The Time that Works
Best for Creativity
Writers frequently run around saying they have certain times
of day, times of year, they enjoy writing the most. As the winter fades away
and record highs have taken over this week in Phoenix, Arizona I’m coming
face-to-face with this very dilemma. What time of day should I make the effort
to get the words out and what season do I find my best creativity comes rising
to the surface?
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I used to be a night owl and loved the quiet of the
city after the ten o’clock hour. In my twenties I felt my best functioning
hours were 10:00 – 2:00 on both sides of the clock. Staying up late meant
sleeping in later in the morning and I was always most productive with creative
thoughts right after I got up in the late morning. Now that I’m approaching
forty I find the same thing rings true. The difference is I don’t think I could
tell you the last time I saw two o’clock in the morning and now I rise at about
7:30 every morning.
With a shift in my body clock while working in
corporate America I noticed the shift in my productivity hours. Even though I’m
working for no one but myself these days that same body clock has held fast.
Now when I write I find my most creative thoughts come at around eight o’clock
in the morning and by two o’clock in the afternoon I’m toast. I’m still most productive
in the morning I just approach it earlier these days. But that isn’t the only
change to my schedule. Time of year also plays a big role in my writing and
effectiveness with creativity.
When I lived in Boston I frequently hibernated in the
winter to avoid going outdoors in the harsh cold of our northeast winters. I
completed NaNoWriMo a few years in a row during November and spent December
through February editing and formatting. Once I moved to Phoenix that weather
pattern was no longer as grueling and I found my natural tendency was to be
outdoors in the winters instead. But I struggled with giving up my summers and
the fun that tends to go along with them. That is until my first summer in
Phoenix.
Temperatures can hit anywhere from 100-115 here from
June to August and sometimes, like this week for example, the temps can go out
of control on either end of that summer season. The only thing I want to do
during the summer now is to stay indoors in my air conditioned house, or be out
in the pool, to remain as cool as possible. And this has sparked some
creativity to bubble up. Last August I wrote Reckless Abandon, my latest
Romantic Suspense and it only took me the month to get a good first draft down
on paper.
I set the novella in the middle of summer and the
weather played a small background role for the main character, Shaw, as she
experienced the different kind of heat that New York City has to offer in the
summer as opposed to her dry but oven-like climate in Phoenix. The experiences
of having lived in that thick and gooey kind of warmth helped me to write her
reaction to it with more honesty. And I was able to take shelter from our
summer heat by using that time to my best advantage with my work.
Now as I’m working on the sequel I’m finding my
creative juices are starting to rise with the temperatures. All winter long I
was empty, there was nothing particularly creative rolling around my head.
However, during that time I was collecting information while out and about
meeting people, doing things, exploring, and living life. As a Writer I like
things loosely structured and now, knowing my best times of year to collect as
well as write, it helps me stay on track to completing my next piece of fiction
without it feeling forced.
As the temps heat up this spring I’m finding the next
storyline for Shaw is heating up as well. Will I make the next book a scorcher?
Only time will tell on that one but I can assure you I’ll be working on it
first thing in the morning and spending the late afternoons in the pool.
