There is a certain sub-category of the species artist that exists in most societies around the world; it is known as the writer. A highly reclusive creature that appears to shun the company of others while working, little is known of its daily routine or working habits. In an attempt to come to a deeper understanding of the subject matter, I have gone into the field to observe a writer in his natural habitat. The one I’ve chosen seems to be fairly typical of the species, but we know so little about them he may, in fact, be unique.

His basic details are as follows. He is forty-five, married with no children, and lives in South-eastern Ontario, Canada. Over the course of more than a year, I have observed his morning routine on an almost daily basis. It is my hope that through continued observation and consultation with other experts in the field, insight may be gained into the nature of this beast. By exposing his characteristics and monitoring his behaviour patterns, it could be possible to draw some conclusions about this subject in particular and writers in general. The following is a distillation of those many mornings of observation compressed into one typical block of time.

12:30am – 2:00am: After what appears to have been a restless sleep, the subject gets out of bed and wanders into the bathroom. After relieving himself, he enters the kitchen and precedes to plug in his laptop, start the coffee he's prepared the night before, and feed some sort of treat to his four cats. He then puts out a fresh plate of food for the cats and seats himself in front of the laptop.

His first step is to read a newspaper online, starting with the sports section, then the arts, and finally the front section. Occasionally he will swear under his breath or utter similar exclamations. He will conclude his reading of the newspaper by doing the crossword puzzle that he only occasionally cheats at. (Note: During this time he will have consumed anywhere between two and three cups of coffee, and two or three cigarettes. He will also have started a second pot of coffee while drinking the third cup. Very rarely will he eat at this time.)

Next he will check both his email accounts for anything that he feels he should respond to immediately. Mail will elicit much the same responses as the newspaper, but also occasional laughter.

From the time he’s opened his newspaper's site to finishing with his mail, he has consumed about an hour. At this point the subject has been observed doing one of a few things. He will either retrieve a CD case and begin to examine it (I can only presume he's listened to it at a prior occasion), a book that he will stare at for a moment blankly as if trying to remember what it is, or just stare blankly at his computer screen for a length of time ranging from seconds to minutes.