Up early again, to get some more writing done, this time
before 5am. The mornings are my best time, when my mind is still fresh, before
the trials and rigours of an ordinary life tread all over it like pair of
jack-boots.
But are all mornings writing mornings, or do I just try to
cultivate them that way? I am up, I made the effort, so stick some words into
the document in the name of completion and subsequent stardom.
This morning was too early, 3am in fact, so I read for a
while before getting up. Then it’s a quick look at twitter, facebook, last
night’s emails. These days I get more email at night than during the day. I
blame the Americans for that.
OK, settle in, read what I wrote yesterday, refresh the
story. As I try to pick up where I left off, I spot typos, re-editing required.
Another half-hour gone.
My switching on the kettle has woken the better half, and
she pads dreamily into the kitchen, via the bathroom, rubbing her sleepy eyes
and reaching for a tea-bag. I try to ignore her, I need my peace, that’s why I
got up so early. She takes her cup back to bed, thankfully without
conversation.
The kettle smells of chloride, so I de-scale it using
Coco-cola. It’s nearly 6am. Then I yawn and rub my own eyes.
OK, to write, come on brain, let's get imaginative. This is a
children’s story, about a piglet. It has to be fun; funny even. I remember once
reading a biography of the comedian, Eric Morcombe, and him saying that people
used to sidle up to talk to him, and expect him to be funny. And he wasn’t,
only when he had a script to work from.
You see, writing isn’t scripted, well mine isn’t anyway. I
think up a story, with a rough idea of how many words it will be, create some
characters, wind them up and let them loose. Invariably, they start running,
building, climbing and laughing, all of their own accord. I just fuel them,
every morning, fresh from a night filled with un-contaminated dreams, and off
they head, blindly towards the end of the book. The end. Polite applause.
Except, do they always tread the right path? Or, just
possibly, some mornings, maybe the brain isn’t really there at the races. On
those days, maybe the plot should just stay in bed instead of bumbling on
through the undergrowth?
Yesterday, a new character turned up purely by chance,
totally unexpectedly popping up from behind a hedge, I quite liked that, quite
liked him in fact. Then, the cat woke up, the dogs barked, daytime things started
to happen and I went to work. Writing stint over, 2600 words done and dusted
before breakfast.
Now, this morning, I am not sure who this character is
anymore. He wasn’t in the script, because there isn’t one. And, today, he
doesn’t want to dance.
So, for once, I shall send him back to bed, and write a blog
instead. Time to go and sort out the kettle, have a bath and let him rest.
After all, in the words of Scarlett O’Hara, tomorrow is another day.
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