Buzz
Jack Kerouac regarded alcoholism as a tool for spiritual growth. Benjamin Franklin began each day with an air bath—spending thirty minutes each morning in his birthday suit by an open window—to read, write, and stimulate his mind. T.S. Eliot was known to wear green-tinted face powder and lipstick, while poet Friedrich von Schiller found his muse in the smell of decaying apples.
Was their brilliance a product of their unusual quirks, or did these peculiar habits emerge from their already eccentric natures? If you're looking for a creative spark, consider trying out these ideas—but do so at your own risk.
10. Edgar Allan Poe
In the 1800s, authors didn't have the fast word-processing tools we do today, so handwriting was often the quicker option. But Edgar Allan Poe took it a step further, writing his works on long strips of paper, joined together with sealing wax. This unconventional method made his editors uneasy.
Poe’s short stories were not for the faint-hearted; they were so dark and gruesome that many of his contemporaries found them nearly impossible to read. It wasn’t until long after his death that his work was embraced by the literary establishment. Poe’s cat also played a vital part in his creative life. Poe referred to his cherished tabby, Catterina, as his “literary guardian.”
9. Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu
Meet one of the most prolific inventors of the modern age, who you may not have heard of. Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu (who prefers to be addressed as Sir Dr. NakaMats) patented the floppy disk in 1952 and has secured over 3,300 patents throughout his 74 years of life. Many of his most groundbreaking ideas came to him when he was on the brink of drowning. Dr. NakaMats believes that long, airless durations underwater benefit the mind.
“To deprive the brain of oxygen,” says the man, “you must dive deep and let the water pressure cut off the blood supply to the brain. Just half a second before death, I visualize an invention.” The Japanese inventor then scribbles his idea on an underwater notepad before swimming back to the surface.
What’s another secret to Nakamatsu’s creative success? Brainstorming in a “calm room,” which happens to be a bathroom tiled in 24-karat gold. Dr. NakaMats claims that the gold tiles block out harmful television and radio waves, protecting the creative process. The room is also nail-free, as he believes that “nails reflect thinking.”
8. Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie, the author of 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, didn’t write at a desk. In fact, she never had an office. For instance, she wrote Murder on the Orient Express in the hotel room shown above. However, she did use a typewriter; for Christie, the act of typing was an essential part of her creative process.
Christie’s writing process was often unstructured. She would write wherever inspiration struck, whether at a kitchen table or in her bedroom. At times, she began writing without even knowing the plot, often starting with the murder scene details before moving forward.
7. Honore de Balzac
Think you’re hooked on coffee? Chances are your caffeine habit doesn’t compare to that of French novelist Honore de Balzac. The legendary writer consumed up to 50 cups of coffee daily, hardly sleeping as he worked on his monumental masterpiece, La Comedie Humaine.
In “The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee,” a 1830s French magazine article, Balzac wrote about coffee in extravagant, poetic terms. “This coffee falls into your stomach, and immediately a general commotion occurs,” he described. “Ideas begin to stir like the battalions of the Grand Army on the battlefield, and the battle begins. Forgotten things rush back at full gallop, following the wind.”
6. Sigmund Freud
A trailblazer in what we now know as neuroscience, Freud revolutionized our understanding of the subconscious, reshaping the way psychologists explore the human mind. Freud’s own peculiarities? Nicotine—and cocaine.
The psychoanalyst’s addiction began early, and before long, he was smoking almost non-stop. A concerned friend and physician eventually warned Freud that his constant cigar smoking was triggering a dangerous cardiac arrhythmia.
Freud attempted to quit, but he experienced intense depression throughout the process. Just how severe was it? “Shortly after quitting smoking,” he wrote, “I was struck with a severe affection of the heart, worse than anything I had while smoking... and along with it, a depression of mood where images of dying and farewell scenes constantly replayed, replacing my usual fantasies.” Freud simply couldn’t give up the habit—even after undergoing 33 surgeries on his mouth and jaw to remove cancer caused by it.
The man also experimented with self-treatment using high doses of cocaine. His ultimate creation from this addiction was his Cocaine Papers, a “song of praise to this magical substance.”
5. Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein wasn't just a brilliant mind—he was also a slow-to-speak child, facing difficulties with language that worried both his parents and doctors. His natural resistance to authority, combined with this delayed development, gave him the opportunity to deeply consider fundamental concepts like space and time. This curiosity sparked profound questions and eventually led to his groundbreaking theory of relativity.
Einstein’s eccentricities remained with him throughout his life. His chauffeur recalled an unusual moment when Einstein plucked a grasshopper from the ground and ate it. He also frequently took his violin with him on birdwatching trips, playing it while tears streamed down his face.
4. Nikola Tesla
Without Nikola Tesla, our comprehension of electricity might still be far behind where it is today. Tesla was behind more than 300 patents, including inventions like electromagnets, the radio, and the AC motor. However, unlike Einstein, Tesla wasn’t always eccentric—he only developed these quirks later in life.
Tesla was known to start his workday at 3:00 AM and not stop until 11:00 PM. This intense routine caused him to suffer a mental breakdown at the age of 25. After recovering, he maintained the same punishing schedule for the rest of his life, working without respite for up to 38 years.
Though he was celibate, Tesla had a peculiar fondness for pigeons. He also had strong aversions: He couldn’t stand overweight women and had an intense dislike for jewelry, particularly pearls.
3. Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens, a renowned social reformer in Victorian London, was a highly productive author, though he exhibited certain obsessive behaviors. An employee recalled how Dickens couldn’t bear a stray hair, so he kept a comb close by and combed his hair several times a day, even hundreds of times.
Dickens was also known for his meticulousness when it came to the arrangement of his study. Researchers who have studied his life and writings have suggested that his exacting nature could be attributed to a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and some have even speculated about a possible connection to epilepsy.
Another of his creative habits was pacing while he worked. He would dictate his ideas to an assistant, who took on the task of writing them down. The pair often refined each sentence, revising word choices and reordering phrases multiple times before proceeding to the next part.
2. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison’s research assistants had to endure a rigorous interview process, which included the peculiar task of eating a bowl of soup while being observed by the famous inventor himself. Edison paid close attention to whether potential hires seasoned their food before tasting it. If they added salt to the soup without first trying it, he would immediately dismiss them. This test was designed to identify those who approached tasks with too many preconceived notions.
Edison, like many other brilliant minds, did not adhere to the conventional need for sleep. Instead, he followed a polyphasic sleep cycle, a nap-based pattern intended to maximize his waking hours over a lifetime. This sleep method has gained popularity in recent years, appealing to those hoping to boost their productivity. However, most studies on polyphasic sleep have produced rather sluggish outcomes.
1. Stephen King
Writers and educators often hold almost fanatical beliefs about punctuation and grammar—ever witnessed two grammar purists passionately debate the Oxford comma? Stephen King is no exception, expressing strong opinions on grammar, even to the point of composing 2,000 words daily, all without a single adverb.
In his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King boldly states, “I believe the road to hell is paved by adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” King presents a compelling argument (which any true lover of words would admire) for writing that avoids adverbs. He believes adverbs dilute the meaning and specificity of the sentence. “Adverbs were created with the timid writer in mind,” he insists.
King is one of the most prolific contemporary authors, with his works consistently making it to the New York Times Best Seller list. He attributes much of his success to his daily writing habit of drafting 2,000 words—adverb-free—even on holidays.
