It didn’t take long for Victor Hugo to solidify his place among the most important, influential, and celebrated authors of all time. Early on in his writing career Hugo penned The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a book which not only shamed the city of Paris into restoring the neglected Cathedral of Notre Dame, but also one which influenced romantic literature and popular culture and continues to do so to this very day. Hugo’s influence extends beyond his writing, however. His political career spanned several decades, and he contributed much to the world of academia, serving as a member of the Académie française for nearly three years.
Like many writers, Hugo occasionally suffered from writer’s block. Where Hugo’s ingenuity and eccentricity becomes immediately apparent, however, is in his solution for the ailment. According to reports, when suffering from writer’s block, Hugo would remove all of his clothing and give them to his valet with strict instructions not to return his clothing until Hugo had written something. Hugo would then lock himself in a room with nothing more than a pen and paper, and would only emerge once satisfied with his output or until the day had run its course. Some speculate Hugo would shroud himself in a blanket while writing, but others maintain he wrote in the buff. A strange approach, perhaps, but given Hugo’s literary success, who are we to argue with his methods?
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