description of early morning for creative writing

Morning Describing Words: Examples & Adjectives

Waking up to the gentle rays of the morning sun, I am always struck by the beauty and tranquility that surrounds me. The morning holds a special place in our hearts, as it signifies new beginnings and the promise of a fresh start. But how do we capture the essence of this magical time of day? In this article, I’ll be exploring a variety of adjectives that perfectly describe the morning, along with examples that will bring these words to life.

Another adjective that encapsulates the morning is “refreshing.” After a restful night’s sleep, we wake up feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the day. The crisp morning air invigorates our senses, and the dew-kissed grass sparkles like diamonds. It’s a time when everything feels new and full of potential. Whether it’s a brisk walk in the park or a refreshing shower, the morning offers a chance to start afresh and embrace the possibilities that lie ahead.

In this article, we’ll delve into more adjectives that paint a vivid picture of the morning. From “tranquil” to “invigorating,” these words will help you express the beauty and energy of this magical time of day. So, let’s embark on this journey together and discover the perfect words to describe the morning.

Table of Contents

How to Describe morning? – Different Scenarios

When describing the morning, there are various scenarios that can help evoke different emotions and vibes. Let’s explore some of these scenarios and the adjectives that perfectly capture their essence:

Describing Words for morning in English

Adjectives for morning, adjectives for morning.

When describing the morning, it’s important to choose the right adjectives to capture the essence of this special time of day. Let’s explore some adjectives that can help us paint a vivid picture of the morning.

Positive Adjectives for Morning

The morning brings a sense of freshness, new beginnings, and opportunities. Here are some positive adjectives that can be used to describe the morning:

Negative Adjectives for Morning

While mornings are often associated with positivity, sometimes we may want to evoke a different atmosphere. Here are some negative adjectives that can be used to describe the morning:

These negative adjectives can be used when you want to convey a more somber or challenging mood in your descriptions of the morning.

Synonyms and Antonyms with Example Sentences

Synonyms for morning.

When it comes to describing the morning, there are various synonyms that can be used to add depth and richness to your writing. Here are some alternative words you can use to paint a vivid picture of the early hours:

Antonyms for Morning

By using these synonyms and antonyms, you can add variety and depth to your descriptions of the morning. Experiment with different words and combinations to find the perfect adjectives that capture the essence of this magical time of day.

Describing the morning can be a delightful task, as it allows us to paint a vivid picture of the early hours. By using synonyms and antonyms, we can add depth and variety to our descriptions. Words like dawn, daybreak, sunrise, and crack of dawn evoke a sense of new beginnings and the beauty of nature awakening. On the other hand, words like dusk, nightfall, midnight, and evening can convey a different mood or state, perhaps one of tranquility or reflection.

By incorporating these adjectives into our writing, we can transport our readers to the serene moments of the morning or capture the essence of a different time of day. Whether we want to describe the vibrant colors of the rising sun or the peaceful stillness of the early hours, these adjectives provide us with the tools to create captivating imagery.

So, the next time you find yourself describing the morning, remember to explore the vast array of adjectives available to you. Experiment with different words and let your imagination soar. By doing so, you’ll be able to bring your writing to life and engage your readers in a truly immersive experience.

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20 Morning Writing Prompts to Jumpstart Your Day

by Joe Bunting and Sue Weems | 130 comments

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Julia Cameron's classic book The Artist's Way challenges writers to tackle morning pages each day as a way to clear the mind and set the day's intention. Today we have a few morning writing prompts to kickstart your morning journal time or writing any time of day. 

Ask people how they feel about mornings, and you're likely to get one of two responses. On one hand, you have the morning routine enthusiasts who get up early to begin their daily routines, say their positive affirmations, pump some iron or get a workout in, and anything else that contributes to their personal goals. 

For others, mornings come too early and just getting out of bed to make the coffee feels like a massive feat. 

No matter your personal experience with mornings though, my guess is that mornings themselves can be a source of inspiration. There are a number of ways to approach writing prompts for the morning. See if one of these prompts unleashes some creative potential for you!

Morning Journaling Prompts

If you're trying to start a daily habit of writing, you can use morning journal prompts as a part of your morning routine to help you tackle negative emotions, monitor stress levels, cultivate a sense of mindfulness, or just quiet the mental chatter.

1. Describe a small, daily ritual you can incorporate into your morning routine to promote a sense of calm and mindfulness.

2. Write about a recent experience where you successfully turned a negative thought into a positive one. How did you do it, and how did it make you feel?

3. Imagine starting your day with a clean slate, free from stress and worry. Write a brief journal entry about how you would design your ideal morning routine to achieve this state.

4. Write a short letter to your future self, reminding them of the importance of self-compassion and the practice of letting go of negative emotions.

5. Describe how quiet or calm feels in your body.

Life Goals Prompts

Mornings often feel like a fresh start, a way to begin anew your own personal growth. Use one of these prompts to explore your larger goals or explore a dream.

6. Describe a specific life goal you've set for yourself. What steps have you taken so far to work towards achieving it, and what motivates you to pursue this goal?

7. What is one way you've made a positive impact in your world, and how can you continue to cultivate positive change around you?

8. Imagine yourself ten years from now, living your dream life. Write a detailed journal entry about what your life looks like, the accomplishments you've achieved, and the personal growth you've experienced along the way.

9. Write a to-do list that outlines specific tasks to contribute to reaching your life dream. Nothing's too big or small to include. 

10. Write about one person who has played a pivotal role in shaping your aspirations and values.

Gratitude Journal Prompts

Research shows that gratitude has a huge impact on our overall wellness and sense of wellbeing. Incorporate a few gratitude prompts in your morning journal practice on a daily basis and see how you feel. 

11. Think about the natural world around you. Write about one aspect of nature that fills you with wonder or awe. 

12. List three people you're intensely grateful for and explain why.

13. Write about a simple pleasure you often take for granted—that first cup of coffee, the chatter of birds out back, a devoted dog curled up beside you.

14. Write a letter of gratitude to a previous year you experienced, whether in childhood or recent years. 

15. Write about a difficult time that ultimately you're grateful to have experienced. 

Creative Writing Prompts for Morning

16. Write about a morning gone wrong in a character's life (or your own). 

17. What inspires you about the morning?

18. Write about a memorable morning.

19. Choose a season and imagine a perfect morning in that season. Describe it. 

20. Describe in detail a sensory experience of a morning, either at home or during a travel experience. 

A journaling practice, especially first thing in the day can start your day right. Morning is the perfect time to take some quiet time for your writing, and I hope one of these prompts inspires you and gets your creative juices flowing. 

When is your favorite time to write? Share with us in the comments . 

Choose one of the prompts above or just take fifteen minutes to write about the morning.

Write for fifteen minutes . When you're finished, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop here , and leave feedback for a few other writers. 

Here's Joe's practice from 2012

The cell phone vibrates me awake. I reach for it, hold the bright screen to my squinting face, and set it for thirty minutes later. I hate mornings.

I-don't-know-how-many minutes later, I open my eyes to see the grey out my window. The field is murky with it, brown grass sticking up out of a swamp of fog. The trees are not trees but only pine. The oak and poplars have withered down to stalks, leaving the shaggy pine looking like remnants of a holocaust. The only ones clothed in a sea of naked and shaved. But in this fog, the trees never end, they float upwards, for all we know, limitless as bean stalks. My eyes shut.

The cell phone again. I turn it off. Talia makes a sound. I should get up. I should want to get up. My eyes close.

She slides up next to me. Her chin tucks into my shoulder. She gets up.

I actually like cloudy days. They are warmth, hot coffee. They are staring into grey, feeling soothed by it, letting it cover you like a blanket of introspection. Your whole world is what is right in front of you because everything else is consumed by fog. A veil over the world.

My eyes open again and I know they must stay open. I have slept far too long. I don't want to get up. Oh, I don't want to. I get up.

I look at the time, an hour of my day lost. A flock of crows fly black over the trees.

Talia smiles, says, “How did you sleep?”

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

130 Comments

Frigid night. Frigid morning.

I burrow into the comforter and hide my head. Indiana’s cold nose pokes through my shields to remind me it’s breakfast time. Beagles’ stomachs are more accurate than any alarm clock. I ignore him as long as he’ll allow, until he convinces Barkley the English Springer to join in the game of roust Mom from bed. Patient Chi waits at the door. The eldest of our three dogs knows she’ll get fed, eventually. I surrender.

The pack follows me from the bed to the bathroom to the utility room where the food bin is stashed out of their reach. We learned that lesson the hard way. Chi sits in the entry, drooling politely, as I fill the bowls. Three scoops for her as the largest, two for Barkley who wriggles and whimpers in anticipation, and a bit less for Indy, the smallest. He bounces up and down, from the dryer to the trash can – also locked away from their eager noses – and tries so hard to obey my futile “Sit” command. But he fights a losing battle. His eagerness keeps him in constant motion.

Full bowls stacked in hand, I park the trio at one end of the great room, repeating “Stay” in another futile effort to keep them at bay while I place the food by the water bowls. Chi still drools, Barkley waggles, and Indy flops into his odd half-sit half-lay position, never quite motionless. “You can eat,” is all it takes to release the hounds.

They race to the bowls, sliding in like a base runner stealing home, and in less time than it takes me to fill the tea kettle and place it on the stove, they’ve finished eating and are sniffing to be let out. We try the sit-stay combo again at the back door with varying degrees of success before they explode into the backyard to see what new odors await their morning inspection.

