In my past I’ve written research articles and created curriculum units. I found that the energy to do technical type of writing could occur at any time of the day. If I had a few hours I could plunge right in and get something accomplished.

Creative writing has been a different journey for me. Whenever time allows, I still can get in there and do the rewriting and editing so important to reach a final draft, but ideas and plot advances often come to me in the early morning hours. I’m referring to the time before the sun comes up and my head has not been consumed by emails and texts and the always on world. I find that my words flow like an open faucet.

There is actually some research on creativity and time of day that supports the idea that certain people are more insightful in the morning, while others wait until the evening. According to the researchers it seems in my case “being a bit sleepy and vague broadens the mind’s focus.”

They warn, and I have also found this to be true, make sure you re-visit what you have created in these insightful moments during daylight when the more analytical mode is dominant. You may not like anything you created.

Maybe this was why the university I graduated from offered their writing classes at either 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. I was always in the early morning session and now I know why.

Good luck with your writing no matter what time of the day it occurs.