Iconic Writers’ Unusual Habits That Almost Got Them ‘Canceled’ From Society

The Alice in Wonderland writer obviously had a passion for all things whimsical, and this even transmitted itself to his writing style. He’d write his poetry, prose, and complicated wordplay primarily in purple ink! Now that’s a tongue-twister.

There must have been something about bubbles and soap that got the murder mystery-wheels in Agatha Christie’s brain turning, because she’d do some of her best work on stories, like And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, while she was lounging in the tub.

It’s no secret that Oscar Wilde was ahead of his time, and in more ways than one. Yeah, it’s a little strange that he once walked his pet lobster down the street on a leash, but who knows? Maybe pet lobsters will be all the rage in a few years!

You’d have to be a little off your rocker in order to write the dense stream-of-consciousness novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, so it comes as no surprise that by the time Joyce’s eyesight failed, he mainly wrote on pieces of cardboard with brightly-colored crayons.

 If you assumed that wackiness factored heavily into Dr. Seuss’ writing process, you’d be correct! Whenever he found himself struggling with writer’s block, he’d simply go into his closet and try on his hundreds of hats until inspiration struck. That’s how he got the idea for The Cat in the Hat!

Three-time Nobel prize nominee Yukio Mishima actually had a pretty twisted personal life. After founding an emperor-worshipping cult for teenage boys, he stormed the Japanese Defense Headquarters with his young followers and a sword. He was unsuccessful and later died by suicide.

Famed writer Gertrude Stein liked to live the good life, whether she had a deadline or not. Her favorite way to write was by sitting in the passenger seat of her Model-T Ford while her partner, Alice Toklas, drove around running errands. She found people-watching to be a real inspiration!

No one talks about how writing can be just as physically exhausting as it is mentally. D.H. Lawrence certainly knew this, however, because he’d “warm-up” for every writing sesh by climbing mulberry trees — and in the nude, no less!

This novelist and essayist was never afraid to get dark in her writing, but when it came to her pets, she kept them out of harm’s way — especially her poultry. At one point, she owned turkeys, pheasants, quails, ducks, and even peacocks!

Balzac consumed at least 50 cups of coffee a day, and it’s no surprise why: He’d wake up a 1:00 AM, write for seven hours, nap until 9:30 AM, write until 4:00 PM, and then go about his day until 6:00 PM, when he went to bed. It was exhausting just writing that.

Demosthenes would shave off half of his hair so that his ridiculous appearance would motivate him to stay inside and write. He’d write until enough of his hair grew back. Also, in order to strengthen his speaking voice, he’d read his writings over the roaring of the sea, sometimes even with pebbles in his mouth!

 Anyone who can come up with the plot of The Metamorphosis, in which a man wakes up one morning and discovers he’s turned into an insect, must be a little strange. Kafka certainly did nothing to quiet rumors of his strangeness, especially since he would exercise in front of his windows without wearing any clothes.

Evidently, Lord Byron didn’t mind a lot of noise while wrote — not even barking, meowing, chirping, squawking, roaring, or any other sounds animals make. During his life, he owned eight dogs, five cats, three monkeys, some eagles and peacocks, and even a bear.

We thought only athletes used discomfort to motivate themselves, but that certainly wasn’t the case for poet and playwright Freidrich Schiller, who stored rotten apples in his desk drawers because the smell motivated him to write. He’d also dip his feet in ice-cold water during late-night writing sessions!

Before all your co-workers used standing desks so they could avoid falling asleep at their keyboards (and get some exercise), Virginia Woolf used one so she’d be at the same physical level as her sister, who was a painter. So really, it was sibling rivalry and healthy calf muscles that gave us Mrs. Dolloway!

 We’re not about to judge anyone’s writing process, except for maybe short story aficionado John Cheever. It’s one thing to strip down to your underwear in your own home, but to do so in your apartment buildings’ basement? At least we got some good stories out of it.

We’ve heard of spontaneous combustion but never of spontaneous poetry writing! Apparently, a majority of Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem “Marmion” came to him all at once while he was riding a horse. We hope he gave the horse co-writer credit.

As the author of the epic poem Paradise Lost, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that John Milton had his quirks. One of them was waking up at 4:00 every morning and “thinking in solitude” for an hour. Since he was blind, he’d have his aides dictate whatever work of genius he was working on that day.

Dickens was guided by a navigational compass, and we don’t mean metaphorically. He always carried one with him, even if just to his writing desk! He’d also refuse to sleep anywhere that wasn’t pointing due north because he thought it helped his creative flow.