I have enough time for my morning yoga stretches before they’re barking and scratching to be let back in, especially in this morning’s nine degree temperature. Even hunting dogs prefer the warmth of my bedroom office on a day like this.

Only now they have the bed, and I’m at my desk, writing.

I swear Indiana is grinning.

I love the line about Indiana’s cold nose poking through your shield. Beautiful!

What a pack. I used to have dogs and they do like to get one up. Now I have cats, they like me to stay asleep.

I absolutely love Chi sitting there, drooling politely. It’s perfect.

My eyes snapped open, burning with fear. I grasp for air and, for an instant, I had forgotten entirely where I was. That ended quickly. The sound of ammunition weeping all around me was the thing that thrust me back into my instant.

Had I slept in the midst of such chaos, I thought.

Just hours earlier, I had made my bed in a shallow pit at the base of a large tree just outside of camp. I chose this spot because several large branches had fallen over and provided an amount of cover that I deemed sufficient. I packed my rifle close to my right side, placed my pack in a deeper spot near my feet, and pulled my helmet just slightly over my eyes. I mumbled a soft goodnight to my mother back in the states and closed my eyes.

Now, I find myself in, yet again, a position I had never hoped when I signed up for this war. I’m alone, cold, afraid, and knowing that at any moment my life could end.

I pull the branches slowly from my body and prepare for the worst. But, before I emerge, I take a moment and appreciate the luster of the morning. I look around and find myself smiling at the beautiful storm.

“Good morning, mom,” I whisper.

Oh, wow. Is this something that happened to you?

No, this isn’t something that happened to me. I just thought about the morning, not mine in particular, and this is what came about. I woke up in a warm bed, with my children safely sleeping in their rooms down the hall. There is too much comfort in my morning and not enough pain. That’s why I chose this concept instead.

“the luster of the morning” I like that idea that it rhymes with muster giving it kind of a military twang.

Thanks, I agree. The soft glow of the morning.

So strange – I JUST wrote about my morning routine on my blog on Wednesday, for entirely different reasons! Hope you’ll take a gander, Joe & Write Practice friends. 🙂

http://shewritesandrights.blogspot.com/2012/01/morning-new-routine.html

Love the progression of this piece. What an incredibly hard change you have to make – and you’re doing great.

“I pour a mug for myself, mom’s mug.” – Beautiful.

Hi Bethany, I peeked at your post and it was delightful in a hopeful, somber sort of way. I am so sorry about your mom. I hope your blog brings you comfort — writing soothes loss in the strangest way. I will plan to stop by and read more in the upcoming days. Thanks for letting us know about it here! With care, kati

A semitruck bounces down the highway not a hundred feet from my head. I can hear scuffling in the kitchen. If I opened my eyes, I’d see my roommate getting ready for her day, cat gnawing at her feet. But I don’t open my eyes. My day has yet to start.

I return to dreamland, grateful for this time. The old lightswitch flips, the door squeaks, and keys turn the deadbolt. She’s off for the day, meaning I am Hank’s new victim.

Morning means a kitten ready for a playmate. Morning means the smell of coffee and buttered toast. Morning means new mercies.

Morning means I must tear myself from these warm sheets and turn myself into something that slightly resembles a person. Maybe.

I’m not a fan of mornings. The routine never seems to be completed before the clock sreams, “Time to go!”

Getting out of bed is one of the worst times to live in an ancient house with poor circulation and drafty windows. I throw a polar fleece blanket over my shoulders like a cape as I search for the slippers that Hank borrowed during the night. He chases my toes as they search in vain for their jackets. The living room end table is fifteen steps from my bed yet still my feet feel like blocks of ice sliding across the sloped wooden floor. Kitty slobber doesn’t help.

Luckily this morning’s activities involve a good book and cuddle time on the couch next to the heater. It’s times like this that make mornings bearable.

I don’t dare look at the clock. I dove too deeply into Romans and now I must pay the consequences. Every other morning activity is only allowed half of its required time.

From his perch on the back of the toilet, Hank watches my fingers as I move around the bathroom. He tries to help. “Amuse” may be a more accurate term. He loves mornings for it is in the morning when his playmates, his subjects, awaken and do what they do best: be chew toys.

In a hasty panic I throw everything I think I need into a bag and head out the creaky front door, into the morning mist, and to the car that needs de-icing before it too may bounce down the highway like semitruck that served as my alarm clock all of those minutes ago.

Interesting how much our furry companions are a part of life –

Focus. It’s 6:50. What needs to happen right now?

Dishes need to be done, and a lunch made for Andy.

My mornings are about tasks. The tasks used to own me. But now I’m the boss, and I own them.

I run this place. But it used to run me. It used to feel like a prison cell made of dirty diapers and forlorn expectations. My to-do list was the fire-breathing dragon that never slept.

But one morning, as he turned to scratch an itchy scale, I shanked him down to size. I said, “This is the express lane, Smoky, and it’s 10 items or less!”

Now I own this place. I manage my time. I set limits and priorities. I own myself.

Love it! As a mamma, I can relate!

Thanks, Steph! It was a kind of triumphal piece. 🙂

Alright, boss, we submit! This is great. “I’m the boss. I own them. I run this place, Smoky.” Super fun! You went from a prisoner to the prison boss, the guy with tats up and down his built arms, gettin his people to ship in drugs and conning the guards. You’re kind of scary, actually. 🙂

HaHa! well…minus the drug running! I’ve transitioned my mindset over the past few months about being a full-time mom at home. I had to take ownership for the choices I made in becoming a mom, and begin to look at it as a vocation. As I started to view myself more as a professional, it was easier to manage my time/tasks/resources like I used to in a traditional job. Huge difference in quality of life!

Nice. I like that.

Wow, that was clean and powerful! As a mom I was right there with you, I felt the ire rise in my own chest!

Go get your dragon, Beck! 😉

Yes, Jen! Dishes can wait. (Diapers, not really, alas).

“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow…”

I have that monologue in my head everyday…the floors aren’t THAT bad. They’ll wait until tomorrow! 🙂

I love this Jen – freedom from the to do list – own your own day, own your own life. Very empowering. Have a great day.

Thanks, Nics! It’s what I try to do, some days more successfully than others. Glad to know that I successfully communicated the freedom – thanks for the feedback!

Sharp and snappy…good job!

Thanks! I had a little bit of “rawr” going on when I wrote it.

Loved this. Tasks aren’t going anywhere but attitude makes the difference. Going off to slay the laundry pile…

It makes all the difference. I’ve found that the attitude of ownership has made a huge change in how my day goes. It’s the difference between the laundry pile “happening” to me, and me taking out the laundry pile. You can call your dragon “Smelly.” 🙂

Wow! I love the energy as you take control. Powerful!

I’m sad to say that my energy waned by the end of the day, but today is always a new day! Thanks for the great feedback!

Love this. It’s a short passage with a long message. Good metaphor.

Thanks, Nancy! That’s exactly what I was going for – so thanks for the feedback!

I’m a stay at home mom by choice as well. I love how you describe your to-do list. I feel like I have one of those breathing down my neck as well. Our work is never done. I should be cleaning my floors rather than sitting here reading but the floors will have to wait. It’s actually quiet in my house right now. Kind of eerie 🙂

Joe- “My eyes open again and I know they must stay open.” So true. I love how your morning starts with a question about how you slept when really you want to still be sleeping. Katie

Thanks, Katie!

I’ve never been a morning person. I’ve often wished I was. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence, I suppose.

I grumble awake. My first thought most days, indeed this day, is, “I wish I could sleep longer.” The comfort and safety of my bed scream loudest in the mornings. Like Joe, the sharpness of my cell phone-turned-alarm clock pierces my pupils and I cannot read the screen clearly. There’s no need. My hand finds the snooze button instinctively, as if it needed no help from my brain. I’m not sure what good my brain is that early anyway. As I drag myself out of bed, because that’s what it takes these days, I head half-heartedly towards the day’s work.

There must be more.

It is lunch time and I still can’t see clearly. Why hasn’t the morning fog lifted? Why haven’t my eyes cleared themselves and been able to focus on the world yet? Why is my mind still groggy, as if I were only 5 minutes into my 9-minute-snooze; as if I have never fully wakened?

Someone I know once insinuated that a day doing something you hate can feel like years; and years of doing what you love can feel like a day. I have spent years doing that which I do not love. I am a night person who’s been relentlessly beaten by the morning day after merciless day.

But I have good news. My eyes are beginning to see clearly. Things are coming into focus. My mind is coming awake and the early morning fog is starting to lift. The beatings will end soon. It’s time to start my day.

(nods to Joe as the “someone I know”)

“5 minutes into my 9 minute snooze” – I like that!

Thanks Stephan!

Love it, Kevin. And I like this effort at narrative. I think you do it quite nicely. You’re in the moment, giving us good description and action, with a little spice of internal monologue. It’s great.

At the end you almost lose it though. I would have changed this, “But I have good news. My eyes are beginning to see clearly.” To something like this, “Later, though, my eyes begin to see clearly.” But overall this is a very strong practice, bud.

I also love the insinuation about my insinuating 🙂

Thanks Joe. What I tried to do there was describe a typical morning and then I shifted gears with your quote describing the fact that I feel as though I am living my life right now in the groggy, foggy, not quite awake feeling of the morning and at the end was hoping to make the point that the future is coming into focus and I’m about to truly wake up and stop the groundhog’s day of a morning my life seems to be and really start my day (which in your quote would equate to the rest of my life).

