Actually, it's 5.23 on the first day, and it seems my ability to turn off alarms while still asleep has returned. For some reason my unconscious mind prefers to hit snooze, rather than just turning the stupid alarm off.
Maybe I should have thought about a "5.30am project", or a more sensible "6am project".
Alas, I'll stick with 5am.
So, the project.
In simple terms, I'm really great at making excuses. Excuses not to write, or finish a novel that's been in the works for the past four years (Four. Years). A friend and I decided a month ago that we'd set a date, write as much as we could by the 31 July and submit a chapter to Allen & Unwin's Friday Slush Pile. It was supposed to be a way, for me in particular, to get motivated about writing - to produce something quickly and send it out into the world. The idea was more about process than content; the process of writing ~50-60,000 words quickly.
Even with a deadline, and a fast approaching one, I was unable to get the word count much higher, really. It seemed I would be content to plod along with a couple of hundred words written on the weekend. There was no time, I rationalised. I had work during the day, and then I had to eat when I got home and get to the gym. By the time I got home again, showered and settled down, it would be 10pm and I'd feel like two hours of writing was about the last thing I wanted to do.
So here I am, awake at 5.38. No more excuses, and plenty of time to write. I'll be doing this for the next month - 35,000 words in 30 days.
The 5am Project.
2 comments:
here you are in your *blog* at 5am! How many words did you write for your novel? ;)
Erm... some... today was concept day.
From tomorrow I'll be focusing on the writing in the morning and updating the blog with progress at the end of the day.
You're not supposed to be skeptical quite so soon :P
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