I write at night and always have. My creative window stretches from about 11:00 PM until around 4:00 AM. I’ve tried writing at other times, but I just never feel comfortable, and the writing doesn’t flow very well. Over the years, I’ve trained myself to work within this window and still function fairly well in my day-to-day life. If I have to work early the next morning, I start as early as possible and lose an hour or two of sleep that night. If I don’t have to work, I might stay up until four or five in the morning, and on those nights, I’ll sleep until noon. That might sound strange to some, but it works for me.
My ex-wife never understood this. She complained all the time that I should write in the day and sleep a normal schedule. My parents don’t understand it, either. They’re from that generation that believes people should rise with the sun. Anyone who sleeps late must be lazy and good for nothing. They don’t seem to understand that I’m very productive on that schedule. When I’m working on a book, I will write five to six nights a weeks, and when I’m writing, I don’t sit around staring off into space. I’m deeply engaged in concentration, and it’s exhausting.
If I can ever get to the point where I’m writing full-time, my creative window won’t matter very often because I won’t have to get up for a day job. Until I get to that point, I’ll keep plugging away and losing a little sleep every now and then. As long as the end result is a good book, it doesn’t really matter.
Big Owl's Tree 