But I tried to do it without actually saying that is what I was doing, haha. I’m not sure if I was successful with that or not. Thanks for your critique. Meaningful as always.

Yeah, that makes sense. Also, it’s difficult to cover all of that in one paragraph, and usually when we’re trying to save space we summarize. It’s understandable. I think what you’re trying to do is fascinating and you definitely came close. Thanks bud!

Joe, in my brief time of knowing your blog, I’ve noticed you have an uncanny ability of writing timely posts, both for myself and others! When I checked your blog this morning, I had just finished working on a(nother!) rewrite of a “morning” scene in my WIP. Your post (in which I very much liked your “beanstalk” analogy!) made me think more about how to incorporate time into my text. I had a few minutes just now to spruce it up a little more in that regard. Here it is:

From his spot on the rear bench of his boat, Rex heard the church bells from town start up again. One , two, three chimes. He was anchored at the dock in front of the northern border town of Jack Pine, Minnesota, and had been for quite some time now. Eight, nine, ten. The morning train was officially an hour late. He rummaged beneath his seat, finally finding his metal thermal bottle lodged in the tip of the stern. He popped off the cover that did double-duty as a mug, pulled out the cork, and took a whiff. Strong stuff. If nothing else, he thought, let it be said of Phyllis that she knows how to brew a real pot of coffee: boiled black and thickened with an egg. Jet fuel, he called it, even though he had never flown in a plane. He poured the remainder of the sludge into the mug and, over its rim, stared down the town in front of him. Where could he go to kill time until the train finally came in? He had a bucket of silver shiners he could go sell to the bait shop on the shore. In fact, he used to be one of their top suppliers when he had lived in Jack Pine with Myrt. But the owner was also a man of God who wouldn’t do business with the divorced, unless they were the ones paying him. Not that Rex was properly divorced. Worse, in the eyes of the town folk -and quite possibly in those of the Almighty – he had wrenched a child from his mother’s arms and skipped town, leaving the helpless woman to fend for herself. Granted, he hadn’t strung their dirty laundry up to air along Main Street, but he had most certainly left a pile of it in his wake. At best, he could expect a proper Biblical stoning the minute he stepped into town. Christ, I’m was as crazy as old Mags, he thought. With a shaking hand, he rummaged in the storage compartment alongside his bench until he located the jar of mother’s milk he kept onboard for emergencies such as this. He sloshed it into his coffee, bringing it to level, and slammed it down. He closed his eyes, stretched back, and let the morning sun above wash over him and the waves below rock him until the drink found its way to his nerves. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Jack Pine, Minnesota, as just another port of entry, a necessary business stop, and until that morning train showed up for him to meet, he was going to the café to find himself a little lunch.

Perfect! I love serendipity (the concept, not the movie).

Ew: “thickened with an egg.” Do people really do that?

This character seems interesting so far, and you’ve got a great voice developed here. Lots of backstory, though. Like this, “Not that Rex was properly divorced.” I would try to put this “on screen” if you can. That’s an important bit of story that you don’t want to give away cheaply. And rather than having him thinking through why it’s going to be a pain going to this town, I would just show him having a pain going through the town. Does that make sense?

I really like this character though. Is he your protagonist?

Sadly, I can personally attest to this particular coffee recipe! (blech!!)

Thanks so much for your comments, Joe. This is the intro to my 4th chapter, which has been giving me FITS. As I commented before, backstory is starting to creep in and I’m not sure how to cope with it! You hit the nail on the head – I need to put it onscreen, which should work very well in this case. I’m just not sure how to transition from the previous chapter (change of place and a new day). Maybe I need to set the stage for that change at the end of the previous chapter better?

Sorry – I’m thinking “aloud” here. Thanks for your advice and time. I’m glad you like Rex. Yes, he’s the protagonist. Pesky SOB, won’t let me alone. Hence this crazy mess of a novel I’ve undertaken!

My life, in relationship to the morning, has shown signs of schizophrenic tendencies. My parents said I was a morning person at an early age. Up at the crack of dawn, I was eager to start my day with a bowl of corn flakes and a side of Romper Room on the TV.

But adolescence changed all that. During my high school and college years, there were summers I never even saw morning, unless we are talking about the front end of it. In my teen years I would greet the morning like a drunk anticipating a hangover. Daylight would have to work overtime peeling back my thickened eyelids. Finally, after most of the world had taken their lunch break, I was making my way to the bathroom for a shower.

Today, after parenthood and career have had their way with my aging earth suit, I have become rather chummy with a variety of aches and pains, and I must say, they are definitely night owls. They do their best work while I attempt a good night’s sleep.

This is pitiful to admit, but I think I burn more calories in my sleep than I do during the day. I am constantly tossing and turning and getting up multiple times to go to the bathroom. I recently came up with an idea for a new workout video, “Snooze till You Lose: Workout in Your Sleep.” I could make millions!

Now, my mornings are more like an act of surrender. I pull off my white pillowcase and wave it in the air. “I give up!” I shout to my nocturnal dynamic duo. Aches and Pains have won again. I rise like an aging wrestler getting up after the final bout of his career. My wife of 31 years sleeps soundly on her side of the bed. The alarm clock glows a dark green 5:00.

I shuffle stiffly toward the bathroom. Leaving the light off, I blindly take aim. Hello dear friend. Thanks for being there for me in the middle of the night. Thanks for putting up with my, well, you know. I flush in the dark.

I change into my workout clothes but plan to avoid the treadmill. I head downstairs to the kitchen for bran flakes and liquid energy. The dog is as perturbed as I am when I flip on the light. I settle into my easy chair and grab my Bible. Now my day begins. Now I am ready for the Light.

Great forth paragraph Tom, especially surrendering to the aches and pains. Now that I’m retired sometimes I just don’t get up.

“…my aging earth suit.” I dig that line. It’s something that each one of us can relate to in our own way. Well done.

I like the line, “I rise like an aging wrestler getting up after the final bout of his career.” It’s very descriptive and I can almost hear the bones cracking as he rises from his bed.

The “earth suit” is great.

I love your colorful description and humor. I think I chuckled most at “I pull off my white pillowcase and wave it in the air.” I could just see myself doing that! And the end, “ready for the Light.” I wouldn’t have a good reason to get up without him!

I really liked this line as well, I thought it was a good metaphor.

I love how you associate the light with being reading for the light of day – beautiful analogy. Thank you for your post I enjoyed reading it.

Love the term earth suit….and certainly can relate to nightly rousing, aches, and pains….caught my night life well.

Your hilarity strikes again! If you’d like to turn this into a more finished piece, say for your new newspaper job (which I’m still so excited about, for you), this should be your first paragraph, “This is pitiful to admit, but I think I burn more calories in my sleep than I do during the day.” That’s where you hooked me. I love the self-mocking tone, and mixed with the naive excitement. Everything after is great, too. Well done, my good sir.

Absolutely fabulous! I can’t even pick a favourite line! I really enjoyed this, and laughed at your visit with your old friend… really great piece!

I had the same thoughts as I was writing but I was afraid to admit them. Thanks for speaking for me.

A wonderfully honest telling of the hardship of the mundane. My mornings (and nights) are similar to yours, Tom. Thanks for not sugar-coating anything. I love how even after the worst of nights, the morning can still seem bright. Loved your redemptive outlook in this, while still acknowledging the struggle. (Btw, I kind chuckled at the bathroom scene. Guess I’m just a guy.)

I love to read things that make me laugh. I laughed a lot reading this. Hard to settle on one part as I liked the entire piece. The description, “aging earth suit” made me smile. Enjoyed this!

Joe that is exquisite. I can see it and I can feel the pocket of safety, warmth, life that is yours within the fog. It’s beautiful.

Thank you, Marianne 🙂

That’s supposed to say Steph (dang auto-correct!)

I liked the other as well – I think it would make a good character name! 🙂

The stars seem to fall or more like vanish to the coming day’s song. I hear the lock turn. Click. My front door opens and I walk out ready for the day. So I thought. My eye raise up to see a dreary but somehow calming morning.

The sky is a shade of black I had never seen before. A black that does not consume, but rather shine like a dawning day. I stare for a moment which in reality is nearly a full minute before shaking the spell it laid on me.

I walk briskly down the stone stairs. The ground feel cool even to the touch of my hard soled boots. The chill in the air covers me with the yearning to return to my warm bed that I had left not half an hour ago.

It’s humbling knowing I’m one of the few things that dare stir this long before the shining of day. Though most see the light as a sign of morning. The shining night that prepares it’s slumber is my vision of a true morning.

Happy Beginnings, New Day.

This is very beautiful. I should try to give writerly or readerish reasons why, but I won’t. Just lets say, it resonates in the way Silent Night does.

I know that shade of black. It’s almost impossible to describe and you’ve done the best description here that I think I’ve ever read. I tried it in mine but I kept to the sense of vision and couldn’t get it right. Bravo!!!

Ugh, my heart sinks to the tone of the annoying beep. I know it immediately, I’m going to pay. No longer a bounding youth, with bundles of energy and stamina, my body tells on me.

All nighters, or at least very late nighters, should be relegated to the twenty something years. Yet, there are nights when I struggle to relinquish the delicious silence, my solitude undisturbed by little ones lying quietly under the spell of sleep.

The growing sliver of light, slicing into the grayness of the room, announces my toddler. Silent as an Indian stalking game, she creeps up to the big bed. “Mommy?” a tiny voice questions. I giggle at being discovered, a simple game played without rules and ending predictably every morning.

