13 Comments
author

I usually like late nights, 10 pm to 1 or 2 am. In my twenties it was hard to have a social life and write every day when I write so late, but I'm finding that this routine works really well in my thirties!

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Oct 17, 2022Liked by Valorie Castellanos Clark

My favorite time is late afternoon to early evening. However, this is also when I edit best, so it's a struggle between work (as an editor to pay the rent) and having the time free to write, which doesn't pay the rent but pays the soul.

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author

It is such a hard balance to figure out how to use your productive hours, especially when you’re freelancing. I totally feel this.

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Oct 17, 2022Liked by Valorie Castellanos Clark

I’m a late night writer! I think I start thriving around 10pm (when I’m not sleep deprived from work/uni/life etc) which of course isn’t as often as I’d love but in the future hope to be a writer where I can be a night owl as much as I want to!!

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author

I’m a late night writer too! Most of my best work gets down on paper after 11 pm

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I aspire to be like Anthony Trollope, who wrote 3,000 words before going to work. Sadly, this ambition is yet to be realised. I used to write for a few hours every morning, but now my best time is from around 3pm to 7pm.

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author

3000 words before work!? Do we know how long it took him to do that!

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It was probably an average. He aimed to write 250 words every 15 minutes, from 5:30 to 8:30 am.

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5:30-6:00 AM. Coffee's kicking in hard, and the chao of everyone getting ready for work/school is still about an hour away.

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author

I'm so impressed with anyone who can get up this early! Do you have a routine you go through when you start writing?

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I'd love to spin some glorious tale about setting the stage, but the reality is much more boring:

Get coffee

Sit down at kitchen table

Put on a record

Open laptop

Get to work

I usually have a list of what I need to work on written out, so that gives me a head start as far as getting rolling. My dog usually sits right there too (I know, I know), and for some reason it's much more helpful than a distraction.

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author

I get this! I love when my cat sits with me while I'm working. Usually she just sleeps in my lap, which means I can't get up. It helps!

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Morning or late at night. In the morning it's because my head is apparently the most clear, and at night it's because something's been eating at me all day that I just need to get into words. I lean more towards morning to write, but recently I've been up at night writing a lot.

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