I’ve always sort have been a morning person.
I used to wake up every morning at 4:30 to go to the gym (I obviously don’t do that anymore) but in recent years I’ve been waking up around 5 a.m to get my writing for the day done.
It started when I knew I wanted to write a novel.
The idea was always in the back of my mind. I’d tried Nanowrimo a few years and a row to no success but around 2018 I decided that I’d had enough, and that I was going to sit down and write my first novel come hell or high water. I was always my dream to write a novel, and dammit I was going to do it.
The biggest issue is, I just didn’t have the time.
I’d shove in a couple hundred words here or there, but I wasn’t making consistent progress. I wasn’t making time for my writing.
I knew I had the ability to wake up early. I knew I needed to set aside specific time to get my writing done.
So one day it just, clicked.
I started getting up around 5-5:50 a.m, writing for an hour or two before I had to get my son up and ready for school.
It provided a huge boost in my productivity.
I cranked through my chapters and while I still wrote during the day, those mornings were crucial in completing my novel.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s hard to do.
Going to bed at 9 p.m isn’t exactly the most exciting thing, and I rarely, if ever hit that goal. Realistically I’d go to bed around 11. I noticed that towards the end of the week my lack of sleep started to get to me and I’d find it harder to focus so early in the morning.
I tried to switch it up some, and write at night when everyone was asleep and the house was quite, but that didn’t have the same effect.
The key isn’t having to wake up early, that was just the easiest way for me. The true key is forcing yourself to make time for your writing. A time that’s secluded and quite, without noise or interruptions. A time for writing and writing alone.
Once you find this, I have no about you’ll make far more progress in your writing like I did.
John Dulak 