Little hands reach out and I pull her up beside me. Tucked in close, her sweet breath caresses my face. We doze a moment together, tangled in the fuzzy cords of sleep. Sharply the alarm insists that the day be faced. In a toss of ringlets and kicking of covers, Maggie hops from the bed, answering the command. And so it begins.

I know this scene very well! Very well versed!

The morning light through my window is still gray. The baby is crying. He wants his wet diaper changed. I take it off and he curls back into a ball and falls asleep, naked. I hate to disturb him further, but I put a dry diaper on him, because I don’t want to have to change my sheets today. I lay down next to him. He nurses and I fall back to sleep.

An hour later I hear the recycle truck making its rounds. The wind had been fierce all night, and I have yet to take the trash out. I get up without waking the baby and pull an abaya over my pjs, and hurry the trash to the curb.

Since everyone is still asleep, so I take my kindle to bed to read the day’s news. I check today’s prompt, and wonder if I really want to write about morning. And when I do, it is 3:46 pm.

This was OK, but I didn’t really get the lat paragraph. The sentence, “Since everyone is still asleep, so I take my kindle to bed to read the day’s news”, was a bit awkward – you have to drop either “since” or “so” and then it would flow better.

The last line – I’m not sure I understood what it was you were trying to point out. Is it that you spent so long wondering about whether to write about the morning that by the time you did it was late afternoon? Or is the point that everyone else was still asleep at that time?

I think it means that she was trying to decide whether or not she’ll be doing the writing practice (which was to write about “mornings”). Though, by the time she was able to decide it was no longer morning.

The “so” was a mistake.

Fair enough, I take back what I said then 🙂

I loved your last line. I can relate. Maybe you had a long night with the baby. Morning came too soon and you weren’t really ready to think about it until 3:46 pm. Maybe between all the baby and kid stuff you didn’t get a chance to write about your morningn until then. And I’ve certainly had days when “morning” seems to last that long – you’ve just gotten back to that piece of bread you put in the toaster four hours ago, you’re finally grabbing a shower, making beds, etc. Not because you’re lazy, but because mothering children is a lot of constant work!

3:46 pm. I get it.

You say a lot about your day without saying a word here. I’m retired now but I remember those non-stop flight from dawn till dusk. I hope you take notes as much as you can. I wrote a horrible, really horrible, book when my daughter was about five and when I read it now I remember so much about her. It is the descriptions of the children in the book that I know I took from her, that bring her little girl self back to me. It’s better than looking at photos.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been a morning person. I never understood people who could bound out of bed, put on a pot of coffee and be instantly ready to face the day. For me, the lure of a cozy bed far outweighs that of a hot shower. I’m the guy who sets his alarm for 6.30, planning to get up, go for a run, and still have time to shower and make a fruit smoothie before arriving at work early to impress the boss.

But like all the best laid plans, this one never comes to fruition. Inevitably the snooze button is just a groggy swipe of the hand away, giving me relief from facing the reality of the day in 5 minute bursts.

When I was younger, I occasionally managed to push through these mental barriers. In high school I went through period of a couple of months where my morning routine was exactly as I described: up early, run, fruit smoothie. Even though it was mid-winter, pitch black and freezing cold, there’s something exhilarating about running that early in the morning. It gives you a feeling of superiority, pounding the pavement past houses full of lazy sleepers who can’t even be bothered to get up and experience what you do. “Lazy bastards”, I would think. “I can’t believe I used to be like that.” My iPod would provide the soundtrack to my life. Morning Glory by Oasis was my powersong.

Need a little time to wake up, wake up/ Well, what’s the story morning glory/ So well, but we need a little time to wake up wake up

But the best part about running at an ungodly hour on a cold dark December morning wasn’t feeling superior to those not doing the same – it’s the unspoken bond you have with other morning runners. The upwards nod, or raise of the eyebrows, as you run past each other, or even a quick “Morning” in between breaths, there’s an understanding that you’re all part of the same group: athletes committed to a cause, no matter how early you have to go to bed the night before.

Now, lying in bed with the alarm buzzing at 7am, I think of those people, that crazy club of morning runners, and I wish I were still part of them. I still could be, if I jump out of bed now, put my trainers on, and go, without a second thought.

I press snooze, and turn over. Maybe in another 5 minutes.

I open my eyes. I try to recall the dream I had but it keeps on slipping from my mind. I remember running. I remember my hands were bound in chains. I remember…nothing more aside from that.

Damn! I could have used that dream as story material.

I turn to the side and the clock on my bedside table has 4AM displayed on its digital face. Too early. I woke up too early. I close my eyes to try to go back to sleep. After a minute or two I give up. I sit up on my bed and stretch.

I pour myself a cup of coffee. I take the cup close to my face and I breathe in deep. I allow it to wash over me. I put down the cup without taking a sip—I don’t drink coffee. Is that weird? Every single morning I make myself a cup of coffee just to breathe in its wondrous scent. Everyone has their own quirks I guess. I tap on the touchpad of my laptop and the screen comes to life. A blank word document stares at me. I sigh.

Okay, time to go to work.

I’m about to place my fingers on the keys but then I hesitate. What to write? I try to recall my dream once again but I still find it elusive. I type in a couple of sentences. I read them once, then twice, and then I delete them. I turn my face to the ceiling and I spin on my swivel chair. It’s been a week already and I still haven’t gotten over my writer’s block. A minute passes by and I start to see patterns on the stains on my ceiling. I see a gnarled face of an old man. I see a skull. I see a spider sitting on top of the skull.

A skull-eating spider? No… An old man who loves to collects skulls. He has a pet spider. The spider’s not your typical spider though. It loves to eat the flesh off of dead people. Whenever the old man gets his arthritic hands on a newly found skull, he lets his pet spider eat the flesh off of it first—to clean it up, to make it look nice and neat. He then sets it on his wooden cabinet, along with the other skulls he had collected. He takes out a key in his pocket and he unlocks a drawer. Inside, another skull sits. It’s smaller than the others. It’s older as well. It has already turned yellow with age. He looks at it long. He looks at it with a smile. He doesn’t see a skull. He sees his son. The old man with the gnarled face starts crying, his pet spider sitting on his shoulder. I open my eyes and I start typing, the scent of coffee lingering in the air.

My body is tired, it fights for breath. I wake, reaching for the orange inhaler, that will ease the burning in my chest. Two maybe three puffs, and I sink back into the pillows. Breath comes easier now, not as jarred. What time is it? I reach for my phone, and bleary eyed try to focus on the small screen. 10.30am, I haven’t overslept that much, but I am still tired. Yet not sleepy.

Shafts of sunlight peer through my curtains. Bright light, that makes me want to get up and run. But not yet, I am still ill.

My morning pattern is disrupted. My brain feels heavy, my mind anything but mindful.

And, I am not happy.

I know illness cannot be overcome without rest. In the jumble that has become my morning, nothing is quite what it seems or what I feel it should be. Yet, I have to come to a place of acceptance, that without rest, I will not get better.

I long to return to the time of up, and out on the road. My breath hard and sharp again, but this time, because I am pushing, I am striding out. Several miles later, I return. I am free. I am ready for interaction. I can face my day.

In my head I am running.

In the dawn’s early light, when the only other souls up are farmer’s or doctors returning bleary eyed from nightshifts. My feet beat a rhytmn, my mind feels free, I am connected. I am within nature. A big sky stretches to the hills, clouds rest on her.

Several weeks now, without a run. Several weeks of weak breath, and tiredness. Of continual meds and higher doese. Several weeks of weakness. Several weeks please end today.

I slump back against the pillows, and dream for my morning’s, my running, my freedom – to return to me.

What are you up to this morning?

I’ve hooked up with the write practice this morning, pondering on their prompt morning, I’d love to know what morning means to you?

That’s it for now …

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable

http://www.saltandsparkle.com/home/2012/1/21/morning.html

The room feels brighter than it usually is. I open my eyes wider and see the messed up blanket that my sister used. Oh, they already left for school. I grab my phone and check on the time. 07:10, it reads. I turn on my tummy and type a quick greeting as I do every morning, when I get up earlier than usual.

“Morning,” I typed and added a simple smile at the end.

I put it back on the bedside table and bury my face into my pillow. I can still sleep for an hour.

Eyes closed but mind wavering, I hear that familiar melody alerting a message. I turn, take my phone and read the new message. I smile.

Every morning seems like a routine already. A text message and a smile.

I lie back down on the bed, staring at the white ceiling as I think of the tasks I have to work on today. But I close my eyes again and feel sleepiness crawling back into me. There’s nothing much to do anyway.

Every morning, I battle laziness and sleepiness, since I no longer have classes, nor do I have a job.

I think about the things I could accomplish for a whole day, if only I wasn’t so lazy. More than one blog post would be ready for publishing. My crazy story – or maybe a short novel – idea could be planned out. I could finally memorize one song and play it on my recently repaired guitar.

So many things, so much time. And I could finish them too, if only I wasn’t so lazy. Eyes still closed, I feel everything growing dark. Everything around me quiet and still.

I’ll sleep for an hour and then I’ll get up and start working. But for now, I want to sleep.

Nice, Unisse. I want to know more about this, though: “I turn, take my phone and read the new message. I smile.”

It’s a message from someone special.

