A Question for Night Writers

Siddow · Aug 23, 2006

Did your schedule evolve out of other demands on your day, or have you always been a night person?

I tend to do my best work in the morning. I get up early and find a spot to sit with my laptop, but lately my time has decreased. Where my house used to be quiet until 8:30 or so, I think my kids have figured out that I'm up, so they've been joining me earlier and earlier. My two-and-a-half hours have decreased to a half-hour, tops. Not good for productivity.

I'm thinking of establishing a night writing routine, but on the few occasions I've tried to compose at night, my brain wanders around to all the chatter of the day. Forgot to pick up dry cleaning, my photos are ready at Wal-Mart, need to clean the carpet tomorrow, did I pay the phone bill? How do you guys shut off the drone of the day to compose at night?

Can a morning person even train themselves to be a night person?

Or should I just set the alarm for 4am instead of 6am and get over it?

TheIT · Aug 23, 2006

I've always been a night person, so staying up late isn't a problem for me. Trying to get the brain to shut off so I can go to sleep after writing, now that's a problem...

Perhaps it might help you to spend some time journaling before you switch gears to working on your writing. "Journaling" might even be too fancy a word for what I have in mind. Just spend some time writing down all the stray thoughts which come into your head, or perhaps keep a separate sheet next to you to jot down the worries as you write. Once it's down on paper, it's captured, and hopefully won't bug you any more. This is a modified version of Julia Cameron's morning pages from The Artists' Way. One gotcha - don't let anyone else read what you scribbled down. It's not writing, it's a brain dump to clear your head.

kristie911 · Aug 23, 2006

I've always been a bit of a night person but when I started at 911 (12 years ago) I went to nights because I liked the action better...dayshift is too much paperwork and there are too many people around. Nights just had better stuff going on...so after working 10 years of nights, I'm now officially a night person. And I do my best work at night...

Though with a two year old who is definitely and early riser, my days off require I get up at 7:30am. That means I'm a night person with a really screwed up schedule! My poor internal clock has gone completely on the fritz!

Southern_girl29 · Aug 23, 2006

I've always been most creative after 9 p.m. I'm definately not a morning. At my day job at the newspaper, I never try to write my features when I first get to work. I wait until later afternoon if I can. Sometimes, I write them at home.

One of the things that helped me get back into writing at night is laying down with my daughter. I tell her a story or read her one, whichever she wants, then I lay with her for about 10 minutes. My mind zones out and I'm able to write after I get up. But, going to sleep after writing is very hard for me; I keep getting scraps of ideas.

DeborahM · Aug 23, 2006

TheIT said:
I've always been a night person, so staying up late isn't a problem for me. Trying to get the brain to shut off so I can go to sleep after writing, now that's a problem...

Isn't that the truth! OR you finally get to sleep and start dreaming about the WIP and have to get up and write or you'll forget it or feel like you're going to bust if you dont get it out of your head.

I think the perfect day is 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. If I have wondering thoughts about other priorities, I have a steno pad close by me (all the time, a page a day) to make notes on and a journal book (also all the time) to jot something I've heard or thought of for future writing. Anyway, jot it and forget it and you'll be able to get back to writing.

Hope you find your time again.

MidnightMuse · Aug 23, 2006

Luckily I have no family issues getting in the way. I'm a natural night person when left to my own devices, unfortunately my day job doesn't leave me to my own devices unless I'm on vacation, so it's write during the day for me. Those times I do stay up late is usually for (shh, don't tell anyone) gaming.

I can't trust my focus or my brain cells to write anything worth crap after 10pm - but man can I kill zombie monsters from hades

Scrawler · Aug 23, 2006

I waste so much time during the day- I can't seem to settle down. Night time is better for me- it's silent and still. I get much more done from 8pm-11pm than I do from 9am-8pm.

jbal · Aug 23, 2006

I've always been a night person as well, although when I'm off work and the kid's asleep I can write in the afternoon too. I don't know that you can train yourself to be a night person, you either are or you aren't. I'm of this opinion because I've never been able to train myself to be a morning person and I have tried.
As far as clearing your mind of the day, I have my methods, but whatever works for me may not be the best thing for you. Try listening to some music, classical or jazz seems to stimulate the brain if you have any, or meditation, or just some kind of mind numbing activity. I like to read my work from yesterday and let it percolate for 15-20 minutes while I play a couple of games of solitaire, smoke a cigarette in the dark, something like that. The less involved the activity the better. And in a little while I find myself coming up with specific wording to start with and I'm off.
Hope this helps.

cuteshoes · Aug 23, 2006

I am a morning person by far. But I have a fulltime job and don't get home ever before 8 or 8:30pm. Therefore, I write from 8:30ish until 10 or 11. But my creative juices are definately not up to par as they would be during the day. But htat's what weekend revisions are for.

