All of my life I’ve been a night owl. Even as a little kid I remember wanting to stay up late and read past bedtime, so I’d try and read by the crack of light that came in under my bedroom door. I don’t recommend this. It’s probably the reason my eye sight is so bad (I’m almost legally blind without my glasses). It only got worse in college. I started a never ending cycle of staying up late and taking naps (it’s the college way after all). I even took jobs that wouldn’t require me to get up early, like waitressing. Even now I’m writing this entry way past when most people have gone to sleep.
Other authors, especially those with kids, wake up early to write. I can imagine with a bustling family full of kids, dogs, cats, husbands and other pets, this strategy might work. But as I said before, being a night owl, to me it sounded like torture.
Get up before the suns up. Get up before I have to. No way.
But for the last few months the words haven’t being flowing as easily as they used to. This is due to a couple of reason. One is the amount of time I spend prewriting, plotting to make sure I hit all the right notes, character charts to make sure my characters are complex and three dimensional. This prewriting not only takes more of my time and energy, but also bleeds off some of early enthusiasm (but does seem to be making the revision and middle drafting stages easier, so there definitely is an upside). But another part is due to the new job that I took in October, which is more intensive, demanding, frustrating and exhausting (more money too, hence why I took it :D). I get home exhausted already, and after taking care of my furry babies, my own dinner and anything else that needs to be done, I just don’t have a lot of energy.
So after a particularly exhausting night, I decided to go to bed very early. The next morning I woke up way before my alarm. So I thought I’d try and get some writing done, since I’m currently trying to work towards an anthology call with a hard deadline. I was amazed, the writing flowed, I was able to get down more words before my day even started then I’d managed for the last several days combined. I also wrote more words throughout the day, during my lunch break, when I got home, etc...
There seems to be a few reason this works. I write more during that short hour or two early because I have a specific amount of time. Not only am I refreshed with no other issues plaguing my mind, but I can’t procrastinate as I do sometimes, because I have a specific time. There’s no negotiating. I have to do it now or not at all. It’s enough time that I feel like I can accomplish something, but not enough to dilly dally. But I also write more words throughout the day, because the story, characters, words, are on my mind from the very start of the day.
So, never one to ignore a path to success, I’m going to be giving myself a bedtime and getting up early everyday to write. That’s right world, me, professed Night Owl, will be getting up at the same time as the sun from now on. But it will all be worth it when I have a few more works completed, and several more contracts inked.
Wish me luck. The morning will be here all too soon.
Other authors, especially those with kids, wake up early to write. I can imagine with a bustling family full of kids, dogs, cats, husbands and other pets, this strategy might work. But as I said before, being a night owl, to me it sounded like torture.
Get up before the suns up. Get up before I have to. No way.
But for the last few months the words haven’t being flowing as easily as they used to. This is due to a couple of reason. One is the amount of time I spend prewriting, plotting to make sure I hit all the right notes, character charts to make sure my characters are complex and three dimensional. This prewriting not only takes more of my time and energy, but also bleeds off some of early enthusiasm (but does seem to be making the revision and middle drafting stages easier, so there definitely is an upside). But another part is due to the new job that I took in October, which is more intensive, demanding, frustrating and exhausting (more money too, hence why I took it :D). I get home exhausted already, and after taking care of my furry babies, my own dinner and anything else that needs to be done, I just don’t have a lot of energy.
So after a particularly exhausting night, I decided to go to bed very early. The next morning I woke up way before my alarm. So I thought I’d try and get some writing done, since I’m currently trying to work towards an anthology call with a hard deadline. I was amazed, the writing flowed, I was able to get down more words before my day even started then I’d managed for the last several days combined. I also wrote more words throughout the day, during my lunch break, when I got home, etc...
There seems to be a few reason this works. I write more during that short hour or two early because I have a specific amount of time. Not only am I refreshed with no other issues plaguing my mind, but I can’t procrastinate as I do sometimes, because I have a specific time. There’s no negotiating. I have to do it now or not at all. It’s enough time that I feel like I can accomplish something, but not enough to dilly dally. But I also write more words throughout the day, because the story, characters, words, are on my mind from the very start of the day.
So, never one to ignore a path to success, I’m going to be giving myself a bedtime and getting up early everyday to write. That’s right world, me, professed Night Owl, will be getting up at the same time as the sun from now on. But it will all be worth it when I have a few more works completed, and several more contracts inked.
Wish me luck. The morning will be here all too soon.
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