I'm sure you've heard the old saying "timing is
everything." Do you have a more-or-less specific time of day or night that
you find most conducive to your writing? According to Agatha Christie, “The
best time for planning a book is when you're doing the dishes.”
Circadian rhythms aside, I thinks
it’s safe to say that our life situations, our responsibilities, and the
constraints of our daily schedules dictate when (and where) we’re going to write.
Motivation and inspiration also figure strongly in our individual creative
processes.
I can’t say that I get many ideas
while washing the dishes, but spurts of inspiration do seem to come more
readily during certain times of the day. My muse is fickle (big sigh here). She
takes three-martini lunches and vacations in the south of France for long
periods of time. When she does show up, I know her visit will be brief. A poem,
for me, almost always beings with a single image (idea, line, phrase). I try to
write that down as soon as I can before my wayward muse takes off again.
Working that initial impulse into a poem is usually a long process during which
morning is my best time for developing and refining ideas. (However, when I do have a poem in process, I sometimes
go back to it again and again over a period of many days, nights, and various
hours in between).
Science seems to point toward
morning as the “best” time to write.
“Bouts of creative writing might
be easier to come by just after waking as this is the time of day when the
prefrontal cortex is most active. A scientific study of brain circuits
confirmed that this creative activity is highest during and immediately after
sleep, while the analytical parts of the brain (the editing and proofreading
parts) become more active as the day goes on. The study looked at morning and
evening MRI scans and observed that mornings showed more connections in the
brain.”
(blog.bufferapp.com/the-best-time-to-write-and-get-ideas)
In Claire Tomlinson’s biography
of Charles Dickens, I read that Dickens (at his peak output) worked on his
writing for approximately five hours each day, beginning roughly at 9 AM and
continuing until about 2 PM. He sometimes returned to what he’d written earlier
during the evening, but those five hours were his most productive.
I think it’s safe to say that
we’re all different as poets and writers. Are you a lark (up and writing with
the birds) or a night owl (writing into the wee hours)? Following are some
thoughts on the subject from ten of my poet friends, all of whom wear many hats
(journal editors and publishers, teachers, professors, award winners, fiction
and nonfiction writers, poetry series directors, bloggers, husbands, wives,
moms, dads, and pet owners). For all of them—and I’m sure this is true for you
too—finding time to write poetry isn’t always easy.
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The dark before dawn is my
favorite time to work. There are no interruptions, few distractions, and
nothing says possible like the sun coming up.
Cat Doty
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My time of day has varied over
the years. As a young poet I wrote almost always at night, at a kitchen table,
when no one else was up. Sometimes I'd write from 10 at night until dawn. I'd
love that tired but elated feeling I'd get, the ink on my hands and face (I
wrote long hand then and sweated a lot) the static electricity that made the
hairs stand up on my arms. I'd take a long walk and treat myself to a sweet
roll or a kaiser with butter and a coffee light and sweet. Sometimes I was the
first one at the candy store up my block, just as the owner was pulling up its
coat of mail, so I'd help him put together his daily papers, and then get a
free roll and coffee. Now, having forsaken divine afflatus (which seems to be
always on the night shift), or having been abandoned by same, I write in the
early morning or the late afternoon. I often write when I'm supposed to be
doing something else, or just before I have to rush out. I love saying,
"Wait a minute, I'm almost done!" to my wife, just as I once said to
my parents, "Wait a minute, the games almost over." Of course it was
never over. I write every day, but certainly not always poems, and I give
myself permission to neglect many things for the sake of writing (except my
wife and children). Still a writer must practice constructive neglect or the
world will always find 100 things else he or she should be doing. Should be
will kill you either way—should be writing or should be doing the dishes are
both killers. Just write.
Joe Weil
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When I was working full-time, I
realized that generating new material worked best for me in the early morning.
The closer I was to sleep, the closer I was to subconscious material. And
even if I just got fragments, I could tease them into fuller material
later. Music can also have the same effect. My favorite part of
writing is revision, if it's not self-torture. Regardless of the time of day or
night, I can become obsessed revising, and I consider this essential part of
the writing process too. It's not about fixing a poem. It's about
the journey to the poem's essence, to liberate the poem to tell me its shape,
its sound, its heart. Sometimes silence is key. I hear the music in
the language against silence. That's why I love winter days when I'm
snowed in to revise. Something about the stunned stillness of the landscape
where I can hear my own breath helps me hear the poem. Any false note or
syllable shows itself. Letting go of the poem is the hardest. Deadlines help or
I'll revise for months, even years. But I’m okay with that. Less is more
for me though I envy those of you who are prolific with your gifts.
