Rise and Whine

Writing early in the morning...ugh.

Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez once suggested that the best time to write is as soon as you wake up, because you're still half in the dream state (ooh, cool title for a story), so just sit up in bed and get to scribbling. It doesn't matter if it's any good; as Hemingway put it, "The first draft of anything is shit." It's a terrific idea, and I sure wish I could go with it.

Others have rituals to follow first: Gore Vidal needed coffee and a bowel movement before settling down to write. Some do the morning thing not because it leaves the writing to the subconscious or because they have the leisure to do so, but they do it out of necessity. While a practicing attorney, John Grisham got up extremely early to begin the writing that he peppered throughout the day; after that unbroken morning session, he jotted on legal pads whenever he had a few minutes between court hearings.

The point is that the early A.M. is an ideal time to write. And, actually, that could work just fine for me, because I love early mornings. Thanks to my years of teaching, when I'd go to the gym at 4 and be at work by 6:30 or 7, my body is adjusted to that, and I'm automatically awake by around 3:30. It annoys my family when I stay over, but it's great for me because that time of the day feels fresh and new and ripe with possibilities. Plus, the world is very still and quiet and seemingly all mine.

So, why don't I write then? The answer is, I don't have a good answer. When I awake, I make my breakfast of oatmeal and then settle down with a book and a cup of Earl Grey. I love to read--some might say too much, and I don't disagree. It's true that the great scribes (Stephen King is the one I can recall most readily) advise, indeed admonish, would-be authors to read a lot if they wish to write. But, a writer who spends all of her time with her nose in a book will find herself with no time to take up the pen. The irony is that I know this very well and yet do not heed the wisdom of my forebears. Even this blog entry was created only after breakfast, coffee, and some time online scanning a list of Welsh writers and dashing off a pair of Facebook posts.

The problem, in part, is that I'm of that breed of scribe who still needs to be in the mood. Any author worth his salt will shake his head as he tells you that you'll never produce enough material that way. Still, I tend to save horror stories and those with mature (sex) themes for later in the day, and I seem only to write in other genres after a similar book or movie or when I'm in a particular setting. Just about the only kind of writing I can do at any time or location is comic-book scripts, because those are thoroughly outlined in advance and don't require a lot of thought or emotion. The best analogy for the production of an outlined script is Alfred Hitchcock's filming of a movie from the screenplay meticulously drafted by him and his writer; he said that the actual shooting was boring because he'd already done all the hard work. That might be part of the reason he treated his actors like "cattle."

I love writing. When I'm in the groove, lost in the words and images, commiserating with my characters, there's nothing better (except cuddling with my dogs). Unfortunately, getting started, ruining a blank sheet of paper, is like pulling teeth with no anesthetic. I solve part of that problem by writing the rough draft in longhand on the backs of discarded photocopies (yes, longhand; otherwise, it doesn't feeling like genuine writing). The other part I'm still struggling with. I must admit that this blog is helping somewhat, because I pound out the posts without researching the subject or outlining the content. There's only me, my thoughts, and the keyboard, and it's not going too badly.

Perhaps I'll tackle that morning issue sooner than later.

#writing