This Morning Thing
Off and on throughout my life, I've been forced to be an early riser. High school golf practice (5 am), lifeguarding (5 am), baking (4 am), suitcase factory (5 am), and doughnut frying (1 am - and don't ask, its a sordid period of my working life).
But I am not naturally an early riser. I am a 2 am to bed kind of person, and have been for as long as I can remember. But I've started a new resolution to get up at 5 am every day. Okay, so maybe every 4 out of 5 days would be good. There is a good reason for this. I am getting up to write.
Getting up early, for me, doesn't result in jaw-cracking yawns all day. Once I manage to pry myself out of bed (which is the bulk of the difficulty with getting up early - I love bed), after that, it's really not so bad. I wake up pretty quickly and am fairly alert. But it puts me in a wierd frame of mind, one that will permeate my day. My thoughts are disconnected and dreamy. My imagination basically takes over both halves of my brain and leaves me an absent-minded fool for most of the day.
I have discovered something about this state of mind, though. I produce bizarre stuff while in it. Good writing stuff that I read later and say, "Did I write that? I can't believe that came out of my brain. Who knew?" I get, by far, my best stories by writing at 5 am. The only rule I have is that I can't think about what I'm going to write, oh, and another rule (that's two, I guess) - I can't stop writing. I think it was Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones where I first got that suggestion. It was one of those writing tips that normally I'd say "yeah, okay" to, and promptly brush off. But I tried it one day sitting on my deck, and actually came up with an entire story.
Pretty wierd stuff.
So anyway, that's why this post is coming in at 6:30 am. Because it's Daylight Savings Night, and so I actually got up at 4, which is pushing it a little, in my mind. Out of the past seven days, I've managed to get up at 5 for 5 of them. So far so good, but every morning is a fresh struggle.
But I am not naturally an early riser. I am a 2 am to bed kind of person, and have been for as long as I can remember. But I've started a new resolution to get up at 5 am every day. Okay, so maybe every 4 out of 5 days would be good. There is a good reason for this. I am getting up to write.
Getting up early, for me, doesn't result in jaw-cracking yawns all day. Once I manage to pry myself out of bed (which is the bulk of the difficulty with getting up early - I love bed), after that, it's really not so bad. I wake up pretty quickly and am fairly alert. But it puts me in a wierd frame of mind, one that will permeate my day. My thoughts are disconnected and dreamy. My imagination basically takes over both halves of my brain and leaves me an absent-minded fool for most of the day.
I have discovered something about this state of mind, though. I produce bizarre stuff while in it. Good writing stuff that I read later and say, "Did I write that? I can't believe that came out of my brain. Who knew?" I get, by far, my best stories by writing at 5 am. The only rule I have is that I can't think about what I'm going to write, oh, and another rule (that's two, I guess) - I can't stop writing. I think it was Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones where I first got that suggestion. It was one of those writing tips that normally I'd say "yeah, okay" to, and promptly brush off. But I tried it one day sitting on my deck, and actually came up with an entire story.
Pretty wierd stuff.
So anyway, that's why this post is coming in at 6:30 am. Because it's Daylight Savings Night, and so I actually got up at 4, which is pushing it a little, in my mind. Out of the past seven days, I've managed to get up at 5 for 5 of them. So far so good, but every morning is a fresh struggle.
Labels: writing
posted by erin | 6:21 AM
2 Comments:
Ug.
I will never,ever be an early riser.
That said, I also don't seem to sleep in as long as I used to, either, which is good.
You've got even me beat, getting up at 5am (I don't get up until 5:30!). Holy rooster, chica! But, I agree, those wee dark hours of morning are the best for writing. I wish you luck with your new resolution.
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