Want to be a successful writer? Rise early

Writers such as Balzac, Murakami and Vonnegut all woke up at the crack of dawn

Aspiring authors should follow the advice of the greats: keep a notepad by your bed, read voraciously and write even more so. But one nugget of wisdom may have been missing over the decades: wake up early.

An infographic based on Mason Currey's book, Daily Rituals, shows how much time authors such as of Charles Dickens and Franz Kafka spent sleeping, exercising and eating.

Haruki Murakami spends an entire working day, between 1pm and 8pm, doing housework, admin and spending time with the family, while musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart enjoyed five-hour lunches with friends before having dinner between 8 and 11pm.

Voltaire spent the minutes between midday and 12.30pm getting dressed, while Victor Hugo dedicated two hours a day to ice baths and visits to the barber.

But one thing that these famous creatives mostly share is being an early riser. At the most extreme end of things, Honoré de Balzac woke at 1am after seven hours' sleep, while William Stryon slept between 3am and midday.

However, WH Auden, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Le Corbusier and Victor Hugo all liked to wake at 6am, while Kurt Vonnegut and Maya Angelou rose even earlier. Murukami, Voltaire and John Milton all set their alarms at 4am.

Take a look at the infographic below to see how your daily routine compares.