Writing in the wee hours

Twice this week I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m.  I could easily blame my two children for this happening.   They were making noises and even arguing in bed. Yet I think some power was coaxing me to climb from my comfortable bed.  A force beyond my understanding told me I should read and write.

Why am I doing this before the roosters crow?  For starters, my day job has been busier than usual lately.  We hired a new employee I’m helping orient and we’re gearing up for an audit in two weeks.  I haven’t even been taking a full lunch hour. The leadership program I’m involved in is reaching a critical point in our project. I’m writing most of the final presentation for the group.  My family has also been sick lately.  My husband even had the flu this week.  I’m planning an overnight trip for upcoming spring break.  I’m always doing something or thinking of what I should be doing…

Despite these chaotic times and obstacles, I make time to write each day, even if that period is 2:00 a.m.  I may be tired and unmotivated.  Yet I tell myself to suck it up.  Just do it.  Sit here.  Just read.  Just write.  Just type.

On Wednesday around 1:45 a.m. I read a few chapters of an inspiring book called “Writer with a Day Job” by Aine Greaney.  This book focuses on how to write while still having another career.  This was a good reminder that most writers do have other jobs that pay the bills.  Most of us do not have full-time writing, paying jobs. I don’t.  Greaney offers daily writing tips and sample exercises to generate inspiration.  The book was just the reality check I needed to hear.

On Friday around 2:30 a.m. I forced myself to work further on a children’s book I’m composing. I did not feel inspired when I sat my butt in the office chair.  I’ll admit, I even pulled up social media sites for about the first twenty minutes.  Shame on me, such a time-waster!   But then I turned it off.  I focused.  Or at least I told myself I should concentrate.  I stared blankly at the screen for a few minutes.  At first I felt very uncreative. Then suddenly a rhyme entered my brain.  Then another.  And another. Before I knew it, I had covered an entire sheet of my notebook with rhyming words, like this:

In less than two hours, I wrote twenty new pages of a book.

Really? Yes! Yes, I did.

At 3:30 a.m. when the whole house was quietly snoring, I was typing away – rhyme after rhyme for this special story I’m writing.  Suddenly it came together for me.  I allowed time and put in the dedication.  I was rewarded by ideas that came flooding through my fingertips and onto the screen.

Then an even bigger notion came to my brain.  I thought of a way to keep the story going even after it’s read by children, parents and teachers.  I can make the story book come to life and live on for a much longer time frame.  My words will have a purpose and allow others to continue the story or tell their own.  Won’t that be amazing?

So I missed some sleep this week?  Instead I gained a reality check, inspiration, twenty good pages of writing and an idea to move beyond my story for greater good. Holy crap.  I think I need to wake up at 2 a.m. more often if this is how it’s going to be… I will keep you posted… Stay tuned.

I share this to remind myself and encourage other to be open to different writing times.  Write and read in the wee hours every once in awhile.  Write late at night, first thing in the morning or mid-afternoon.  You never know when those creative juices will start going for you and the work you’re creating will take on a whole new dimension.