The moment before something
Last day to enter the contest over at Clarity of Night (links in, uh, the last few posts). Thirty-nine contestants, when last I checked. Looking forward to reading them all on Thursday morning.
"Sentence fragment" is also a sentence fragment.
Woke up kind of grumpy today. Stayed that way, more or less, until a migraine took over. Now I'm just lying here awake in the dark, trying not to look directly at the computer screen.
Novel ideas are gestating at the moment. At the very least, I can say I'm spending several hours a day thinking through things, deciding on the direction the next section will take. I know more or less the plot points, but I have a lot of ways to get from point A to point B, and am ruminating as to which option(s) will feel the most natural and require the least amount of blah blah blah.
Right now, I'm looking for order, structure. In the work and in my life. I've started rearranging all of the furniture in my home. I have already begun to sleep during the day, awake at night. While this is a little irritating for numerous reasons, it is also when I get the most done. I am far more productive at night.
I flit and flutter, but I can feel it: I will settle soon, and the real work will begin.
Is it tomorrow?
12 comments:
Night is a good time for working. Unfortunately, day is a bad time for sleeping. You don't realize how noisy it is until you try to sleep in the day.
I used to be a Samaritan volunteer with regular overnighters. (Nighttime is a good time for suicidal thoughts but only if you can stay awake...) I used to manage to sleep for only about three hours following my shift and then spend the rest of the day like a zombie.
"Nighttime is really the best time to work. All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep." Catherine O'Hara
"No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night." H. P. Lovecraft
Rearranging the furniture? I have another sentence fragment for you - displacement activity.
Good luck with it Maht. I am feeling quite smug with my progress as I'm on the fourth draft and, although I'm rewriting a lot (I love typing)I know that I got there in the end a couple of times before, so it's doable. I'm the opposite to you - I write best in the morning. By early afternoon I'm done with it.
Maht-
Sorry about the migraine... That's no good at all... I hope you are feeling better this morning (or whenever you read this).
I like writing at night, too... I think that there's an element of aloneness and quiet that daytime just can't facilitate.
Ooh hope your head is feeling better.
I like Silvertiger's quotes. We must be writer's then, cos I don't usually warm up until about 10pm.
"Right now, I'm looking for order, structure."
And where are you going to find it? When you get hold of it would you mind sending it across the pond to me. I lost mine years ago.
pee ess - I love the night. Tis the best of times.
I hope all the pencils are sharpened - then it will be time perhaps to do your tax return?
I sleep better during the day...perhaps I'm developing an immunity to a lot of outside noises and lights? Though, sleeping at night would probably be best as I just end up getting restless at night instead of productive.
I hope your head is better lovely Maht!
Get a dog. That is the foundation of structure for me :) She reminds me that there must be food at least twice a day, water at regular intervals, frequent breaks for play or simply stopping to sniff the butterflies, and that the World Outside is just waiting.
I think Ms Pants is correct: displacement activity. Even as a student the first sign that I was behind with an assignment was that I would tidy my bedroom!
Sx
SilverT: I am somewhat fortunate in that I don't seem to have much noise trouble unless there is construction. Thanks for the quotes. Never thought of Lovecraft as particularly inspirational before.
TSP: I thought keeping a blog was my displacement activity. But I think you could be right. And I write during your early morning. Does that count?
Minty: Still (migranous? migrainy?) have the migraine, but it's only set to simmer for the moment. Yeah, nighttime, and the stillness. Somewhere after midnight is when my brain kicks in and focuses to its most effective level.
Ver: Yup. Must be writers, then.
Minx: Should I locate any, I'll be sure to break off a chunk and send it your way.
JaneJill: Tax return? The deadline for that is passed, no?
SilverN: But you work at night, right? That makes a bit of a difference.
Stray: I'm not really a fan of dogs. I prefer the nocturnal feline, whose company (and hours) are familiar and comfortable. Thanks for your concern about my head. I'm sure it'll clear soon.
I love the night too and in an ideal life that's when I'd choose to write.
Oh, and I agree with you about cats. Much better than dogs, though I like them too.
Hope you feel better soon.
Marie: Perhaps I am living an ideal life, then...probably not, though.
Move to the UK - where our day is your night and your night is our day and then you can sleep when it is dark.
Simple.
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