninhibited in one’s writing.
He suggests you sit down at your writing device and, figuratively, bleed. Let the words pour out, no matter how difficult, and edit later on.
6. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Beloved for his storytelling ability and fantastical imagination, the Colombian author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera believed in the power of storytelling to connect people and cultures.
On writing what you know:
“It’s always easy to tell whether a writer is writing about something that has happened to him or something he has read or been told. Pablo Neruda has a line in a poem that says, “God help me from inventing when I sing.” It always amuses me that the biggest praise for my work comes for the imagination, while the truth is that there’s not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality. The problem is that Caribbean reality resembles the wildest imagination.”
—Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from a 1981 interview with The Paris Review
7. Maya Angelou
The American poet and author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings emphasized the importance of perseverance and hard work in writing.
She is also well-known for having an interesting writing routine; she’d keep a hotel room where she did all her work every day. She rented a room for few months at a time and arrive there each morning, ready to work at 6:30 AM.
8. Haruki Murakami
The Japanese author of Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore believes in routine and discipline in writing.
On his physical and mental habits:
“When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at nine p.m.
I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.
But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity.”
—Haruki Murakami, from a 2004 interview with The Paris Review
9. Virginia Woolf
Considered one of the most innovative writers of the 20th century, the English author of Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse believed in the importance of finding a quiet, private space in which to write.
On finding a room of your own:
“All I could do was to offer you an opinion upon one minor point—a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of woman and the true nature of fiction unsolved.”
—Virginia Woolf, from the 1929 book essay A Room of One’s Own
10. Paulo Coelho
The Brazilian author of The Alchemist and Eleven Minutes emphasize the effect of intuition and spirituality in writing.
On baring your soul:
“If you overload your book with a lot of research you’re going to be very boring to yourself and your readers. Books are not here to show how intelligent and cultivated you are. Books are out there to show your heart, to show your soul, and to tell your fans, readers: you are not alone.”
—Paulo Coelho, from a 2014 interview with The National
11. James Baldwin
The American writer of Go Tell It on the Mountain and Another Country believed that writers should stay true to themselves, even if it goes against what is popular or expected.
On the creative impulse:
“When you’re writing, you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know. The whole language of writing for me is finding out what you don’t want to know, what you don’t want to find out. But something forces you to anyway.”
—James Baldwin, from a 1984 interview with The Paris Review
12. Leo Tolstoy
The Russian author known for his novels War and Peace andAnna Karenina believed in starting first thing in the morning.
On writing when the mind is fresh:
“I always write in the morning. I was pleased to hear lately that Rousseau, too, after he got up in the morning, went for a short walk and sat down to work. In the morning one’s head is particularly fresh. The best thoughts most often come in the morning after waking while still in bed or during the walk.”
—Leo Tolstoy, in a 1899 letter to his friend Ivan D. Sytin
13. F. Scott Fitzgerald
The American writer and author of The Great Gatsby gave writing advices throughout his career.
On not describing your work-in-progress to anyone:
“I think it’s a pretty good rule not to tell what a thing is about until it’s finished. If you do you always seem to lose some of it. It never quite belongs to you so much again.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald in a 1940 letter to his daughter Scotti
14. Edgar Allan Poe
The American author and poet was known as the inventor of the detective fiction genre and a contributor to the emerging science fiction genre. He believed writers needed to know the ending to be able to plot effectively.
On knowing the ending before beginning to write:
“Nothing is more clear than that every plot, worth the name, must be elaborated to its denouement before anything be attempted with the pen. It is only with the denouement constantly in view that we can give a plot its indispensable air of consequence, or causation, by making the incidents, and especially the tone at all points, tend to the development of the intention.”
—Edgar Allan Poe, in the essay The Philosophy of Composition
15. George Orwell
The English novelist well-known for his work 1984 and Animal Farm argued against unclear and clumsy prose in his essay Politics and the English Language published in April 1946.
Orwell’s 6 Rules of Writing:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Now it’s your turn to take back control of your writing and get to work.
We hope these tips have helped you!
The Official Sara 
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