My Writing Life

Those who don't write would, I think, find those of us who do rather strange people. We give so many of our hours to tapping out words on a QWERTY keyboard or pushing a pen over paper. What, they might ask, can we possibly get out of that as a way of life?

I'm not sure that we could answer that. Why do we write? The simplest and most accurate answer is 'because we have to'.
In my case, I start well before sunrise. I sit in a recliner chair (no point in being uncomfortable!) and I write. For the first 30 minutes, fountain pen in hand, I write whatever comes to mind in an A4 exercise book which has the title "Morning Anythings".
After that, still in the recliner chair, I write in my journal for, perhaps, 15 to 20 minutes and entries always include three things for which I am thankful. So I start my writing day thankfully. It's a good way to be in this writing life. I then move to my computer and work on whatever my major project of the time is.

I write for three to three-and-a-half hours before breakfast, so I already have significant work accomplished before taking the breakfast break.
Why do I do this? Because I can't imagine a better way to begin the day. I always see the sun rising, so inspiration is daily at hand. If it is raining, I open a window or two, at least wide enough for me to smell the rain. That's inspiring, too.
Above all, the world around me is still asleep, so I have no distractions, no calls upon me that I have to attend to. It is the perfect time to be at the joyful work of writing.

As i write that I realise that it is not work as work is popularly understood, because it is an occupation I need to be involved in. It is a creative form of self-expression, but also in the creating, a small step here and there in my development, not just as a writer, but also as a person. To return to an earlier statement in this blog, I write because I must and I write because writing is an exciting activity. Life itself is exciting, so of course I write.

The early morning is not the only time that I write, but the early hours time are non-negotiable. They are the time of precious opportunity for putting words onto paper or the computer screen.

Here's to writing!

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