Why you should be writing at night
A lot of writers promote the benefits of writing right when you get out of bed - on an empty stomach, and when your head is the clearest without any obstacles the daily life throws at you. However, if your mind was perfectly clear, how close it would be to clearing out your creativity as well?
Why writes at night?
What I believe that differs night writing from the day sessions is the purpose: instead of trying to jot down as much as possible on the pages, the things I would personally cherry pick to put down are mostly surrounding the events that has happened throughout the day, and would be the most highlighted details. The goal is not to grind through pages after pages, but to really put your mind to your own experiences and only put down what you can remember.
There was a really vivid night that's still stuck in my head - there was a party prior and when I laid down in bed, the thoughts recalling what went down really came back, and it was then the urge to pen down my thought was surging up in my stomach - those stomach butterflies really know when to come out. I could barely remember a quarter of what was written down, but the thing that mattered was the process of writing. It was not something to be proud of really; but it was another step in making my body become more familiar with words and proses, to let them out with ease and to let the thoughts flow out of my mind in completion.
What to write at the midst of everyone else's sleep?
While everyone's in the middle of their dreams and tiktok scrolling, what could you be penning down?
The usual thing I would write in the mornings are articles for awritingguy, or sometimes sample essays for my students - in general, topics that are impartial or impersonal at that. The later in the day I start penning things down, the more personal it gets, especially thoughts that I decide to throw in the 5-year Hobonichi.
It's not something definite all must follow, but a phenomenon I experience all on my own volition. Having the chance to filter out some of the redundant details prior to writing might seem like counterintuitive to many writers, but writing everything down might be clouding yourself from the truly important things. After being acquaint with the act of writing, we can all become a bit more selective with it, can't we?
Another personal thing that I like about writing at night is the atmosphere. Y'all have to admit that day time is 9 out of 10 times "working hours" and there is a certain level of dread going through our minds to "get things over with". But night time, it's our time for relaxation, to wind down, and to lessen a bit the amount of human interactions we do during the time. Normally I wouldn't say no to a conversation or a night out, but when it comes to writing, the less interruption the better. Deeper topics are more open to us during no contact periods, and it would be a blessing to have a whole 4-5 hours to yourself to speak to your mind.
What else to remember
The thing about night writing that may put some of us off is that it's surely not healthy in the long run - spending quality sleep time for a few more pages of writing might seem like a dedication, but it would affect our health greatly if not done in moderation, so here are a few things I would suggest if you would like to start writing more at night:
Know when to put the pen down and rest
Exhaustion kills creativity, so it's no use struggling for more words if you're going to erase them the next day. When the writing task isn't fun anymore and the drowsiness of sleep kicks in, it's better to just put things to rest and continue the next day.
Do not abuse alcohol or substances during your night writing
A glass of wine, or a puff from your favorite tobacco might seem romantic with a night time writing session, but in the long run they are going to turn into the main focus instead of the writing task itself. It's easy to let your urges to create that passionate scene from your favorite romance novel where the authors paint that scene of himself writing throughout the night with a pen in hand and a glass of whisky in the other. It looks cool and all yet the thing you could be consumig instead is lots of water and healthy thoughts ;)
Have a plan
Writing endlessly for hours on end might produce you some pages, but it might lead you nowhere without proper planning and writing goals. Set a certain amount of words or writing purpose that are achievable for that particular night and stick to it. Remember, writing is a marathon, not a sprint.
I do hope these personal thoughts may help you vary your writing schedule and through a bit of a change in environment inspire you to create more for the world. Thanks for reading and I'll catch you in the next articles or videos :)