Every morning is the same. And no matter how many days pass by, it still makes me smile. 🙂

I love mornings….not one in particular, but all especially those early ones when I wake up in my cozy apartment, I look at the window and see no car,no people, nothing…like I am the only one on the Planet. Then I imagine myself so many things waiting for the sun to show up. I prepare my coffee and relax till 7 when I go downstairs to by the newspaper. I have a nice conversation with the old man at the newsstand and I’m coming back in my apartment. I check my email, read the newspaper, drink half of my coffee and take a shower. Then it comes the difficult part: I have to get dress!:) After changing my outfit 3 or 4 times, I put a little make up if I still have time, brush my hair and call for a cab. I watch myself in the mirror for the last time, I take a deep breath and then I run on the stairs because I realize how late I am:)

Well chosen details – I was immediately in your “world.” Cool.

As I open my eyes to another mist filled brisk morning, my first thought is that I have another day to enjoy life. I’m not quite ready to give up the reverence of the misty glaze that greets me, the warm mist rising through the rays of the sun. The sense of peace so completely overwhelms me. The quiet loudly fills my soul and I just want to revel a few more minutes in those first moments of the day, before the reality of life sets in and my day blossoms.

This was quite beautiful, Patty. I especially liked this, “The quiet loudly fills my soul and I just want to revel….”

The urge to roll over wins. Turning slowly I realize anxious little eyes jumping up and down next to the bed, begging entrance under the warm covers. I lift the duvet signaling admission and happy eyes enthusiastically crawl over me and snuggle in between toasty bodies.

My eyes glance at the clock – 4:something. Not time to get up yet. Scrunching my pillow, I nestle down for a couple more hours of sleep. Ahhh…

I’m awakened rather harshly by sheets of rain pelting against my window with curious force. Groping in the darkness, I reach for my cell and squint to see the time. It’s 6:30 a.m.

When a loud crash of thunder shakes the entire house with a thundering boom, all morning drowsiness suddenly disappears. The sheets feel cool and delicious, but an overwhelming urge to peek out the window at the storm overrides my desire to enjoy the comfort of the bed.

I pad across the floor in bare feet. The trees are bending low, their limbs waving violently as the wind whips about. Lightning bolts every few minutes, illuminating the world momentarily.

It’s extraordinary. We don’t get thunderstorms in January. And such an unusual occurrence on a winter Saturday morning calls for comfort. The type of comfort that can only come from warm, melt-in-your mouth goodness. Sugar and butter.

The hum-drum of falling rain becomes a comfortable, familiar rhythm as ingredients are measured and mixed. Dough is kneaded, rounded, and shaped into little rolls. Soon, the smell of cinnamon wafts through the air.

I open the window to take a deep breath of the fresh rain scent. Early morning hours are pure magic.

This is what I experienced this morning. I enjoyed reading your creative descriptions.

Thank you, Lea!

Very much enjoyed this today.

Eyes not yet open, I snuggle back and our bodies meld together as one. Sean’s arm is wrapped around me, protecting me from the world. One of my ear plugs has fallen out and the other has wiggled it’s way to the half mark and threatens to leap at any moment.

The morning used to be my favourite time of day. I loved getting up while it was still dark out and nobody else is stirring. I would sip my morning tea, enjoying the uninterrupted silence, and challenge the crossword puzzle. Alas, those days are now as rare as a hen’s tooth.

My last mini marshmallow has now fallen from my ear and my peace is interrupted. An irksome cacophony has commenced outside my window, likely a murder of crows, which I would ironically very much like to do away with at this moment. I try to jam my earplugs back in place, to no avail. My eyes have popped open and there’s no going back. Time to get up.

I put aside my murderous thoughts, and tenderly place a kiss on his wrinkled brow. And as I turn for my robe, he jumps up and is do and wn the stairs before me. I am envious of his astonishing agility as I hobble my w ay down with aching arches from overdoing it the gym yesterday. I should have listened to the doctor and bought those arch supports after all.

He sets the coffee to brewing, he has put the kettle on for my tea, and as I near, he turns towards me, with an impish smile. He sweeps me up in his arms, leading me around the kitchen, and our laughter takes the place of the lyrics to the marvellous melody that only we can hear.

And this beautiful day begins.. .

Wow. I feel slightly jealous!

That is beautiful, both the description “mini marshmallow”, “his astonishing agility as I hobble down with aching feet”, and the morning itself. I love “dancing to a melody that only we can hear”.

I love your writing, Joe. Your words are so perfectly descriptive and I can see the sights out your window. It’s all good but that second paragrpah is especially spectacular. Very well done.

Thanks so much, Shelley.

It’s four thirty. The ritual begins with the knowledge that I should get up and start writing. But I’m just so toasty warm. Maybe I’ll lie here and plan the next chapter from my pillow. Soon my head is overflowing with details. I stick one arm outside of the covers, braving the chill, and reach for my writer’s notebook. I fumble for the light switch and then my glasses. My husband grumbles and turns away from the light. As my tired eyelids slowly rise, I scribble down some notes, but I can’t read them. Oh heck. I need to be at my computer. I throw on some sweats and stop by the bedroom window. The street light at the top of my driveway illuminates a steady stream of rain. But no other lights are on up and down the street. I am the first one up. Winning! By the time I get to my office, Old Man McCarthy across the street has turned on his kitchen light. Whew. That was close. He almost beat me. For another morning we’ll make our coffee in sync. While my kitchen fills with the aroma of freshly brewed café Verona, I check e-mail and Facebook. I respond to all my night owl friends who wrote after I had gone to bed. After pouring my first cup of coffee, I google search for my novel. Then I do a fifteen-minute Write Practice. It’s a warm up, I tell myself. Lots of time has passed, and I need a break. So I get the newspaper and pour my second cup of coffee. And then I panic. Every day the same. It’s eight o’clock already. My husband is not on assignment right now. If he smells that coffee and wakes up, my writing is shot. He will arrive in my office with an ironclad plan for the day. I scribble madly on my notepad and then on my keyboard, nervously listening for the creak of hardwood under slippered feet. Will I ever finish this second draft?

I like the idea of making coffee “in sync” with the neighbor. The details here are simple but well chosen. I feel like I’m looking in and then at the end I feel the rush like it’s me trying to get finished before something makes me leave my writing. I’m watching and then I’m there. It’s like a good movie.

I wake up. But I was never really asleep. Not last night. Not most nights.

My days are busy, full of worry and wonder. And the occasional exciting event.

But today, I am aware. Of the emptiness and routine. I eat my oatmeal, swishing it around in my mouth before I swallow. I can barely taste the gritty mush. For a moment, I think of the Matrix, but the thought passes and I hear the kettle shriek.

I go to the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee. French press — the way I prefer it. I haven’t smiled yet today.

I sit in front of my laptop, with a blanket and dog covering my legs. And I begin to write.

The only sound in the house is the central heating (or air, I’m not sure) kicking on and off every few minutes. That, and the rapid clicking of keys. The world is still asleep.

I lean over the arm of the couch and type. An hour later, I feel the strain in my back. Time flies in the morning.

I say goodbye to Ashley. I didn’t even notice her getting up. Or showering and brushing her teeth. Or even getting breakfast. She kisses me as she walks out the door, and my gaze returns to the screen.

1500 words. It was a good morning.

Finally, I smile.

And morning begins.

A paling night sky glows through my high basement window. I turn into my pillow, I sleep again, and dream of a road into a house, into a room, into air.

I wake to a pink light diffusing into waning night. A winter-bare rosebush is revealed by the pink light. I turn back to the pillow, draw the covers around my shoulder, and dream about an elevator that leads to a ceiling, and beyond that a maze of vines.

I feel the warm sun from the window. I see a wren in the rosebush, hopping, cocking its head to look at me. I the song of another wren, and I throw off some covers, turn the pillow, and push my face into it’s cool side. My little cat curls close and we dream about a zoo, with tiny animals that keep getting loose.

The sun gets hotter. It’s no use, I wake up. The cat jumps to the hot window sill to sleep some more. I try to think back and untie the dreams, but they have curled up with the cat to sleep on the other side of consciousness.

Some really great lines… “I wake to a pink light diffusing into waning night.” beautiful… and that last line… so perfect!

The night is still awaiting the sun. They have always been aware of each other but could not ever meet. Soon the water will wake up and awaken all roots. Trees will break the slumber of birds to sing and wake up all the world. Soon from the other side of the crack in the mountains, light would flutter and rise above the earth. The earth will glow like a bride’s face. Thus, begins the awaking of another day.

Krishna Kumar

You’re a poet, Krisha.

Is it any Good or am I wasting your time and mine ?. I request your candid response.

It’s beautiful.

My body is warm and cozy under the weight of the blankets and, although I am awake before dawn, I do not wish to get out of bed. The thought of the chilly air colliding with my warm skin causes me to burrow deeper in to the bed and even closer to the warm body of my husband. I feel safe and at peace wrapped in my lovers arms.

“Good morning. I love you,” he whispers in my ear, then snuggles even closer.

What a wonderful thing to hear first thing in the morning. I respond in kind.

The wind howls across the lake. Tree limbs sweep back and forth over the roof. A low rumble of thunder in the distance soon becomes a lion’s roar, rattling the windows and shaking the house. The dark blue sky lights up as a bolt of lightning strikes nearby.

I lay there and think how our outdoor plans for today have just been cancelled and I smile.

I really like the “lion’s roar” bit!

