I know a guy who for a time was very prolific. He’s a cool dude, laid back, has a good job. He would write his books in the morning. He’d wake up at about 4 am, then get to work for a couple hours before he had to take his kids to school and get ready for the workday.
There’s something to the “just waking up” part of the day that lends itself to creation, I think. It’s almost like you wake up and then the responsibilities of the day begin piling up, and you can’t focus on the thing anymore.
It’s hard to get into a “flow state” if you’re thinking about work, or your kids, or your responsibilities.
But there’s something else going on, as well.
I remember in one of Mitch Horowitz’s books, I think it was The Miracle Club, where he’s talking about one of those old Positive Thought guys, maybe it was Neville Goddard, who said that the best time of the day to meditate is about 3pm. It’s when you start to get sleepy. Nap time, basically. That’s when the veil is at its thinnest, when you’re closest to the dream world.
You could say the same thing for early morning.
A have a cup of maca and Stamets 7 mushroom blend when I wake up. Then I heat up some bone broth and put hot sauce in it to clear out my sinuses from the night before. Then I dive in.
I’m consistently nailing about a thousand words per morning this way. Because you’re not thinking about anything else, and you’re closer to that subconscious puzzle-solving abstract brain…the type of brain you need for creation.
I’m going to start implementing another hour-long session around 2:00pm, because 3:00 doesn’t work with my schedule. But at that point, I will turn off all devices, hide my phone, and meditate for about ten minutes, and see what comes to me.
In this way, I’ll be on Stephen King’s level, hitting about 2,000 words per day.
Do you know how much output you could have at 2,000 words per day? Look at the size of King’s books. That’s 730k words per year, if you never take a day off.
And I’m not sure you should.
This is possible if you make the decision to really be a writer for the rest of your life. It’s a low barrier to entry: it’s about 2-3 hours of work per day. But it’s intense work, intensely focused, and it must be protected at all costs.
We’ll see how it works.
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