Vladimir Nabokov's Daily Routine

Vladimir Nabokov wrote Lolita and Pale Fire in English after a career in Russian and was a serious butterfly scientist on the side. In 1968 he told the New York Times about his winters in Montreux, where his alarm clock was an Alpine chough on the balcony.

The chart, built on the account Mason Currey posted on his Daily Routines blog, has him thinking in bed from 7:30 AM, then shaving, breakfast and a bath before writing at 10:00 AM. A walk by the lake at 11:00 AM split the morning, and after lunch he wrote from 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Evenings went to family Scrabble in a Cyrillic set, reading and, from 11:30 PM, the usual fight with insomnia.

This one suits writers who like their work spread over a long, unhurried day. You get three writing blocks, two walks and a slow evening with family and books. The chart skips his early session at a standing lectern and his two-hour nap, so start earlier if you want the day he described.