The first thing that wakes me is my phone buzzing to alert me to an e-mail. I glance at it bleary-eyed. The address bar tells me some barbaric blog site called “The Write Practice” was active at 8:18 in the morning. The subject bar seems to mock me. “Morning,” it says, as if I were stupid and didn’t know that already. “No shit,” comes my muttered oath. I throw the phone back onto the night table, groan lightly and pull the covers over my head to keep out the unwanted morning cool. What seems like seconds later, the phone vibrates again. I give it a cursory glance, seeing my friend’s name this time, and know that I have to answer. With oodles of sweet, sweet sympathy and plenty of smiley faces to camouflage my case of morning bitch, I respond to her cry for help. 9:24, I read on the bright, bright screen that is then placed face-down under my pillow. I lie there for a moment, thinking that I really should get up. I have to vacuum the house. I have to clean my closet. I have to drink coffee and eat breakfast. I have to start building a responsible morning routine. Something must be wrong with me. I have no problem getting up at 5:00 in the morning to get to school, I think. Why can’t I get up at 9:30 when I don’t have somewhere to be? Something’s wrong. I snort at my own interior monologue and close my eyes again. My 10:00 alarm rings. Just a couple seconds of waking up time, I think, then I am really getting up. I hear my mother yelling at my little brother that he can’t just sit around all day – chores are to be done in the morning. I think to myself, yeah, I should get up and do mine, too. I fall back asleep. The vacuum cleaner turns on at 11:30. I drag myself out of bed and up the stairs to where my mother sits on the couch watching television. “Who’s vacuuming what?” I ask irritably. She looks at me. Her blue eyes glow with contempt at my disheveled appearance. “Your father is doing sanding work in our bathroom. He’s vacuuming the dust that fell.” “Oh,” I say stupidly. “Chores need to be done,” she reminds me. “Your brother did the bathroom already.” I splutter. “What?! I did the bathroom last night!” I explode in French. English isn’t expressive enough. “Did he not notice that everything was spotless and all the towels were changed and that it smelled like cleaner?” “Oh well, now it’s just doubly clean,” she states matter-of-factly. That’s not how it works! I am furious. I should have gotten up earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. Screw this. I’m going back to bed.

“The subject bar seems to mock me. ” Loved that and your response to it!

Whoops, sorry for double posting!

The Morning After Cats (Not The Musical)

My eyes are drawbridges, slowly rising, opening up to let the world through. I barely slept, my own wheezing keeping me awake half the night. Cats. Always the culprit. Sure they are cute in their own way. Furry, fuzzy, playful. Somehow they always find me. But waking up in the morning in a house where a cat lives has been the equivalent to the worst hangover of my life the several times I’ve done it. I’m always woozy, mostly from trying to inhale real air and failing due to that one piece of cat hair stuck precariously in the back of my throat. My airway constricts. I feel sick and panicky, wondering how I’m going to get out alive.

Okay, I lied. Waking up the morning after I’ve been in a house with a cat all night is worse than a hangover.

I swell. I itch. My eyes become narrower and narrower until I can barely see. Laying down is a death wish. If I don’t want to wonder how I’m going to make it through the night while reclining, I have to sleep sitting up. Imagine that. Being that close to the carpet of hair never works for me, although I’ve tried. I’m not the most allergic person to cats I’ve ever known, but I’m pretty bad. My dad could be worse. He’s just the most allergic person to most things I’ve ever known. He’s allergic to the sun. Breaks out in hives if he’s out in the sun for more than a half hour. So as a result he wears a lot of sunscreen. But back to the cats.

I remember the first time I was around cats overnight. I was in New Jersey, staying at my long distance boyfriend’s house. I was 17 and it was probably the first time I’d stayed away from home in a different state than the one I lived in with people who weren’t my relatives. It was really exciting until it was bedtime. Aside from the thick layer of dust infesting my teenage boyfriend’s bedroom (my sleeping quarters while he slept on the couch), there was my worst enemy: the central heating duct. Circulating air all night. Not clean air. Hot, cat air. The kind that makes me itch when it blows on my skin. The kind that is gross and musty and dusty and cat-y. Ugh, I didn’t sleep at all that night and from then on, whenever there’s been a cat in my midst, I cringe.

Sidenote: people who aren’t allergic to cats never know how hard it is to be allergic to something that they think is a part of their family. Imagine being allergic to someone’s baby. Sure you like the baby and would love to hold it and love it and give it attention but because you know you’re going to sneeze and convulse and not be able to breathe for the next day or two, you sort of want to avoid it. Like the plague. Then people get offended that you don’t want to play with their pet. To some they think it akin to ignoring their baby because to them, it IS their baby. Well, I’m sorry. I like your cat/baby, but I can’t help it! When I come over to your house, I feel bad because for some reason, your cat likes me. A LOT. It wants to rub against my pant leg (oh great, now I have to wash that.). It wants me to pet it and it will purr until I do. (Have to wash my hands now! Twice. And scrub). And sometimes it can sense my fear (not of it but of it’s hair invading my nostrils like a disease) and it runs away from me. Those times, I’m lucky. They say I could take allergy medicine. But can you imagine being told you need to take a pill every time you come over to someone’s house? A pill that makes your dopey and tired and silly stupid? That’s what allergy medicine does to me. So I’ll take it if I’m desperate, but otherwise, I’m just going to fake it and pretend that I’m not dying if I come over to your house when you have cats. Please don’t be offended. Your furry friend isn’t a friend to me. And for that, I apologize.

My cell phone rings. It’s the alarm clock. My arm goes sideways and turn it off. The rest of my body follows and immediately I’m back to sleep.

I always dream deeper after the first alarm sounds. This morning is different. I don’t stay in bed, I wake up, walk to the bathroom, pee, wash my face, dry it. I walk to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee on the stove. I turn around and walk back to the bathroom to take a shower that is warm but not too hot (that can elevate your blood pressure, did you know?).

I get dressed, do my hair, make up and choose what shoes to wear. I take my time organizing my bag and getting my lunch ready. After everything is done I go wake up Felipe so we can have breakfast together.

I go in to my room and sit on the edge of the bed, I stretch my arm to touch him and that’s when the alarm clock sounds and I really have to wake up, so I can start everything again.

*Sorry for any mistakes! I’m brazilian! 😉

The second paragraph here has the rhythm of a morning routine. I think if you leave off the last sentence of the second paragraph. it would be even plodding, with the over-learned cadence of a morning routine. The last sentence in that paragraph stands out as something all together different. It is interesting info but not necessary in this very spare and very well written little story about that awful dream we all have about getting ready. Boy I hate to do all that stuff twice. I don’t see any errors. Your English is better than a lot of native speakers for sure.

Great job, Joanna. You’re English is EXCELLENT.

I like this interjection here: “(that can elevate your blood pressure, did you know?).” I didn’t know that!

Besides that, I agree with everything Marianne said. Great stuff, Joana 🙂

An abrupt awareness of my position in the bed and my aloneness in the dark room signaled a switch in consciousness from asleep to awake. I closed one eye before glancing toward the digital clock to prevent overstimulation. 5:43. I shouldn’t bother using an alarm.

The list of verbs had begun to accumulate the moment my eyes opened. Stand up, walk, drink, heat, eat, drink, dress, drink. I had plenty of time to wake up but only 45 minutes to digest before I’d be forced to throw my entire body into violent action on the tennis courts.

I followed the kitchen tiles around the counter to the stove and jolted backwards the moment I lifted my eyes. An unmistakable cockroach perched threateningly on the kitchen cabinet. The urge to scream pushed its way up my throat, and I shivered it back down. We stood-off, the cockroach and I, each paralyzed in an unexpected break in morning routine.

At 7:10 my alarm clock rings out, I aggressively slam the snooze button for a few more precious minutes of sleep. I roll over and return to my slumber, until my persistent and noisy wake up call tries again. This time I listen, and open my eyes to a chilly and rather cluttered room. After laying there and pondering the day ahead I arise from my bed and begin preparations for school which begins at 8:30. I have 15 minutes until I need to leave. It takes me a few more minutes to wake up. “If I hurry I can grab some breakfast before I leave,” I say to myself as I put my jeans on. I then gather my books and place them in my backpack. I now have 5 minutes before I need to leave. “No time for breakfast.” I brush my teeth and say so long to my mom who is sitting on the couch chatting with a friend. I walk out the door and toward my car. I look down my street to see the sun greeting me just as he did the morning before. I start my engine and another day begins.

A thick gulp of water, darkness Swipe my I.D. badge, followed by job title “Beep”… “beep”. Beliefs crystallize to a steaming teacup The warmth never sweetens my interpreted poise Words in a vague structure An exposed connection with hazel eyes, mine Two more clear faces before a mistaken stranger’s hello

-Not really D.J., it’s Sarah

If I didnt see this writing exercise, I would probably have never written anything praticularly about the morning. Because actually, im not really a morning person, I usually dont wake up before noon. Its probably because I go to bed much too late. Dont know why my sleeping routine has seriously changed since im here, in Porto. Maybe im more relaxed? Could be.

My morning starts with snoozing the alarm of my mobile phone, like 5 times. So that gives me almost half an hour more of sleep, yay! I push of the blanket so I feel the cold air touching my skin through my pjama, which helps me to get out of bed. I open the curtains, slowly walk towards the bathroom and wash my face, which helps me to really wake up, because most of the time I feel like a zombie. But the funny thing is that actually Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, I always enjoy it. A piece of toast, some olives, cheese, and ofcourse a boiled or preferebly scrambled egg. Thats how I start my day, if I have time. If I dont have time, its just yogurt or cereal, but thats also fine by me. As long as I eat something before I leave the house, otherwise I can not function. If I have a shower, a long hot shower, thats even better. It takes me about half an hour to get ready to leave the house. Put on my clothes, do my make up and prepare my bag. It wasnt so bad, the morning. Maybe tomorrow, I will snooze my alarm just 2 times.

