Waking Up Early
Waking up early is for the birds. And writers.
Rising early is key to beating resistance, i.e. whatever it is that
keeps one from implementing his or her talents.
And honestly: It. Is. Hard.
Especially with a young baby. But…
we all have our excuses.
Even though it is hard, let me tell you why I’m waking up
early. That brief bit of dark morning is
the mental equivalent of a clean chalkboard.
Dark, empty, smooth. Quietly, silently
beckoning to be filled with new words. Undisturbed
and uninterrupted, the words flow most freely.
When the mind, the day, and the page are void of noise, ideas can peek
over the horizon with steady beauty.
Every other part of the day is inherently lacking the above-mentioned qualities. The rest of my day will be
lost to diapers, the kitchen island, and endless emails. By evening, my brain will have morphed
into an applesauce-like consistency. And
that’s alright, so long as I have captured those few morning moments to just write.
I certainly cannot claim any ownership of this idea, as
other more seasoned writers have advised this. Nonetheless,
this week, I have begun work on two new picture book manuscripts that I hope to
share soon!
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“When I am working on
a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible.
There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work
and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop
when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write
until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will
happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you
hit it again. You have started at six in the morning, say, and may go on until
noon or be through before that. When you stop you are as empty, and at the same
time never empty but filling, as when you have made love to someone you love.
Nothing can hurt you, nothing can happen, nothing means anything until the next
day when you do it again. It is the wait until the next day that is hard to get
through.”
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