BardSkye · Aug 23, 2006

I worked graveyard shifts for nigh on thirty years precisely because it gives me time to write and think.

I'm not on graveyards right now but I am on flex-time (read: I show up when I feel like it) but might switch to graves for the winter.

Papa'sLiver · Aug 23, 2006

I love the night, and would rather be drinking in a bar during the night hours than writing, but I have a day job so I write at night. I hope to one day be able to write in the early mornings, say from 4am to 10am or so.

Cyn · Aug 23, 2006

I've always been more creative at night. When I was younger I'd lay in bed and create stories in my mind, and so I find myself writing more at night. I don't know if you can train yourself to go into that creative mindset at other times on a regular basis. I've tried, but I find that it's best to work when your creative energy naturally flows.

Good luck with finding time to write. I hope you can get that all sorted.

Qazz · Aug 23, 2006

I use a dim blue light and headsets--a sort of sensory deprivation.

gwendy85 · Aug 24, 2006

ah, the beauty of night! the continuous flow of creative juices, the silence, the sense of isolation, and the lack of people ordering you to do your chores! Too bad for the snores (rhyming not intended)

Inkdaub · Aug 24, 2006

I've always been a night person andthat's when I do my writing. Sometimes it's hard to get my mind off the day and I'm usually tired after work but I still write at night. Mornings are my enemy.

NightWynde · Aug 24, 2006

I've always been a night person. I tried writing during the wee hours of the morning and my brain just went "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Need coffee. And what the heck else do I have to do?"

Flapdoodle · Aug 24, 2006

Siddow said:
Did your schedule evolve out of other demands on your day, or have you always been a night person?

I tend to do my best work in the morning. I get up early and find a spot to sit with my laptop, but lately my time has decreased. Where my house used to be quiet until 8:30 or so, I think my kids have figured out that I'm up, so they've been joining me earlier and earlier. My two-and-a-half hours have decreased to a half-hour, tops. Not good for productivity.

I'm thinking of establishing a night writing routine, but on the few occasions I've tried to compose at night, my brain wanders around to all the chatter of the day. Forgot to pick up dry cleaning, my photos are ready at Wal-Mart, need to clean the carpet tomorrow, did I pay the phone bill? How do you guys shut off the drone of the day to compose at night?

Can a morning person even train themselves to be a night person?

Or should I just set the alarm for 4am instead of 6am and get over it?

I generally write between 12 and 3 in the morning, then get up for at 8:00.

The reason? Mainly becasue the house is quiet, but also I tend to think over what I'm going to do during the day.

I also manage a lot in the evenings, when the wife is watching TV, but things are going to change soon - just found out that the we're going to be joined by a new arrival sometime next year... (If all goes OK). :hooray:

Lefty Writer · Aug 24, 2006

I worked the graveyard shift for 5 years but I start a new job next month and I'll have to wake up at what was my normal bedtime. I wrote most of my last book while at work, and even finshed it just before the end of a shift. (I think that makes me a paid author, no?) My WIP started there too. Now I'll have to waste the night to sleep. Night writing was a good friend and will be dearly missed.

Andre_Laurent · Aug 24, 2006

I'm a night person... it's quiet and nice and dark, which helps write about things that go bite in the night, lol.

DragonHeart · Aug 24, 2006

I've always been more inclined towards being active later in the evening, particularly now since 99% of my shifts at work are night shifts anyways. I'm just used to staying up until midnight-2am and then sleeping until 8:30-9am. I find it easier to get home from work and spend some time at the computer before bed than waking up early to do so. If I have too many thoughts circulating from during the day I just jot them down in my online journal to get them out of the way.

