12
The Myth of Creative Inspiration
Franz Kafka is considered one of the most creative and influential writers of the
20th century, but he actually spent most of his time working as a lawyer for the
Workers Accident Insurance Institute. How did Kafka produce such fantastic
creative works while holding down his day job?
By sticking to a strict schedule.
He would go to his job from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, eat lunch and then take a
long nap until 7:30 PM, exercise and eat dinner with his family in the evening,
and then begin writing at 11 PM for a few hours each night before going to bed
and doing it all over again.
Kafka is hardly unique in his commitment to a schedule. As Mason Currey
notes in his popular book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, many of the world’s
great artists follow a consistent schedule.
Maya Angelou rented a local hotel room and went there to write. She arrived
at 6:30 AM, wrote until 2 PM, and then went home to do some editing. She
never slept at the hotel.
Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon writes five nights per week from
10 PM to 3 AM.
Haruki Murakami wakes up at 4 AM, writes for five hours, and then goes for