Rhythm can be found all around us. In music, poetry, and the beating of our hearts--just to name a few. But I have discovered a natural rhythm beginning to form in my writing.
My youngest child is in Kindergarten. This means that if I get all my chores and errands done before he leaves in the afternoon, I can have 2-1/2 hours of potentially uninterrupted writing time. I've been trying this, and what has happened?
I have found that my brain doesn't work top notch at this time. I don't know why, but I find myself, after an hour's time, staring blankly at the computer monitor with only a few paragraphs.
But after dinner, I'm pumped. I plug in my iPod, (which drowns out all background noises rather nicely), sit down at my computer, and in an hour have roughly four double-spaced pages. Creativity just comes to me better at this time of day more than at any other. So I've decided to go with my my body's natural creative rhythm, which is between the hours of 7 and 10:00 p.m.
Along with doing this, I have found that I can devote 1-2 hours a day to writing, and end up with roughly twenty pages a week, which I then send to my writing support group. (Support is the key here at this time, since I'm working on a rough draft.)
I have also learned that I like to write at a speed which will help me get my rough draft done fairly quickly (a few months vs. a few years) yet not so fast and hard that I get burned out.
This is the writing rhythm I'm discovering, and it works well when I keep in tune to my natural pace and rhythm.
What is your pace and rhythm?
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