Let's play a game. Match the writer with their unusual quirk:
The Writers
1. Charles Dickens
2. Dan Brown
3. Wallace Stevens
4. Sir Walter Scott
5. George Bernard Shaw
6. PBW
7. Dr. Maya Angelou
8. Ernest Hemingway
9. T.S. Eilot
10. John Steinbeck
The Quirks
A. Wore green-tinted face powder and lipstick while writing.
B. Always wrote standing up due to pain from an old leg injury.
C. Wrote in a shed mechanized to slowly revolve.
D. Wrote on horseback.
E. Would take a Bible, a copy of Roget's Thesaurus, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry to a small hotel room to write.
F. Stopped every hour while writing to do sit-ups, push-ups and stretches.
G. Kept a comb nearby and used it hundreds of times per day while writing.
H. Could not write with loose hair; always wore it tightly bound, braided or pinned up while writing.
I. Wrote while walking.
J. Always kept twelve perfectly sharpened pencils on the desk.
Post your best guesses (no Googling!) and tell us if you have an unusual writing quirk, too. The correct answers will be provided in comments at the end of the day.
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Good game! Here I go…
ReplyDelete1 I
2 E
3 J
4 D
5 C
6 H
7 G
8 B
9 A
10 F
I knew three of them, which I thought would give me a good start. But guessing the others wasn't easy.
I expect my quirk is quite common. When I'm plotting a complicated turn of events, I like to sit on my roof at night.
Thanks for this. I enjoyed it! :)
These I know:
ReplyDelete2 F
8 B
9 J
I like to picture George Bernard Shaw writing whilst covered in green face powder, but I suspect that he wrote whilst walking. The others I daren't guess.
Sorry I forgot to post the answers last night (I was finishing up a book, and my brain was a little extra crispy). Here they are:
ReplyDelete9A - T.S. Eilot wore green-tinted face powder and lipstick while writing; evidently he believed it made him look cadaverous and therefore more like a poet.
8B - Ernest Hemingway always wrote standing up due to pain from an old leg injury (and you can see a pic of him and read about his makeshift desk here: http://www.openculture.com/2013/10/ernest-hemingway-standing-desk.html)
5C - George Bernard Shaw wrote in a shed mechanized to slowly revolve. He built it himself, and would turn it to follow the sun, which provided the lighting via a window. Actually pretty ingenious, as you can read here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/george-bernard-shaws-rotating-138581
4D - Sir Walter Scott wrote on horseback. Which I think might be the most impressive quirk of all.
7E - Dr. Maya Angelou would take a Bible, a copy of Roget's Thesaurus, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry to a small hotel room to write. I'm fascinated by the items she took with her, especially the cards.
2F - Fitness nut Dan Brown stops every hour while writing to do sit-ups, push-ups and stretches.
1G - Charles Dickens kept a comb nearby and used it hundreds of times per day while writing. Evidently quite vain about his appearance, Charles in particular could not stand having a hair out of place.
6H - PBW cannot not write with loose hair; always wears it tightly bound, braided or pinned up while writing. I've never been able to write or work at anything with my hair loose. I feel tidier with my hair up or back, but it probably dates back to my military years when I was not permitted to wear my hair down while in uniform.
3I - Wallace Stevens wrote while walking. I can't even chew gum and do that! Ha.
10J - John Steinbeck always kept twelve perfectly sharpened pencils on the desk. I would have kept one pencil and a pencil sharpener, but there you go.