Exceeding in popularity and fame, the best authors demonstrate remarkable technique in work that persists through time. Whether masters of language and style or philosophy and observation, mankind?s most reveled writers combine experience with knowledge to produce work that we cannot imagine life without.
But the road to successful authorship is difficult and personal. No two people have done it the same. There exist similarities, however, between writers in ritual and procedure ? the way in they which operate outside of writing.
Here are three of America?s most praised writers who preluded?attempts to write?in a similar manner: by taking a moment to enjoy a quality cigar.
Author, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Most apparently known for his essays and poems, Ralph Waldo Emerson impressed his readers ? both past and present ? with his progressive and enlightened work.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and spending ample time in the outdoors, this poet, author and essayist fancied the understanding that all of God?s creations, both animate and inanimate, connected to their creator. All objects, according to Ralph Waldo Emerson, should be considered divine. This mentality led him to oppose common practices such as slavery. It also encouraged him to write works that awakened the spirit. Most notably, his essay, ?Self-Reliance? deemed necessary one?s courage of conviction. Poem, ?Give Love to All,? on the other hand, stressed the importance of deploying?love to all?facets of life.
With a curious mind and passion for nature, it?s no wonder why Emerson commonly enjoyed a?his cigars.
Author, Ernest Hemingway
Self-christened with the nickname,??Papa,? author Ernest Hemingway amazed the world with his terse, yet expository prose. Comprising the American?s days outside of writing were his engagements in fishing, hunting, traveling, bullfighting, and war. After all, without the set of knowledge required for expertise in these fields, Hemingway may have never completed, let along begun his acclaimed works of
For Whom the Bell Tolls,
The Sun Also Rises, and
The Old Man and the Sea, among others.
Perhaps more associated with the native mid-Western writer: his indulgence in booze and smokes. No stranger to an alcoholic drink and quality cigar, Ernest Hemingway demonstrated, however unsustainably, just how complimentary drinking and smoking can be to writing successfully.
Author, Mark Twain
Often referred to as the Father of American Literature, Mark Twain spent most of his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri. Using his surroundings as inspiration for his most celebrated work,
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin, the southern-American captured the hearts of the American public with his humor, social critique, and progressive desire to abolish slavery and emancipate African Americans.
Returning to Earth?s solar system every 74 ? 79 years, Halley?s Comet aligned with both the birth and death of Mark Twain ? a phenomenon that the author himself hoped would occur. Perhaps accompanying his legacy and signifying the type of person he was other than his writing: his deep love for smoking tobacco, through a pipe or by means of cigar.