Before Coffee (Day 3)

Before Coffee

Help! The latest email from Jeff Goins suggests that the best time for writing is first thing in the morning. He even recommends getting up an hour or two earlier each day, just to write. Before coffee, before food, before anything.  Now, anyone who knows me can testify that I am not an early riser.  And to make it worse, it takes me ages to tune into life.

But, maybe that’s the whole point…Perhaps waiting for the fog to clear is the wrong approach? Tomorrow, I am going to find out one way or another because I intend to take up this part of the challenge in the same spirit as the others.

 

When do I usually write?

Well, I can assure you it’s not before coffee. Usually, it’s around noon after a good helping of internet browsing.  Checking Twitter, Facebook and emails. There’s always something interesting to hook onto, isn’t that how the internet works?

Yes, Jeff, I am already seeing the wisdom of your words, even as I type. It’s obvious  I’m not bringing a clear mind to my writing. By the time I get finished with the online distractions, my brain is surely even foggier than when I awoke. Brexit, Trump, Penneys latest jackets. Not to mention about a hundred emails that need deleting more than reading. How is that helping?

 

When do I get creative ideas?

Mostly, they come to me when I least expect it.

Often, it’s when I’m lying in bed, trying to sleep. Story titles, plots, lines of poetry. That’s why I keep a notebook beside the bed…Otherwise, I’d be up and down the stairs like a ping pong ball. The same thing used to happen when I was painting, I could see the pictures right in front of me and I’d have to start drawing. I knew it was my only hope of being able to get to sleep.

Other times, I’d wake up from a dream, one that was unusual or interesting in some way.  Yes, I want to write about that. But this can be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes I fall back asleep and when I wake up I can’t remember it. Missed opportunities.

Then there are the daytime places…A walk in the woods, a stroll uptown, a visit to a shopping centre, all can jolt my awareness.  Sometimes it is the peace and quiet that inspires me, other times it is the busy ordinariness of life. Sometimes, I get creative bursts of thought while I’m driving, which seems quite bizarre. I rarely have the radio on, maybe that helps.

 

Larks and Owls

They say people fall into two categories, morning larks and night owls. I’m definitely the night owl, I tend to stay up late and that’s often when the inspiration kicks in. But maybe that’s because I’m not giving my inner lark a chance? ( Wishful thinking here) . According to Wikipedia, the lark’s song “consists of a few cheeps followed by a warbling, ascending trill.”  Surely that’s better than the owl’s hooting? I guess I’m going to find out soon.

 

So, Before Coffee or…

I’ll certainly set the alarm early for tomorrow morning, just not sure about the banished coffee bit. Will I get past the little cheeps stage without it? I have my doubts…

 

Day 3 of my 500 Words 31 Day Challenge.

The photograph is my own, shot in Leenane, Co. Galway.