The Best Time to Write
Posted on | April 29, 2010 | 8 Comments
I used to be a night person. I was in the theatre, after all. (And, yes, I spell it with and “re”. I’m pretentious and gay. Go with me or move on, I say.) Even in college, when most people were getting up at dawn to get to their first class sometime in the prehistoric and mythological hours of seven or eight in the morning, the earliest class I ever had in the entire four years was at ten. But I wasn’t goldbricking, I often didn’t get home from rehearsal until after midnight, then had to do homework. I did my best writing in the afternoon, when the sun was just shining through the leaves of the trees on the commons, dappling the lawn and my thoughts.
When I first came to Los Angeles, I got a job at the switchboard of the Pacific Theatre corporation (see? I’m not the only one with the “re” thing.) I worked the evening shift. The phone pretty much stopped ringing after my first hour there, then didn’t pick up until well after midnight when all the theatres started calling in to report their box office receipts, which I would record for a report that went on all the executives’ desks first thing in the morning. From about seven until midnight there was little to do in the bleak solitude of the little office where the PBX phone was. Most on that shift watched a small black and white television that sat in the corner of the desk. Some read. I wrote a novel. Evenings, it seemed, were my most creative time.
In my thirties, I discovered Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way
When I first started blogging regularly I wrote a blog post every morning. Then writing started to get later and later in the day until it threatened to overtake dinnertime, so I decided to write the blogs the night before to be ready to post first thing in the morning. The pressure was gone and the quiet sounds of the cars speeding by on Washington Boulevard lulled me into a pleasant state of creative bliss. I have been amazed at some of the words that flow from my fingers onto the screen.
So. What is the best time to write? When you do. And as often as possible.
~Geoff Hoff
Co-author of the how-to guide On Writing a Short Story.
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April 29th, 2010 @ 9:40 am
Splendid!
This is something that I’ve been struggling with… Often it’s easy to “put off” my writing until late in the evening after I’ve done all of my business at my “job.”
The last couple days I’ve taken a break from the routine and written earlier in the evening. Then I can go back to work for a while and not have the pressure of a late night blog poet awaiting me.
Thanks, Olde friend…
.-= Mike Sweezy´s last blog ..What Goes Around… =-.
April 29th, 2010 @ 9:49 am
Mike, you’re welcome! I’m so glad you are making the time to write. Your blog is a wonderful of your life in Afghanistan and even when I don’t make a comment, I enjoy reading it.
April 29th, 2010 @ 12:21 pm
I received Julia Cameron’s book as a present and really appreciate to read that the Morning Pages do help.
Can’t wait to try.
.-= Marisa Birns´s last blog ..Transient =-.
April 29th, 2010 @ 1:27 pm
Marisa,
They have become so powerful to my creativity that Steve and I incorporated a version of them in our writing courses. We adjusted it to the specific needs of the course, but it is still a very powerful exercise!
We give Ms. Cameron full credit, of course.
There was also a similar exercise in Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.
April 29th, 2010 @ 2:11 pm
Hi Geoff,
I don’t have a writing schedule, though I’d like to establish one. I write when I can make the time during my day. In fact, I missed two days writing because work got crazy and I was in overwhelm trying to keep up. I think I’ll try the morning as you mentioned. That seems doable!
Thanks again for great advice and inspiration.
.-= Deb ´s last blog ..Got A You Tube Strategy? =-.
April 29th, 2010 @ 2:32 pm
Deb,
When Steve and I write together, we schedule it as if it were a regular job. Even if it’s only fifteen minutes a day, this can be very powerful.
April 29th, 2010 @ 10:50 pm
Powerful reminders! Thanks Geoff!
Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru
.-= Bobbye Middendorf´s last blog ..Add Accountability–Blog Challenge Post 19 =-.
November 25th, 2010 @ 12:54 am
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