Daily Rituals summary

Did you know that Richard Wright wrote the first draft of a 500-page novel in a mere five months? An impressive feat – but also one in large part made possible by the New York Writer’s Program, which provided him with a full-time salary during this period. Most artists, both past and present, only ever dream of being so fortunate.

Great minds are often crippled by a lack of time and money. For example, Wolfgang Mozart had to put up with an arduous schedule in order to make ends meet; most of his time was dedicated either to teaching or to socializing with the many patrons who helped finance his music. He only had time to work on his compositions at night, and he would often keep at it until 1:00 a.m., a mere five hours before the beginning of his next hectic day.

Which words do you think pop up most frequently in the biographical writings of the world’s greatest minds? Words like “inspiration,” maybe, or “love”? Actually, one of the most recurrent words is “coffee.”

Thanks to its ability to kick the brain into action, coffee is widely and wildly popular, and creative minds in particular have such a penchant for java that they develop routines and ceremonies based on their daily consumption.

You probably think of artists as city dwellers working in the run-down studios of some bohemian neighborhood, taking breaks to meet in cliques at the local cafe. However, many artists and thinkers seek inspiration in seclusion and nature.

Take Carl Jung, for instance, who built himself a stone house near a remote village on the lake of Zurich. His amenities comprised a fireplace, some oil lamps and a nearby lake from which he fetched water. In this sanctuary, far from the frenzy of city life, he carved out the time to write and reflect.

Being creative can be a hard slog, especially if you get stuck and end up procrastinating or traipsing through the day without producing anything satisfying. But there is no cure-all remedy when it comes to creativity, and different working rhythms can produce equally effective results.

The composer Benjamin Britten, for instance, detested the idea of inspiration and believed in hard work alone. Some of his colleagues even complained that his life was his work, as his creativity seemed to be so all encompassing.

Sitting around while trying to create can drain you both mentally and physically. There are ways to pep yourself up, though, from traditional exercise and fresh air to some less orthodox practices, as you’ll see below.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, walking and other sports are popular among creative people. Kierkegaard, one such enthusiast, spent most of his afternoons walking through Copenhagen; in fact, it was while walking that he had his best ideas. When inspiration struck, he would hurry home and, standing at his desk, write down his idea, his hat still on his head.

Some world-renowned thinkers and artists collaborated with other eminent creators; Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were one such duo. But as well as collaborating for work, many creators emphasize the importance of friends and partners, who often help with the more practical and mundane parts of life.

For example, Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein’s partner, managed all practical aspects of the household, who would wake up at 6 a.m. so that all would be prepared for Ms. Stein when she awoke four hours later.

Whether true or not, it’s long been thought that women are inherently adept multitaskers. It’s certainly true that, historically, female artists have had to devise ways of navigating spousal and societal strictures if they hoped to meet with success.

Before women’s liberation movements in the twentieth century, women who were able to dedicate their life to creative work were few and far between.