Mornings are my prime time and I cherish it. That’s when the house is quiet, the muse is with me and I can think clearly. I don’t make early appointments and have trained my household, to leave me be. As soon as I wake up I get my cup of tea, crawl back into bed with my journal and pen. I don’t even turn on my phone or computer until after I’ve written a few pages. I believe in the hand to heart connection and write all my first drafts by hand.

Sometimes I write for twenty minutes and other times I might even keep going for an hour or two. I write my remembered dreams, stream of consciousness, a poem, a prayer or maybe even love letters. If I’m lucky one of my fictional characters is pushing me to tell a part of their story. I usually don’t have a plan. Occasionally though I’ll put an assignment with a sticky on my journal the night before to take care of something I’ve been putting off. For example it could be a condolence letter, a difficult email draft, or like right now I am composing this blog post.

My special time has shifted over the years. When still teaching full-time I was a night owl, unable to sleep I’d find myself up in the middle of the night to write down the thoughts jumping in my head. But now after dark I’m like Cinderella at midnight and my mind shuts down. In my teens I wrote most evenings before I went to sleep until one of my boyfriends got a hold of my journal and found out I was seeing someone else too. After that I quit writing for awhile and make sure to keep my journal private.

When I skip my prime time due to the dog barking next door, out of town guests or maybe even just plain laziness I miss it, feel disoriented all day and not as productive.

When is the muse most with you? How do you honor that time?