The Writing Room

The habits

• Clear the room: phone away, just paper, a dictionary and a thesaurus

  Weekdays · at 06:55

• Write in a place kept only for writing, 60 min

  Weekdays · at 07:00

• Pages drafted

  Weekdays · ≥ 3 pages

  She has described writing around nine pages in a morning and keeping only two and a half or three after editing.

• A crossword or a game of cards to settle your mind

  Daily

  She kept a deck of cards and crossword puzzles in her writing room.

• Reread this morning’s pages and edit

  Weekdays · at 17:00

• A long writing session away from home: library, café or rented room

  Sat

• The full morning: write from 6:30 to 12:30

  Weekdays · at 06:30 · Advanced

  Her reported routine ran from about 6:30 a.m. to early afternoon in a rented hotel room. Stand up, stretch and drink water every hour.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Maya Angelou. Based on publicly reported routines. General wellness information, not medical advice. Check with a doctor before big changes to your training, sleep or eating.

Optional goal

1. Milestone 1

   Make the room (Week 1)

   A writing space and a project

   • Choose a space you use only for writing
   • Clear the desk and walls of everything but paper and a dictionary
   • Pick one essay, story or chapter to write
   • Set your start time and tell people you are unavailable

2. Milestone 2

   Draft and cut (Weeks 2–6)

   10 finished pages

   • Write every weekday morning before anything else
   • Edit each day’s pages in the late afternoon
   • Reach 30 drafted pages
   • Cut and rewrite down to 10 pages you are proud of