Murakami’s work time arrangement is high effective; he works three hours at one go in the morning, afternoon, and evening. If my memory serves me right, I once read his works detailing his time arrangement to write his own fiction during daytime, and translate English-language works into Japanese language after dinner. Or he makes good use of evening time to work on what has not been completed during the day.
Such is a good arrangement as he does not have too much a physical and psychological burden. And during his free time, he gets to enjoy swimming and running, as well as reading.
Some writers can work for more than ten hours over many consecutive days. They have my respect. Anthony Seldon, the authority of British political biographies, said he spent sixteen hours every day for several months when he was writing Blair Unbound. The sheer amount of details and excellent writing were all thanks to the hard work of Seldon’s and his research and editing team. And I have to say that British writers write English in a style that always fascinates me.
I do not crave for a physical strength that allows me to work for more than ten hours everyday. All I wish is to produce good English and Chinese writing during my own three-hour work sessions.
村上春樹的工作時間分配相當有效率，即早午晚各工作三小時。若沒記錯，以前就讀過他寫白天創作小說、晚上翻譯西洋作品的生活方式。又或者晚上是處理白天仍未做完的事情。這個方法很好，一來身體與精神負擔不會太重，二來可以分配時間準時運動、看書。
有些寫作人長期一天工作十多個小時，我都非常佩服。英國政治自傳大師 Anthony Seldon 說他寫《Blair Unbound》連續幾個月每天寫16 個小時，資料之詳盡、文筆之流暢，英國人寫的英文總是讓我讀得如癡如醉，其實背後都是大師與編輯團隊的苦功。
我不敢奢望一直有體力每天工作十多個小時，祇是希望每一個三小時的工作時段都寫得出優美得體的英國與中國語文。
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