At the sound of the alarm, I sneak downstairs in darkness to hit ‘Brew’ on the coffee machine, sneak back upstairs to steal a few more minutes of dark peace, waiting for black gold to gather in the carafe. Those moments nestled between sleep and waking, branded with residues of dreams cooked up in mental battle between emotion and reason, peppered with random thoughts not subsided float up to consciousness. I lay in the warm covers grateful for time’s in-betweens, a drifting meditational fuzz lazily selecting early focus. It’s well understood even by my floating mind that this is a warm-up, and as so nothing it stops and sniffs out really ‘counts.’ Once fresh coffee presents its warm comfort, the day can’t be denied entrance and I welcome my morning ritual and all its events, still folded tight like tissue paper origami.

Downstairs a private world of responsibility and discovery beckons me. After that first joyful cup of java, I march to. Given too much time to craft justifications to delay a workout, I might let the body’s temple decay or expand beyond its blueprint, so I’ve shifted to meeting the varying workout routines with excitement and interest. Amazing how quickly the temple’s alter is anointed when entered with reverence and joy. A timed shower, gathering of commuter’s armaments – lunch, backpack, reading and communication tools – and buttoning up the house for departure seals the morning as I step out into wooded surroundings. The best days are clear, allowing sapphire blue to seep through trees not yet adorned with leaves. Spring is here and I couldn’t feel more fresh and alive.

There are few things more sacred than the stillness, the newness of each morning. As the phone jostles me awake, silently, I groan at the thought of leaving the comfort of my warm bed, I struggle to push the memory of another kind of comfort that awaits me to the forefront of my mind. I stumble towards my closet, wiping the sleep from my eyes and in an almost robotic fashion, pull on a pair of shorts and a shirt- whichever is conveniently residing at the top of the pile.

While my feet still ache from the previous day’s work, the sight of my trusty running buddies begin to call my senses awake. I lace them up and head for the door. Along the way, I don the appropriate apparel, a reflective vest, a lamp to light the way and a spritz of motivation to keep me moving forward.

The double beep of the door ushers me into the still cold darkness and the burst of fresh air ignites my senses. I coerce myself to put one foot in front of the other, forcing myself into a rigid forward motion. I look around at the still darkened windows of my neighbors as I pass and I feel more together than alone.

While the rest of the world still delights in their slumber, I am accompanied by my thoughts, my dreams, and the increasing chirps of nature slowly yawning and stretching to greet the new day. I’m more alive than ever and surer of my place in the world. Right here, where I belong, I awake to find my place- one foot in front of the other in the stillness and newness of each morning.

I wish I could bottle up dawn. If I could, I would place them in a vessel of fragile crystal, and hide them from sight. I would tiptoe to my precious cargo, and take it out of sight. I would cradle it, taking care to delight in it.

Dawn is a release-yes, for us!- from the shackles of the night. It is the slow spread of vibrant colors of blushing reds, joyful orange, somber blues, and the golden lights of bottled laughter against an almost black canvas of the now lost yesterday. It is the frozen tabelau of a world still sleeping, and a break from an almost neverending motion of life. In my dawn, I feel peace.

After the slight struggle of the night’s shackles, I am tired and weary. My bed beckons me, but the day must begin. And after I wrestle my cotton clouds of comforts, and trudge to the room of cleaning, I see my world in a new light. The air is crisp, and fresh. My grateful lungs inhale it to replace the stale air of the night before. My brain is rested, and my body rejoices in a world of delightful silence. Even the birds seem to share my joy, chirping in absolute delight.

If I could bottle my dawn, I could trade the day’s chaos and noise for the wonderful world of stillness and peace. Dawn is a treasure, a gift sent from my Creator. Dawn is peaceful, and dawn is a delight.

I love the mornings. It is my time alone. To do what I want whether it’s watching TV., making cookies, or writing. The start of a new day. A fresh start. A new beginning. Yesterday is gone.

Hello, an extract from a story where the ‘morning’ theme applies in the most standard of ways (the fact that the story is set in the morning) haha. Hope you enjoy and any feedback is much appreciated. Thank you! P.S. Don’t be afraid to be harsh. All was still. The road hadn’t been used for hours, undisturbed sand settled inside the cracks and crevasses of the tarmac. The sun rose from the East, casting long morning shadows over the ground. The only sounds came from the distinctive flapping of bird’s wings as they rose for their morning flight. All was normal.

The events of the morning so far were no different than any other. It was seldom that cars ran past and on very rare occasions the thundering of cargo carriers could be heard overhead. With the exception of the long tarmac carriageway, the only man made object was the tatty, faded route 66 sign, the flaking white paint had largely been ripped off by the wind and replaced with the orange tint of sand granules, the two black number sixes still served their purpose however as they could still be identified through the windscreen of a passing motor. The 66th route lead in a straight line from the North to the South, when standing next to the dilapidated sign the black tarmac surface was no longer visible after two miles in both directions. Bronze canyons cast in light and dark shadows swallowed each point of the road and made it impossible to see any further. Apart from the birds, life was a scarcity along the orange plains that fell and rose in the East and West. Thick Cacti, rooted to the ground were dotted every now and again in random places for as far as the eye could see, their underground tentacles digging for the remnants of the wet seasons rain water. Survival of the fittest.

The faint hum of engines grew louder and louder until two cars were spat onto the road from the North Canyon. The sun’s rays bouncing back off the windows and silver linings of the vehicles. It did not take them long to cover the three-kilometre distance to the sign. But there they went no further, the two vehicles, now distinguishable as a lime green Jeep and bright red Buick, came to a halt yards away from the pole that supported the triangular sign.

I hear the front door of our apartment creak open and the accompanying clatter from the 5 small chimes banging against each other and the door. It is a startling awakening. It’s 5 a.m. my son has just arrived home from working overnight. I know that it is him for reasons beyond the fact that he is the only person that would be entering at that time of day.

It is the sounds that give him away. The first sound that you hear is the electronic key pad of the door lock. Each number keyed sounds a different pitch. So, in theory, to gain access the sounds would be the same if you or I know the combination. However, there is another variable to consider. Tempo.

Each member of the family marches, to a different drum beat. Or, when they key the combination into the front door lock some do it very fast, others slow. This drastically affects the sounds of the person entering the house and is also a clue to who might be entering. I tend to hit the repeated numbers faster in double time. Like dah tatta dah! Then there is the opening of the door.

The door makes a unique sound and is made up of at least three parts. The sound of the hinges of the door, the chimes and yes the tempo or speed in which the action is taken. My son usually opens the door quickly, and the creaking sound of the door is one quick, short screech. At that speed, those dangling chimes go to town and clash like crazy. It is loud.

My wife usually opens the door at a tempo that fully maximizes the potential of those chimes. They sound like the tiny bells in a hand bell choir. She really likes those bells, and I would give just about anything to throw them away.

Back to my morning. It is 5 a.m. and I am ready to rock and roll!

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Writing In the Morning: How to Create Perfect Routine

Discover the benefits of writing in the morning and how to create the perfect daily routine.

Would you like to wake up early? For years, I was a night owl. I wrote in the evening or late at night. I enjoyed the idea of writing into the wee small hours with only Frank Sinatra, the moon, and the blank page for company.

But, a job and the demands of family life make it difficult to write at the end of the day or late at night. For me, it wasn’t practical to write past midnight and then get up the next day, go to work at my full-time job, and function with a family.

I struggled with rising early and wondered if I’d ever become a morning person. Then, I read about the daily routines of many creatives I admire. I found many of them like waking up early, including the composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and authors like Haruki Murakami , Ernest Hemingway and Kurt Vonnegut.

Famous Early Morning Writers

1. write down your ideal morning writing routine, 2. prepare your writing the night before, 3. pick a target time for waking up early, 4 . create your sleep schedule, 5. follow a wind-down ritual, 6. use caffeine… sparingly, 7. get into a state of creative flow, 8. track your progress, the final word on early morning writing habit, how can i force myself to wake up early, is it good to wake up early, is writing in the morning good, what should i write every morning.

Well-known early morning writers include Ernest Hemingway, Dan Brown and Kurt Vonnegut. A few years ago, I attended an event where Dan Brown spoke about his daily routine. He said he gets up at four am every morning to write his thrillers and fiction because that time of the day is free of distractions. Vonnegut and Hemingway both rose around five to five thirty am most days to work on their novels. Hemingway said about his early morning writing:

“When I am working on a book or a story, I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write.”

Julia Cameron famously advocates for rising early to engage in long-form stream of consciousness writing in her book The Miracle of Morning Pages . She writes:

“Each morning, as we face the page, we meet ourselves. The pages give us a place to vent and a place to dream. They are intended for no eyes but our own.”

The American philosopher and psychologist William James was another advocate of a consistent routine. He said:

“The great thing, then, in all education, is to make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and to guard against the growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous to us, as we should guard against the plague.”

Thinking through an ideal morning on paper will help you visualize your day and increase your chances of avoiding procrastination first thing

Here’s mine: meditate for twenty minutes, brew coffee, engage in a writing session for at least one hour, and record ten ideas. After that, I make breakfast and get the kids up for school.

Although your ideal morning routine may not look like this, it’s useful to consider what you want to accomplish after waking. Do you want to engage in brainstorming, write some early morning pages, edit an article, outline a book chapter or simply engage in writing practice?

The good news is it’s easier to make time for writing at the start of the day as you’re less likely to become distracted by email, social media, the news, work and other distractions. If you need help, consider free writing about your early morning routine.

