Hi there, Abby.
A bit creepy, but not funny, really. Sorry, but this blog is only about writing. I'll get back to you about the masquerade ball in a few days.
Well, I'd probably say that you should reconsider your sense of humour.
Bye, bye. Right back at ya.
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There are those of us drawn to writing at night. Or maybe drawn to isn't the best wording. Perhaps yanked by some kind of crazy force out of our beds is more accurate. I know there are other writers like me who can't sleep at times while working on a particular project. This is when our characters insist on making an appearance before we slip into dreamland. |
Truman Capote, at times, wrote at night; he'd simply sleep during the day.
But other authors such as Margaret Laurence and Ernest Hemingway held a strict regime of writing in the morning, leaving themselves time to engage in other activities later in the day.
I strive for this way of functioning as a writer as well. |
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But then comes the appealing quietude only the night can bring. Maybe it's the lack of diversion that's appealing, except for a lone dog bark in the distance or swishes of branches across the window or creaky floorboards announcing an imminent ghost sighting *screams at nothing and wakes up entire family*. It might be that the solitude of twilight allows our creativity to rise, freed from the subliminal recesses of our brain.
Friends have suggested that I shouldn't give up on my attempt at slumber when this happens; that I should simply have pen and paper handy on my bedside table for when the need arises.
But, no. I've learned over time that, for me, when a character decides to run head first out of whatever compound I have corralled him, her or it in for the night, there are times I should heed their vigour with a sense of urgency.
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In the tiny hours of the morning when most are asleep, time tends to fly by in secrecy while writing. Before you know it, you're left with words on a page remarkable even to you - words you doubt would be there were it not for the nagging of your nocturnal protagonists or antagonists.
And perhaps it's simply the fact that you can totally immerse yourself in your work when there aren't the distractions of the daylight hours. But it seems to me there's much more to it than that.
And now you know.
