Lark or Owl? Misha Herwin

 

Lark or Owl?

I’ve been giving this some thought recently. Are you one of those people that wake with the sun, or do you stay sleepy and grumpy until much later in the day? Then when the larks are fading are you up partying until the early hours? Or as a writer is that when you do your best work?

For me there is no question. I am a lark. At the moment I’m waking at around 5. 30 and if it were not for a certain reluctance to actually get out of bed, I am ready to start my day. Because, in spite of the date, the weather has not been particularly warm in the UK, I lie there and let the ideas flow through my brain. Once at the computer, I can work productively all morning.

Until the dreaded afternoon arrives.

I hate afternoons. Even the best of them trails an aura of ennui laced with unspecified sadness. The hours between one and five pm should either be spent having a long, long lunch with friends, or being absorbed in a book, or watching a film. As for writing, at this point in the day it is bound to be a long hard counter-productive slog.

Things sometimes perk up in the evening. When I worked full time this was when I had to write, but in general by the time we have eaten and perhaps had a glass of wine, I am not at my creative best.

Very different is friend and fellow writer, Jan Edwards, who can start her writing day at 11pm and work on until the early hours of the morning, while a lark like me is fast asleep, preparing to wake full of energy at five am.  

 PS The image of an owl in flight is from a stained glass picture by Anuk Naumann