I took off the previous week to get work done on book 2. It was an intensive, exhausting, exhilarating experience and I learned a few things.
One is that I write better in the morning than at night. I have more energy and more engagement. I think that might be because after a night’s sleep I have resolved plot issues and replenished the creative well. It might also be the coffee, since I don’t drink caffeine at night any more (or not as much, I should say).
I found I can also refocus better and get myself back on track. At night when my energy and interest start to flag, I tend to say, “that’s okay, time to pack it in anyway for the night.” During the day I was able to restart.
I’m a day person. That’s all there is to it.
And the upshot was, I got a lot accomplished. Yeah, the incentives helped (Hellboy, getting my hair done, no ice cream though) but success begat success, and even though there were some tough days, I worked out the plot points and made it work.
So what have I learned? Well, that I might have to rethink my schedule. The day job isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but I might be able to get up early and write before work. This is tough because that’s usually when I exercise (and if you’re anywhere near Texas this summer you will know that it’s impossible to exercise in the afternoon). I might also have to break down and bring the laptop in with me to work and write at lunch. I try really hard to keep work and my non-work writing separate, but a change might be in order.
So it’s been a good week. And it’s still not over. I still have more words to line up, so if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to grab some coffee and get back to work. Daylight’s wasting!
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