Of course, this schedule becomes problematic for the occasional day shifts I do get. x-x Luckily they are few and far between, as I am currently the only full-timer who does night shifts outside of management.

~DragonHeart~

ggglimpopo · Aug 24, 2006

I have a hoard of kids and would love to write at night. I don't know if I am just getting old, or am drinking too much red wine but I am now utterly shattered in the evenings and can't get my thoughts in order enough to actually write anything worth a reread the following day.

What about getting up early but putting an alarm clock in your child's room with an bell that sounds and 'gives permission' for him or her to get up and come and join you? Worked for me- but getting me out of bed early enough to take advantage of this was quite another thing!

smiley10000 · Aug 24, 2006

I am also a night person... The problem is I need more sleep than most (if I don't get 7-8 hours a night, I can't function). It means I usually end up sleeping till 10 or 11 each day and half the day is wasted.

I want to switch to day, but it is just too noisey... and I end up procrastinating with laundry, dishes, daughter...

sigh... I guess I will have to keep up the late nights and see if I can sleep more on the weekends...

:e2yawn:

10000

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 24, 2006

I've always been a night person. Even as a child I always wanted to stay up to watch The Tonight Show or Dr. Cadaverino.

But writing as a night time event? That's come about because of life issues, family pressures, and such. I have no spare time during the day light hours (re: when the family is awake) to do my writing.

And I've definately never EVER been a morning person, so asking me to get up and write first thing in the morning is an impossibility. It's hard enough to find the shower and remember how to pour coffee.

Combine that with only getting 5 hours of sleep because of my late nights and well... just stay out of my way.

PODLINGMASTER · Aug 24, 2006

Siddow said:
Did your schedule evolve out of other demands on your day, or have you always been a night person?

I tend to do my best work in the morning. I get up early and find a spot to sit with my laptop, but lately my time has decreased. Where my house used to be quiet until 8:30 or so, I think my kids have figured out that I'm up, so they've been joining me earlier and earlier. My two-and-a-half hours have decreased to a half-hour, tops. Not good for productivity.

I'm thinking of establishing a night writing routine, but on the few occasions I've tried to compose at night, my brain wanders around to all the chatter of the day. Forgot to pick up dry cleaning, my photos are ready at Wal-Mart, need to clean the carpet tomorrow, did I pay the phone bill? How do you guys shut off the drone of the day to compose at night?

Can a morning person even train themselves to be a night person?

Or should I just set the alarm for 4am instead of 6am and get over it?

Try relaxing with something funny on T.V. and a favorite snack. This will help you get beyond the days activities--any reminders for things to do--write them down so you don't have to use brain power remembering them. I usually remember it anyway unconsciously, something about writing it down helps--but I don't like to worry about things trying to remember them. So I use post-its extensively, placing them where I will be to see it.

It will help writing at night for others to be asleep as well. Above all, don't pressure yourself...if you are writing a novel, keep it a fun activity, an escape from the drudgery not part of it...when its fun it will come easier.

Podlingmaster

DeborahM · Aug 24, 2006

Flapdoodle said:
but things are going to change soon - just found out that the we're going to be joined by a new arrival sometime next year... (If all goes OK).

Congrats on the new arrival! :snoopy:

A Question for Night Writers

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

kristie911

Happy to be here

Southern_girl29

DeborahM

I need espresso & chocolate!

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading

Scrawler

Bored fanatic

jbal

cuteshoes

BardSkye

Barbershoppin' Harmony Whore

Papa'sLiver

Cyn

Qazz

gwendy85

~Proudly Mestiza~

Inkdaub

wrapped in plastic

NightWynde

Flapdoodle

Lefty Writer

Andre_Laurent

DragonHeart

Oerba Yun Fang

ggglimpopo

smiley10000

What do we do? We write...

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

PODLINGMASTER

Never trust a bunny

DeborahM

I need espresso & chocolate!

A Question for Night Writers

I'm super! Thanks for asking

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Happy to be here

I need espresso & chocolate!

Midnight Reading

Bored fanatic

Barbershoppin' Harmony Whore

Qazz

~*Proudly Mestiza*~

wrapped in plastic

Lefty Writer

Oerba Yun Fang

What do we do? We write...

Court Jester

Never trust a bunny

I need espresso & chocolate!

~Proudly Mestiza~