Stand Up, Sit Down: How Do You Write?

There are so many different ways to write. There's the sit-seriously-at-your-computer tactic, the lie-on-your-stomach technique, and the lounge-in-a-hammock-with-journal-on-belly method. Every writer has a different style—even famous writers, who sell their secrets to millions of fans. Here are some of our favorite writers, and their styles:

Virginia Woolf: Call her crazy (many have), but Woolf put it simply: "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." That pretty much says it all. Kick out that sibling/roommate, get some breathing room, and buy yourself a nice fountain pen.
August Wilson: The Pittsburgh-born playwright didn't sit down at all—he wrote everything standing up at his typewriter so he could easily pace around the room and act out his scenes. (See, you're not the only person who talks to him/herself.)

Ernest Hemingway: The famous novelist/fisherman/bullfighter had a penchant for writing in cafes. He loved to sit at a table in public and scratch out passages, but he hated being interrupted, even by close friends.

David Sedaris: The world's most eccentric living humorist still uses an old-fashioned typewriter. He finds computers boring, and much prefers the loud snapping of keys.

Premchand: Not many people read this guy anymore (most of his books are in Hindi and Urdu), but he's one famous author who could only write lying on his stomach with his legs waving up in the air. He wrote over 300 short stories this way!

Anais Nin: Nin is one of the greatest diarists of all time. She wrote volume after volume of personal writings, and then she published them, spilling her secrets to the world. What's more: She wrote mostly in bed, late at night, sometimes with her husband asleep next to her (if only he'd known she was often writing about him).

How do you write?

Related Post: Fiction Writing: How to Name Your Characters