This is an interesting inforgraphic by RescueTime, a personal analytics service. After the 2012 National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), they analyzed the habits of the most successful writers that year and this is what they came up with:

1. Writers are clearly not morning people

The most prolific writers got really humming between the hours of 9 p.m. and midnight

2. Stop checking Facebook

TV used to be the biggest time suck for Stephen King, in his memoir, On Writing. Today it’s our phones, email and social media. Those who logged in the most writing time said they stayed away from checking email socially and chatting during the month.

3. Food counts as a legitimate reason to stop

The top 30% of writers stopped between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., usually a dinner break and a time to connect with real human beings again.

4. Some sprint; others go for the long haul

15% of people who got the most words logged sometimes wrote for more than five hours a day.

5. Don’t be a loner; use the NaNoWriMo virtual community

The top 30% who got the most writing done spent twice as much time on the NaNoWriMo website than those who didn't.

Related stories:

Last year’s featured NaNoWriMo writer: where is she now?

How to get into a Maine virtual writing community