I’ve finished most of my big writing projects late at night or early in the morning after an all-nighter.
Despite all that, I’m a morning person.
I finished the best thing I’ve ever written last summer in the late afternoon/early evening when I was able to focus on writing full time.
Night and Day
Most of my creative friends finish their big projects at night, or early in the morning.
My friends who pursue a creative endeavor full time, however, often finish big things in the middle of the day.
I think for people juggling work, writing, and life, late at night or early in the morning works best because that’s when they have time to get away from everything and focus.
When everybody else in your life is asleep, you can lose yourself in whatever creative endeavor it is that you pursue.
Are You a Night Owl?
When do you do your best writing?
Do you get up early–before work–and write?
Or do you stay up later and sleep in as long as possible until you just make it into work as the minute hand clicks to the top of the hour when you’re supposed to arrive?
Obviously, the best time to write is any time you actually write, but I’m curious when you do your best work…
I’m an early riser and writer. I do my best immersion-in-the-fictional-world work in the morning when the rest of the household is asleep. On the weekends I rise at 3:00 a.m. to get a long block of this time.
In the daylight hours I will make notes and fool around with text, but the actual creative stuff is early morning — with a pitcher of iced tea nearby (unsweetened, of course).
Paul,
I like writing early, too. I like the quiet and hearing everything wake up and come to life. Since I start work at 7:00 a.m. now, instead of later like other jobs, I don’t write as much in the mornings anymore.
I get an hour in on my lunch break at work, too.
Like you, during the day, I tend to edit, organize, and plan.
I’m lucky to have a wife who understands when I need to focus. As an artist, she knows the feeling, and neither of us take it personally when the other says, “Hey, please give me time to focus today…”
Left to myself, I tend to drift towards staying up late and getting up late. Immediate concerns of the day push back my writing until nighttime. I’m trying to figure out how to reverse this.
An hour for lunch? (I only get a half hour, and since that is so little time, I never take lunch.)
I can’t really get myself immersed in my imaginary world for the words to flow until after an hour at it. I don’t think I could get any production done in a lunch hour. Or worse, I could just get fired up and then have to stop.
We’re all different. The point is to keep at it.
CMS: When I was home full time, my writing schedule shifted to night. Usually does.
Paul: At first, writing during lunch was hard (and there are definitely days no writing gets done). Right now, it’s all editing, but I wrote my second novel primarily on lunch breaks. Granted, it was a genre novel and didn’t require going as deep into concentration, but I got used to just sitting down and producing.
With more serious fiction, I definitely like 3-4 hours of uninterrupted writing. But since that rarely happens, the next best thing–for me–is writing when I can.