Charles Dickens's Daily Routine

Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His son said no city clerk was ever more methodical.

Mason Currey's Daily Rituals has him at breakfast at 8:00 AM and in his study from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, in absolute quiet. A typical day produced 2,000 words, and on barren days he stayed at the desk anyway, doodling. At 2:00 PM sharp he left for a three-hour walk through London or the countryside, still working the story over. He dined at 6:00 PM and spent the evening with family or friends until midnight, as Meaning Ring's notes on the book retell it.

This suits writers and anyone whose best thinking happens on the move. You get one long morning block, an afternoon that turns the day's problems over on foot, and an evening kept for people. The hour before dinner is a gap in the sources, and the day repeats all week.