I never considered myself either a day person or a night person, and now I see why. I’m both. Or neither.
It seems as if physical activity suits me more in the morning. Before taking dance classes, when my times of exercise were at my discretion rather than scheduled classes, I always preferred to stretch and do weights first thing, then immediately go out walking in the cool of the day.
And mental activity suits me more at night. Late at night, when my brain comes awake, acuity and creativity are stronger than any other time, which is why, when I wrote, I always wrote at night.
Sounds good? Right?
Well, no. It was fine when I was younger and not so physically active, but now my poor tired body shuts down before my brain awakens.
Oddly, though I have trouble falling asleep at night, I have no trouble at all dozing off when I want to do something intellectual. Last night, I actually fell asleep while I was writing. Doesn’t bode well for my writing career!
Still, I did manage to add a few words to the poor moribund manuscript. Now let’s see if I can stay awake long enough to add a few more words tonight before I collapse.
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Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Unfinished, Madame ZeeZee’s Nightmare, Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.
March 7, 2018 at 7:59 pm
You do well to achieve things at both ends of the day. I am SO not a morning person…for any kind of activity. I tend to do most of my writing in the evenings, sometimes until 1 or 2 a.m. whether or not I’ve taken an impromptu daytime nap (and I often do). 🙂
March 8, 2018 at 12:51 pm
If I write, I stay up late, which means I’m too tired in the morning to do anything. But I am writing, so I’m thrilled with that.
March 7, 2018 at 9:38 pm
I’ll send you my insomnia… so you can stay up and get that MS down on paper, or on the screen. Now if only I can find that early bird stuff so I can get up. But since I’m up all night when I do sleep I’m always late getting up.
I’ve always said I should have been a nightclub singer…you know, work until 2 am, go home, have breakfast, wind down, go to bed and sleep until 4 pm, do stuff and then off to work. Of course, that would pre-suppose I could actually sing. But that’s another wish.
March 8, 2018 at 12:53 pm
Sorry, but I don’t want your insomnia. I have plenty of my own! The only time I fell asleep easily was when I tried to write. And I discovered something — it’s not easy to write when one is asleep.
March 8, 2018 at 1:38 pm
I’m sure you can do it. You just have to find something to keep you from falling asleep at your keyboard.