ok so i'm a writer...how to find your sweet spot

i woke up at 4:45 because my tummy ached....worst feeling ever. i tried to go back to sleep for another hour, but at 5:45, i gave up and came downstairs. it was pitch black and cold outside (well, i didn't actually go out there, but it was cold inside, so i used my deductive reasoning). :) 

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i made myself some coffee, turned on the fire, lit the christmas tree, and started watching some netflix on my computer on the couch. safe haven was my choice...love julianne, a fellow huff (different spelling but we know we're the same). and of course, i love anything nick sparks. so it was a perfect movie. when i feel nauseous at all, i want to watch something sweet like disney or saved by the bell or a chick flick. my usual forensic thriller shows like law & order: svu just don't make the cut. 

so here, i'm sitting in light of the fire and tree with my headphones on so that i don't wake my husband (sound travels up our stairs in some weird ways), and i suddenly feel not only awake, but ready to work. 

if you know me at all, i'm the furthest thing from a morning person, so this was a shock. i fully intended on falling asleep on the couch once my belly stopped churning. or at the very least, watching the movie until it was over. 

i had brought down the manuscript with me (at the time, i thought it had been wishful thinking), so i pulled it up and started going. talk about a zone. i'm in the part of the manuscript where some of my big changes are going to start coming in, the ones that will hopefully make the story that much better...and i got right into it, taking notes, getting ideas, writing all over my manuscript. 

now, i'm taking a break to write this post: it's almost 8 am. husband and dog are still asleep...which is the cutest thing i've ever seen by the way. and i'm looking around at the same fire and tree...and a few vanilla candles i lit a couple hours ago...

this, ladies and gentleman, is my sweet spot. i had a run during the summer/early fall when i was waking up early to work. i remember loving it, but after i got sick with a stomach bug ...or maybe it was the sinus infection...either way! after i got sick, i got off my early riser train and slept my life away. 

it's almost like it takes a fluke to get me back into the morning game. like something silly and annoying has to wake me up early for me to actually do it. and then my body clock adjusts and we're golden. 

so how does this apply to you? are you in search of that time of day when you are at your best? when you aren't working on your other jobs' tasks, taking the dog for a walk before it gets dark, working out, making/eating meals...there always feels like there is more to do than just write...like it is a luxury, so it can wait. 

and maybe it can...or  maybe it can't. i will tell you that finding your sweet spot can make all the difference. i used to write all night, but then i would feel like i could never get started in the morning. when mason and i lived in LA, he would wake up at 5 something to get started on the stock market at 6am (9am eastern) while i would be dead dog tired until at least 9 because i was up all night long with ideas. that's no way to live...so i feel like this early early morning thing is good. i feel rested, and then i can go to sleep when my other half does. 

your sweet spot is all about you. most things in life shouldn't be...but this should. you can't be in two head spaces at once and write well. you can't be half in, half out. i don't have children yet, but i imagine it would be difficult to try to write some dialogue when they are coming in every 2 minutes with a question or request. so, knowing that you're wasting your effort and frustration, find this sweet spot, this time when you can write, and i mean write. when the chances are the slimmest that  no one will bother you. (i.e. 5:45am) it will make all the difference in the world. and if you are thinking you just don't have time and maybe the universe is trying to tell you that you aren't a real writer...you just haven't found that sweet spot yet. keep looking. keep writing. writers write. 

so, the moral to the story is that my tummy ache was a gift. i'm up, inspired, and working. and feeling like a write should...hungry to keep going.