Wee Hours Writing

I have a good excuse for the long delay since my last post. Thanks to the inspiration of my friend Caleb, I've started writing a book.

Caleb has been reading to me out of the novel he's been writing for the past year. About once a week, Caleb and I meet for coffee. Caleb will read a new chapter almost every time, and slowly, he's taking me through the book. I've decided to take my own shot at writing a novel.

I've always wanted to try writing a book, but when I've thought about it the actual event was inevitably in the indeterminate future. After listening to Caleb for a while, I felt a strong urge to attempt a novel myself. I thought about plot lines and characters for about a two weeks. Then I tried to get started on the actual writing, but I found that making time was an issue. My excuses evaporated when an acquaintance told a story about her writer friend. The writer friend had decided that he wanted to finish a book, and knew the only way he could was to get up at 5:30 every morning and write before he went to work. As soon as I heard the story, I knew I was going to have to do something similar.

I woke up the following morning at a 5:45--no alarm, no plan--just a sudden sense of opportunity that woke me up all by itself. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes and realized that if I didn't get up and write, the book was never going to take shape. So I did, and I've been doing it every morning for over a week. We'll see if it sticks. The coffee definitely helps.