What Time of Day Will You Write?
Issue #21
In talking time of day (we’ll cover frequency in issue #22), we’ve got two concept-questions, and we need to answer ’em both.
1) The dream: what time would you like to write?
2) The reality: what time will you be able to write?
First things first. Evaluate your preference. Give each an honest try:
The Dream
After much experimentation, I’ve determined that my own preferred time would be morning, probably starting at 7 or 8. At that time, my imagination feels fresh, my mind is clear and I’m ready to get into it.
I’ve a friend who typically gets up to write at 4 a.m. (full disclosure: she also crashes and burns at about 8:30 p.m.). Twitter—or X—has a large group of creatives who gather and create under the #5amWritersClub hashtag and website. Julia Cameron in her inspirational book The Artist’s Way has even introduced a concept she calls “morning pages” in which the creative is encouraged to roll out of bed and journal three stream-of-consciousness pages.
Of course, morning ain’t everyone’s cup of tea. Many of us go to the dark side. I have a buddy who does this every evening. Nine p.m. until midnight is his writing time.
Jonathan Manor blogs that writing in the morning when your mind is completely clear means that it would be clear of creativity, too. He concludes: “…the reason that most writers — ‘good’ writers — choose to write at night, is because their mornings, afternoons, and early evenings have filled their bodies with inspiration.”
Horror author phenom H.P. Lovecraft adds a quote which is typically eldritch (meaning weird or ghostly): “…at night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour. No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night.”
Check out Writing Routines to see the schedules some of the pros use.
Note that I’m not suggesting you create from nine to five. Most of us don’t have that luxury to even consider. We’re living real and busy lives here with jobs and often kids and families who need our time, and typically need to squeeze in our creating at one end or the other. The question, then, morphs from what you want to do to what you can do. Time to go from the dream to…
The Reality
My friend from the first page wouldn’t have necessarily chosen to write at 4 a.m.—she opts to do it then to get her writing in before her work day. My buddy who writes from nine until midnight might not have originally chosen to write then—he opts to do it then, because that’s after his kids are down for the night. It’s all a matter of remaining flexible and adaptable. If you do, you’ll stand a much better chance of reaching your writing goals (or any goal you might have, come to think of it).
If you’ve thought about some of these questions, you probably already have an idea of your personal inclination for timing. You can still have some control of when you write, no matter how busy you are. In the next two issues we’ll address deciding output, and most importantly, making it happen.
Here’s a pertinent question from another of my classes, asked right after we’d covered this same subject.
Q: I am so frustrated. I have decided I’m a night-writer, but the evenings are the only time I have to spend with my husband. How do I make my writing happen anyway?
A: It is tough, I told her. But there’s no easy, happy answer. As Mick Jagger once sang: “You can’t always get what you want.” I also (perhaps somewhat flippantly) pointed out that she answered her own question:
You make your writing happen anyway.
It comes down to this: if you can’t adapt, that book will not get written. If that’s okay with you, don’t adapt.
This issue’s word refers to a quote by H.P. Lovecraft. That’s a giant, Cthulhu-sized clue right there. Check it below.
What is eldritch?
(For extra points and maybe an extra word for your vocabulary, look up Cthulhu as well. You won’t find it in Merriam-Webster, but you will find it…)
Action Plan
On X (formerly Twitter), I post a new daily rhyming writing tip on which many of these issues are based. Follow—you know you want to.
Next Up
#21) How Often and How Much? See you in two weeks!
Craig
I love this blog - so readable!! And yes, I am a deep-night writer. 3AM here in Texas, and I write between storms while on stormwatch!
Guilty: I’ve a friend who typically gets up to write at 4 a.m. (full disclosure: she also crashes and burns at about 8:30 p.m.).