Used specific ink colors for different types of writing.
Took daily long (20 mile) walks, trying to get lost to spark creativity.
(He had some rather great expectations)
Was blind, and wrote through dictation. If his aide was late, he would complain that he needed to be 'milked'.
(His life with sight must have seemed like a paradise lost)
Insisted on using artificial light while writing.
(He would probably enjoy writing in a cave of steel)
Ate apples in the bathtub while writing.
(She started with many, and then there were none)
Insisted upon writing only in pencil.
Forced himself to write by locking his clothes away.
(The house arrest probably left him feeling like his famously reclusive character.)
Drafted all fiction on a particular shade of blue paper.
After running out on a journey, he felt the resulting fiction, written on plain white paper, suffered greatly.
Drank incredible amounts of black coffee to write in long stretches often lasting more than 48 hours at a time.
Wrote while lying on his stomach in bed and wearing a white coat. Also normally wrote in crayon.
For many years, wrote in small, plain hotel rooms with only a dictionary, a Bible, a deck of cards, and a bottle of sherry.
Wrote best when his beloved cat, Catterina, sat on his shoulders.
Tinted face green with powder to appear dead.
Preferred purple ink for writing (a leftover habit from years of teaching).
Micro-managed every aspect of life, including social engagements and meals, well in advance.
Kept a drawer full of rotting apples in the desk at which he worked.
Wrote notes on hundreds of index cards and filed them for later use in books.
Wouldn't begin or end a work on Friday, wouldn't stay in a hotel room having '13' anywhere in the number, and never left more than three cigarette butts in the ashtray.
(Despite all these quirks, at least he wasn't out killing farmers in Kansas.)
Prayed to Jesus before writing to preserve his mind, since he was 'pretty sure' it was going.
Kept a painting of his nemesis on the wall of his study, looking down on him writing.
Bought a traditional Gypsy wagon to write in.
(Good thing he wasn't a giant, even a friendly one.)
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