when do you make time to write?

When do you make time to write?

Our Bassie usually sleeps until 6.30am or 7am if we're really lucky. This morning he woke up at 5am. 5am! It was still dark. We managed to get him back to sleep with a bottle and a dry nappy.

I tried to fall back to sleep but couldn't. I thought it the perfect time to get up early and sit with my laptop, something I've been meaning to do for ages. I usually write at night and at lunchtimes, but I have to admit my brain feels weary and dull at night.

I've read about writers who swear by waking one hour earlier than usual of a morning to "show up" at their laptop. This simple ritual kicks off the day by demonstrating a positive, physical commitment to your craft. As a mum, it gives you a moment of peace, a pause, a calm breath to start the day on your terms, completely absorbed in your own creative world.

I remember my favourite uni lecturer, author and mentor Nike Bourke, telling us she would wake one hour earlier than her children (she has four kids!) every morning. She'd brew herself a cup of tea and sip it slowly in front of her laptop. The words wouldn't always flow, but often they did, and that's the point. The first step is turning up. 

This blog has some interesting tips for writers on how to make the most of those early mornings. And the blog Simple Mom talks generally about the value of waking early here. I've mentioned Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk in this space before; she too talks about the importance of "turning up" at the laptop or page.

Before Bassie arrived, I used to wake early before work to write when a deadline was looming. My brain felt fresh and zingy and I loved the stillness and quiet that greeted me just after dawn. But since falling pregnant and having Bassie, sleep has become paramount. It still is - I worship sleep like the sun - but maybe I'm feeling ready to wake a little earlier, even if it's only for deadlines or when Bassie is my impromptu alarm clock.