By default, I'm a night person. I always have been. Fortunately, my job allows for me to sleep in quite late if I so desire, and sleep discipline is something I'm still learning. My wife thinks I hold great discipline in other areas, but I think she has mistaken that for integrity. I hold integrity very dear to me, and I like to think people can count on me. When I make commitments I give it my all. Waking up at 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. to start my day early is not a commitment I'm ready to make, so it doesn't happen. I long to start my day at 7:00, spend a good half hour in prayer and meditation, and be at my desk working by 7:30. If I were to stay completely focused (No Facebook. No eBay. No YouTube. No Amazon. No insertwritingsitenamehere.com), then I could quite possibly be done with my work day by lunchtime, and after a good hour of projects around the house, I could spend the rest of the afternoon writing until the youngest gets home from school. Sounds great, but man...the discipline! Instead, I fight the seductress that is sleep. She's a tough one when I'm under her spell, and I tell myself all kinds of lies just to be with her for another half hour....hour....ninety minutes.
A night person I am and a morning person I long to be. I've wanted it for a long time.
In Stephen King's book, On Writing, he talks about his daily routine. He's a morning guy, and that's when he writes, until about lunch time. When I read that, I wondered if I could pull it off; if could even find my muse before noon. I normally write at night when everyone is in bed (like now). It's quiet, and it's when I feel most creative. I normally go to bed between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. and get up between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., but since I started writing more regularly, I'll go three to four weeks of sleeping fine and then insomnia will visit me without warning. She's a spontaneous little pain.
In Stephen King's book, On Writing, he talks about his daily routine. He's a morning guy, and that's when he writes, until about lunch time. When I read that, I wondered if I could pull it off; if could even find my muse before noon. I normally write at night when everyone is in bed (like now). It's quiet, and it's when I feel most creative. I normally go to bed between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. and get up between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., but since I started writing more regularly, I'll go three to four weeks of sleeping fine and then insomnia will visit me without warning. She's a spontaneous little pain.
I haven't been able to recognize a pattern. Perhaps my brain doesn’t want to stop reading the current book I’m devouring, or stop ruminating about the awesome new idea I have for a story or book, or all those contest entries I have sent out and other potential opportunities awaiting a "yea" or "nay". I’ve contemplated writing and reading earlier in the day to allow my brain sufficient time to rest before I need to put it to bed for the night, but I've yet to start that. Instead, I've just not written much at all, yet still she intermittently makes that midnight brain booty call. I’ve even considered a glass of wine or beer before bed on occasion, but as someone with a history of excessive consumption, for now I’m passing on that. Perhaps one day.
It could be this late night “suffering” is bringing out the best in my writing and that there is some redemptive value here. Would my writing style and subject matter change if I were to write in the morning? With NaNoWriMo starting at the end of this week, perhaps I’ll find out, as I’ll be writing more than I ever have and will have to be squeezing it in whenever I can. Pleasant dreams!
Updates: As warned earlier, because NaNoWriMo is next month, don’t expect to hear too much from me other than to check in here and there. The book tentatively titled “Twisted Christmas,” featuring one of my stories, has been changed to “A Merry Scary Christmas,” and rumor has it, it will be available within a week.
Updates: As warned earlier, because NaNoWriMo is next month, don’t expect to hear too much from me other than to check in here and there. The book tentatively titled “Twisted Christmas,” featuring one of my stories, has been changed to “A Merry Scary Christmas,” and rumor has it, it will be available within a week.
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