Priscilla Orr
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I don't have a particular time of
day when I write poetry. I never have; and now that I'm retired from my
"regular" job, I haven't found a "routine" time to write.
My daily routine is a work in progress. I'm curious what others will say. Maybe
I can learn from the other comments you receive. It seems I'm thinking/doing
four or five things at a time. It's pretty special when I grab a pen and paper
to write down something. I don't plan to write, unless it's a press release or
some other prose project that has a deadline.
Tom Plante
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I like to write at night after
everyone has gone to bed, when it seems the world has fallen asleep and I am
the only one listening for what needs to be said to that world before it wakes
in the morning. But, I’m a father of 2 with a corporate job, so between waking
and sleeping there is very little time to write. Instead, I write when life
allows and that is typically on my lunch breaks at 1pm every day. They are my
only regular, private time and I’ve accommodated my writing to that time of
convenience. I’m on such a lunch break right now, writing these thoughts.
Michael T. Young
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Most of my poems start at
semi-unexpected times, such as sitting in a parking lot before an appointment
or when I’m out walking or biking. Later, I go through a stack of
“starts” and hope that one strikes a chord or seems worth pushing toward being
a poem. That usually is in the morning, when I have the emotional energy to
wrestle.
John McDermott
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I wake up very early. Usually
around 4:30 or 5. I make a pot of coffee & attempt to write. If nothing
comes, I read (and try not to peek at FB).
During the day, if an idea, or
line, or interesting word comes to me, I make a note of it to look at the next
day.
I almost never write in the
evening. By then, my energy's been spent.
Deborah LaVeglia
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When I write, I need time and
space alone. This is not oft, as I have two young children that need ample
attention much of the time, and numerous domestic responsibilities, as well as
teaching responsibilities outside of the home. In that respect, the time of day
that I can accomplish some real writing varies, according to whether my kids
are at school, quietly entertaining themselves, or taking a nap, and my husband
is preoccupied or at work. I can say that this time usually happens in the late
afternoon, on Tuesdays or Thursdays, or when I have an office to myself during
my teaching hours. Being a mother and wife with a demanding schedule, I am ever
grateful for that gloaming hour when I can espouse myself to that sacred
solitude.
Emily Vogel
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I'm primarily a morning writer.
On an ideal day, I wake early, meditate and exercise, and proceed directly to
Go at the current writing project on the computer. There are dangerous
distractions along the way -- email, Facebook, coffee, playing with my dog. I
am most productive if I forego those distractions and begin to write. Early
morning time, when others may be sleeping, feels like it offers a quiet
sanctuary where I won't be disturbed. It's best if it's before the regular 9-5
workday starts, too, because I won't feel guilty that I'm not working on
Tiferet or other projects. The main challenge is not starting other work
thinking I'll have time to do my creative writing later in the day. I really do
like to feel, even if it's an illusion, that my to-do list has generally
disappeared. That's why early morning, before the tasks of the day begin, works
best for my psyche. It also works best if I make it a habit. Once I get out of
the habit, it can be hard to dive back into it, like diving into a very cold
water pool. Whereas if it's a habit, it's less intimidating. I even have Write for at least 1 hour on my habit-building app on my phone.
Donna Baier Stein
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At this point in my life I write
most often in the early morning. This is a change for me because when I was
still teaching I usually wrote late in the evening after I had graded papers
and prepared my classes for the next day. Now in retirement and my late 60's, I
have the most energy and attention in the first hours of the day, usually
between 6 am and 9 am with my first cup of coffee. I may sometimes return to a
poem later in the day that I had begun that morning but most of my new work now
happens right after I get up. When the muse is kind and I can get some words
flowing a new poem is a wonderful way to start the day.
Edwin Romond
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My sincerest
thanks to all the poets who shared their “writing times” with us!
I hope you'll
click on the links below the poets' names and visit them online.
As, always,
dear blog readers, you’re invited to share your ideas as comments.
