Authors trivia
Related Trivia
Biographies, pen names, and complete bibliographies of writers from Shakespeare to Stephen King.
Authors Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Author of The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway maintained focus during writing by using what posture at his desk?
Ernest Hemingway wrote standing at a high desk made from a bookshelf, believing it improved his focus and prevented back strain from long hours seated.
Maya Angelou wrote her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings using what simple tool in rented hotel rooms?
Maya Angelou wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings entirely by hand on yellow legal pads in rented hotel rooms, where she isolated herself without distractions like phones or typewriters.
Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood while lying down in what spot?
Truman Capote wrote much of "In Cold Blood" while lying in bed on a portable typewriter, a habit he said helped him achieve a dreamlike focus for the nonfiction novel.
Agatha Christie got ideas for And Then There Were None while relaxing in what household spot?
Agatha Christie often drew inspiration while bathing, conceiving the isolated island premise for "And Then There Were None" during one such soak in 1939.
Claiming the scent inspired creativity, which German playwright famously kept rotten apples in his writing desk?
Friedrich Schiller kept rotten apples in his desk to sniff their scent, believing it sparked his creativity while writing works like "The Robbers" and "Ode to Joy."
Advice to ruthless editors, what violent phrase suggests deleting favorite lines that do not serve the plot?
"Kill your darlings" is a writing adage attributed to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's 1916 lecture, advising authors to ruthlessly cut cherished but superfluous text to improve the narrative.
To maintain discipline, which "The Old Man and the Sea" author famously typed his manuscripts while standing up?
Ernest Hemingway stood while typing on a Royal typewriter placed atop a bookshelf to mimic the focus of boxing and boost his writing discipline.
Challenging participants to write 50,000 words in November, what is the acronym for National Novel Writing Month?
NaNoWriMo was founded in 1999 by Chris Baty to help aspiring authors overcome procrastination by writing a novel draft in 30 days.
To fuel his writing of "The Human Comedy," which French novelist reportedly drank fifty cups of coffee daily?
Honoré de Balzac's extreme coffee habit, up to 50 cups daily, powered his 15-hour writing marathons to create "The Human Comedy," a vast cycle of 91 novels portraying 19th-century French life.