PaperWork: I’ve studied daily rituals; now I’m clutching my coffee

I’ve added something to my morning coffee wake-up. A daily ritual.

I open up two books to kickstart my brain – and my mood. I seek inspiration to put my butt in the chair in my den and write. (Anyone who writes knows this is a daily challenge.)

The first book is “A Reader’s Book of Days, True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year” by Tom Nissley.

Perfect. Each page is dedicated to a calendar date. This morning, I read today’s entry for April 1. I’m making notes, of course, which I likely will share after Dec. 31, the last entry.

Today, though, let’s talk about that second book that appropriately is called “Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.”

“I have tried to provide examples of how a variety of brilliant and successful people have confronted many of the same challenges,” explained the author, Mason Currey.

“I wanted to show how grand creative visions translate to small daily increments; how one’s working habits influence the work itself, and vice versa.”

It was fascinating. I finished the book a few days ago – 234 pages of short insights on individual creative routines. I read a couple a day.

The book included many writers, and I was eager to find ideas that would help me. Did it work? Well ... I’ll get to that in a moment.

I can say I am not alone with my struggle to establish a daily writing routine. (Besides this column, I’m supposed to be writing a book.)

The methods varied, but the goals were the same: develop a routine that fits your lifestyle and personality.

Poet W.H. Auden insisted on a rigid time schedule every day, saying, “The surest way to discipline passion is to discipline time.” Like many others, he needed help to sustain such discipline. He turned to wine, many vodka martinis, amphetamines, a morning dose of Benzedrine and a sedative at night.

Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard wrestled with procrastination, and for a period, he even chained himself to his desk for seven hours a day.

Author Georges Simenon had superstitions to deal with. For each novel he wrote, he wore the same clothes throughout. He used tranquilizers to ease anxiety and weighed himself before and after every book.

Need more proof that writing is not easy? When he was writing “The Corrections,” Jonathan Franzen sealed himself in his studio with blinds drawn and lights off. While typing, he wore earplugs, earmuffs and a blindfold.

Poet Maya Angelou could not write at home. She checked into a hotel or motel with “a tiny mean room.” She took her dictionary, Bible, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry.

Author Edith Sitwell, however, preferred to write in bed, starting at 5:30 or 6 a.m., where she’d stay at times into the afternoon.

Author Truman Capote was the same. “I am a completely horizontal author,” he said. “I can’t think unless I’m lying down either in bed or stretched out on a couch and with a cigarette and coffee handy.” He also would not begin or end any project on a Friday.

The book reveals many quirks and some weird habits. All insisted, though, on daily rituals that often included walking or exercise, napping, lots of coffee, a variety of drugs including alcohol and tobacco, and even sex.

So … my habits are not changing because of this book. I embrace the coffee part and the need for ropes and pulleys to drag me to the keyboard. But I think author Bernard Malamud, a creature of habits, summed it up best:

“There’s no one way – there’s too much drivel about this subject. You’re who you are, not Fitzgerald or Thomas Wolfe. You write by sitting down and writing. ... If he or she is not disciplined, no sympathetic magic will help. ...

“Eventually, everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.”

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.