{"id":7537,"date":"2018-12-14T08:04:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=7537"},"modified":"2018-12-14T08:04:13","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:04:13","slug":"in-this-waking-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2018\/12\/14\/in-this-waking-light\/","title":{"rendered":"In this Waking Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AI usually go to bed at a decent time and sleep through the night. But there comes a point near the end of a draft of a novel when my sleep pattern changes.<\/p>\n

My sleep also changes with the seasons. I think one of the many reasons I prefer autumn and winter to spring and summer is the darkness. I’m not fond of Texas summer heat, and right up there is seeing daylight from a little after 6:00 a.m. to sometime after 9:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

But back to novels…<\/p>\n

Sleep Patterns<\/h2>\n

Ideally, I prefer going to bed between 8:00 and 9:00 at night and waking up between 4:00 – 5:00 in the morning to write.<\/p>\n

Near the completion of something big, though, it’s not uncommon for me to go to bed between 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. and wake up around 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. I get up, write for an hour or two, and then go back to sleep until it’s time for day job work.<\/p>\n

We Used to Do This…<\/h2>\n

Articles like this one<\/a> mention evidence that biphasic sleep is natural, a thing that was once not so uncommon. And I understand “the watch” and the peace that comes with waking during sleep and doing something in silent reflection.<\/p>\n

While most articles like this tend to end by extolling the virtues of 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep (just because biphasic sleep might be natural for many doesn’t mean it’s ideal), there is<\/em> something to waking up in the middle of the night somewhat rested, working on a quiet act in dark silence, and then returning to sleep.<\/p>\n

The Excitement of It All<\/h2>\n

I’d like to say I fall into a biphasic sleep pattern near the end of a big project out of the noble pursuit of finishing a draft in isolation. While my wife always respects my time, there’s something about writing (for me) when the world is silent — when I don’t have to listen to some ambient track to drown out the background noises that come with the world once it’s awake.<\/p>\n

But the real reason I get up in the middle of the night and write when nearing the end of a draft of something big is excitement.<\/p>\n

The act of writing during those times is silent and calm. When I open my eyes in the very early morning hours, I’m like a kid on a snow day who can’t wait to get up and have fun. I could<\/em> sleep longer, but why would I?<\/p>\n

Toiling away in silence might not be many people’s idea of fun, but there are few things I love more in life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I usually go to bed at a decent time and sleep through the night. But there comes a point near the end of a draft of a novel when my sleep pattern changes. My sleep also changes with the seasons. I think one of the many reasons I prefer autumn and winter to spring and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7537"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7537"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7543,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7537\/revisions\/7543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}