Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
Ratings28
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings28
Average rating3.3
[Franz Kafka](/authors/OL33146A), frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912 "time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers."
Kafka is one of 161 inspired—and inspiring—minds, among them, novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, who describe how they subtly maneuver the many (self-inflicted) obstacles and (self-imposed) daily rituals to get done the work they love to do, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. [Thomas Wolfe](/authors/OL4359988) wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his "male configurations"… [Jean-Paul Sartre](/authors/OL117592A) chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day… [Descartes](/authors/OL116826A) liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced "every pleasure imaginable."
Here are:
* [Anthony Trollope](/authors/OL29698A), who demanded of himself that each morning he write three thousand words (250 words every fifteen minutes for three hours) before going off to his job at the postal service, which he kept for thirty-three years during the writing of more than two dozen books…
* [Karl Marx](/authors/OL48230A)…
* [Woody Allen](/authors/OL583968A)…
* [Agatha Christie](/authors/OL27695A)…
* [George Balanchine](/authors/OL1916006A), who did most of his work while ironing…
* [Leo Tolstoy](/authors/OL26783A)…
* [Charles Dickens](/authors/OL24638A)…
* [Pablo Picasso](/authors/OL44790A)…
* [George Gershwin](/authors/OL67761A), who, said his brother [Ira](/authors/OL233692A), worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers…
Here also are the daily rituals of [Charles Darwin](/authors/OL35839A), [Andy Warhol](/authors/OL49653A), [John Updike](/authors/OL27078A), [Twyla Tharp](/authors/OL832781A), [Benjamin Franklin](/authors/OL26170A), [William Faulkner](/authors/OL21831A), [Jane Austen](/authors/OL21594A), [Anne Rice](/authors/OL39486A), and [Igor Stravinsky](/authors/OL119330A) (he was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to "clear the brain"). Brilliantly compiled and edited, and filled with detail and anecdote, Daily Rituals is irresistible, addictive, magically inspiring.
Reviews with the most likes.
The format surprised me. It's really a compendium of one creative person's routine after another. Looking for patterns, gleaning insight from an artist's routine, or understanding the connection between an artist's routine and his or her productivity are exercises left to the reader.
I found it very inspiring to see how people were able to get things done despite having serious challenges in their lives. The general lesson is: don't wait for inspiration, just put in the work every day, even if it's just a few hours.
The rituals were interesting, but thought there would be a bit more behind it then just 2-3 pages on each person, no sort of commentary or analysis.
If you are a writer or an artist of any size or sort, and you are curious about what are the routines other writers and artists (of any size or sort) established to help them achieve fame, fortune, and all the other things that writers and artists—perhaps secretly, perhaps not—hope for...If this is you, then this is your book.
I've read it all, and let me tell you, there's no one True Way to Make Art. Some work at night; some work in the day. Some organize their workspace down to the location of their pencils and pens; some work in any available space. Some work crazy-fast; others barely produce anything each day.
That seems to take the pressure off, somehow. And it's really fun to read about all the ways these folks work.
