How Not To Write

As I write this, it's just a little after 5AM and the power is out.

The power went out in one of those stuttering gasps that makes the lights flicker on and off, and all the little machines in the house reset themselves and demand attention. It's just enough noise and commotion to disturb any chance you might have of sleeping.

"Please press review key for setup instructions."

For some fool reason I placed the answering machine on the nightstand right beside my head. The machine's recorded voice isn't pleasant. She is terse and demanding. She insists that I press the review key with a passive aggressive tone that makes her difficult to ignore, promises some unknown retribution for delay.

"Please press review key for setup instructions."

It may not seem rational, but the second time she asked her voice sounded even more perturbed, as if it is her sleep that is being disturbed, not mine, and that without the correct time and date she will lie restless on the nightstand.

At this point, the power went out completely. I figured I might as well get up since I was planning to have an early morning writing session anyway.

I lit the stove and made myself a cup of tea. I also made a note to get some black tea in the house since all we have is the flowery herbal stuff, which is great at bedtime but not so swell when you've just been needled out of sleep by a cranky machine.

It's raining outside, picking up in fact. I hope the sump doesn't overflow. I'm glad my laptop is charged otherwise I'd probably be upset. If this happened in November, I know I'd be upset because this is the time I've set aside to write.

All of this sounds a bit miserable, but really, I couldn't be happier. I'm up early and I am writing. This was my plan anyway, a plan that I used to execute each and every day.

When I had my studio, 5AM was the my usual wake-up time. Over the last year, I've found my hour of rising slipping. First in fifteen minute increments, then half an hour. Lately, I've been getting up at 7AM which feels terribly late. So, I'm happy to be typing by lantern light in my kitchen at 5AM.

After my last post about NaNoWriMo, I received a lot of great comments, tweets, and emails. It seems like I was able to encourage a few people to do what I did, namely setting aside fear and jumping in. I'm glad I could help a little and I'm looking forward to hearing more from everyone as thing heat up.

We have to hang together, folks. Writing a novel in 30 days is a crazy ride. Keep your powder dry and your laptop charged.

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