This last week has been one of the most stressful in a year of stressful weeks, and it’s not over yet. I am posting later than I normally would be, because I am writing later than I should be, because earlier in the week I tripped and fell down a hole and took a few days to climb back out again. I am writing when normally I would not, because I did not when I initially meant to.
Asking “When do writers write?” is like asking when it will rain again. That it will happen again, at some point, is a given; how regularly, and how much, is often less certain, even for those of us who do our best to set and follow a schedule.
When Do Writers Write? The Practical Answer
Every writer is different. Some prefer to wake before the crack of dawn and pen a thousand words before their coffee mug is drained. Others’ creative energies rise with the sun, reaching their zenith sometime midday. Others still are night-owls who crave the quiet and the privacy of the night in which to let their imaginations run rampant.
This preference, by the way, is not necessarily set in stone. While some may be creatures of habit for the length of their lives, many of us change over the years, sometimes even with the seasons. Once upon a time, I was a moonlight writer; my stories began when the sun went down and did not end until it came back up again to greet me. Now that my days are quieter, I prefer to write by sunlight and keep the evenings for myself. And who knows where I will be ten years from now; already I’ve begun to work on waking up a little earlier to try and work morning walks into my daily routine.
But serious writers don’t only write when mood or imagination strikes us. Those of us who write professionally, or passionately, or both—we write when we must, because we must. Some of us write to earn our bread; many more of us write to earn a peace of mind we can not otherwise afford ourselves.
When Do Writers Write? The Real Answer
We write when our muses sing to us, because it would be foolish and wasteful not to accept such rare gifts when they are given, but we write when they are silent, too.
We write when we are sleepy after a long, restless night. We write when we feel empty, to fill the void, and we write when we are full, to purge before we overflow. We write when our families are at odds, when our country feels like it’s tearing itself apart, when the whole world feels like it could give up on itself at any moment.
When times are good, we write to celebrate. When times are bad, we write to change them for the better. When we are stuck, we write to find a way forward, and when we are lost, we write to find our way back. When we’re trapped, we write a way out. When we need to take a break, we take one—and then we come back again and write some more.
When do writers write? We write when the sun rises, and also when it sets. And we keep writing, no matter what, because the world needs our stories, and because we need to tell them.
If you would like to read a bit more of my writing, check out The Harbinger’s Head or The Dragon’s Last Flight for free today—or, feel free to peruse my collection of free reads right here on the site.