Before bed, consider what you want to write the next morning. Read through the previous day’s work. Leave your notes, drafts and other writing tools. Open up your writing app and queue the day’s music. I sometimes also like leaving a Post-It note on my keyboard containing a prompt about creative work or what to write first.

When you get up, starting a writing session is much easier if everything is in front of you. Writing down what you will write the next day primes your subconsciousness to work on the idea even when you’re asleep. If you need some inspiration for your morning routine, check out the blog My Morning Routine .

If you set your alarm clock for four AM tomorrow morning, you may get up, but you’ll be exhausted and unlikely to repeat this heroic feat of endurance the following day .

It’s not much fun getting up at dawn and then fumbling through the day with only four or five hours of sleep. Instead, set your alarm clock for half an hour earlier than your normal time. The following day, set your alarm for 45 minutes earlier than your normal rising time. And so on.

Like pennies gradually filling a jar, these small incremental gains will help you reach your desired rising time and become an early riser. 

Pick an ideal time to wake up based on work and family commitments. For example, if you work a nine to five job, rising at five am or six could work. However, if you work shifts, you may need to adapt to this rising time.

My ideal rising time is half five. If I rise any earlier, I’m too exhausted to function during the day. If I wake any later than six AM, I’m running behind, or I don’t have enough time to write before the working day begins. My target rising time enables me to make time for distractions and interruptions.

You set an alarm clock for getting up, so why not one for going to bed? You can easily create the ideal sleep schedule with various apps including the inbuilt clock app on the Apple iPhone and Android phones. They’ll determine what time you should go to bed at to achieve the optimal amount of sleep, based on your target rising time.

I set an alarm clock for 21.30. Once this alarm clock goes off, I stop checking emails, using my computer, drinking caffeine, and doing anything else that will keep me up late. The clock app on Apple iPhone includes a setting that will give an ideal bedtime based on waking up early.

I also recommend using a sleep tracker, like a Garmin Watch, Whoop, or Fitbit, so that you can track your sleep cycle for a few weeks.

It’s hard for night-owls to get into the habit of falling asleep at an earlier time of day than usual. That’s where a good wind-down or nighttime routine can help.

When you receive a notification about going to bed, it’s time to reduce exposure to screens, avoid heavy meals and engage in relaxing activities like meditation or reading.

The blue light glare of a computer screen stimulates the brain and makes it harder to fall asleep. If you must work late in front of a screen, consider investing in a pair of blue light glasses. According to a 2017 study by The University of Houston, they can increase melatonin production by 58%.

I also like leaving an alarm in a different bedroom from where I sleep. When an alarm goes off first thing, I have to get out of bed and go into the other room to turn it off. The act of moving makes it harder to press the snooze button or roll over and go back to sleep. The simple act of moving will mitigate feeling groggy too.

I sometimes set a second quieter alarm clock in the bedroom to avoid waking others up. After a few days, your body will begin to adjust to this new routine and it should become easier to fall asleep and wake up in the morning.

A cup of coffee in the morning can jumpstart your day better than any energy drink . It’s tempting to start consuming more coffee when you first start waking early. However, avoid drinking multiple cups of coffee throughout the day, as you’ll find it harder to sleep.

If you drink coffee in the afternoon, trace amounts of caffeine will stay in your system until well into the late night and impact sleep quality. Switch to low-caffeine or caffeine-free drinks after mid-day. If you need to restore energy levels, take a 20-minute nap at lunch, at least until your body adapts.

Investing in a set of noise-cancelling headphones is a fantastic way of enjoying a writing session, particularly one at dawn. You can use it to listen to ambient or lyric-free music, which will help you get into a state of creative flow faster. In that state, all sense of time and effort fades away and it becomes easier to write a difficult first draft . You’re far more likely to do your best writing in this mental state.

For help finding this type of lyric-free music, check out the Flow State Substaack newsletter. Headphones (or earplugs if you’re on a budget) will also block out distractions like other people getting up and going about their day.

It’s easier to create a good habit if you know what works and doesn’t and how close you are to realizing this habit. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day on your new early morning schedule.

For the first few weeks, I recorded when I got up, how long I slept, and when I went to bed. I found out that checking email and social media late at night is bad because I find it hard to sleep afterwards.

I recommend using Jerry Seinfeld’s Don’t Break the Chain system. It’s a good habit formation strategy that anyone can easily apply. Each day you wake up early, mark an X through today’s date. Your job is to build a chain of Xs and avoid breaking this chain. For more, check out our writing productivity guide .

Many writers wake up early because their mornings are usually distraction-free and quiet. These hours are also ideal for working on creative projects like a book, a blog or writing morning pages.

You don’t need to be an early bird to start waking up at dawn. It takes practice and some self-discipline. Maintaining consistent circadian rhythms helps. A circadian rhythm refers to your sleeping and waking cycle. Consistent early morning risers go to bed and rise at the same time every day, including at the weekends.

My morning routine varies. I don’t get up early every day , 365 days a year. I sleep late at least one day at the weekend, and there are times when it’s not possible or practical to get up at six AM because of the demands of the previous day.

I accept these days for what they are (a time to rest or sleep) instead of seeing them as setbacks on my journey towards creating an ideal morning writing routine. It takes a little time to shift a sleep cycle from working and rising late to rising early.

I told a friend once when you find writing time in the morning, “you give the best of yourself to yourself.” He laughed. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it’s harder to work on what matters if you’re feeling physically and mentally exhausted from work or day-to-day life.

But what if you are more creative  at night? If you’re happy with your late-night writing process, stick with what works. Tharp sums this up in her book, The Creative Habit .

“In the end, there is no ideal condition for creativity. What works for one person is useless for another. The only criterion is this: Make it easy on yourself.”

Writing in the Morning FAQs

During the day avoid caffeine. Stop working in front of a screen after your evening meal. If possible, go to bed at a reasonable hour and read for a little bit, ideally a paperback. Lay out your clothes and set an alarm in a different room from where you sleep. The first morning will feel challenging, but rising early will become more natural after a few days.

If you want more time to work, meditate, exercise, write or work on personal projects that cultivate your well-being, waking up early is a good habit to create. You’ll have more free time to work on what matters rather than other people’s priorities. Waking up early also means you’re more likely to feel energised and fresh.

Writing in the morning is good because that time of the day is usually quieter and free of distractions. Prolific early morning writers often say they can get their best work done before lunch as they have more physical and mental energy. It’s also an ideal writing time if you’re balancing the creative process with a full-time job.

Deciding what to write every morning depends on whether you’re a blogger, podcaster, author, or freelance writer. Usually, it’s a good idea to work on your most important creative project and hit a target word count or milestone for the day. That way, you’ll accomplish the hardest task of the day first thing. You could also try writing early morning pages, whereby you engage in long-form stream of consciousness writing by hand.

Tips for tapping into early morning creativity

First things first, you have everything you need right now to be an amazing writer.

You can live a good writing life alongside your commute and responsibilities. With limited time and without a room of your own. You’re a writer because of the pleasure you take in lovely pens, or perfect sentences or great books you want to read all afternoon.

Believe you have vital stories to share. Accept that true and courageous writing takes into account your experiences and ideas. Understand that others will be excited to read, hear and learn from your words.

All that said, if you need a creative boost, why not try the Write & Shine method for creativity? We run a programme of morning writing workshops in peaceful locations and online following five key principles to encourage morning creativity. Here they are:

When we wake, the creative element of our brains, the prefrontal cortex, is most active.

So, we’re incredibly sensitive to the sights and sounds of our environment. It’s the best time to think, dream and imagine.

Try to set your alarm 30 minutes earlier than usual, or sleep with your curtains open. As soon as you wake, go straight to your notebook. Stay in bed or sit in the morning light at a table, and fill a few pages with whatever is in your mind. This is Julia Cameron’s technique of starting the day with ‘morning pages’. It’s a way to capture the edge of dreams, tune into your subconscious and create spaciousness in your mind.

• Generate material

By writing, we learn to write and learn to have faith in our own voices. Try freewriting by hand. That is, writing rapidly and continuously, and forgetting grammar, punctuation and structure. It’s a great way to let go of doubts and self-criticism, and to capture new, unexpected ideas.

The chance for feedback from the tutor and other writers can help improve writing, but sharing the drafts too early can damage confidence or hinder creativity. In the morning, your main aim should be to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!).  

Modern life is endlessly stimulating and busy, so it’s challenging to focus on the moments you’re living through. The physical act of holding the pen brings you into the present. Writing by hand is a simple, mindful practice that helps you develop the ability to listen to your words.

Use the first part of the day to generate new material you can hold in your mind during the day, and explore and shape when you return to the page later.

• Value the process

As writers, we’re often facing questions about the work we’ve produced and our publishing credentials. But writing without destination is one of the joys of creativity.

Delighting in the process of writing is much easier to do in the morning. I once heard Marlon James explain how he deals with the fear of writing. He said, ‘My inner critic doesn’t like getting up early so I get up before him.’ Writing early offers a clear space before the demands of the day emerge.

So, what if you trusted you were on exactly the right path? And the hard work would pay off? And the journey would take you where you needed to go?

• Daily timed exercises

Each morning, set a watch for 15 minutes and write until the time is up. Then stop, stretch, and make a cup of tea or take a break. When you return to your notebook, you may realise you’ve written one or two interesting phrases. At the very least, you’ll have increased your output, and perhaps tricked yourself into starting to write that day.

Developing a daily morning writing routine helps build stamina and trust in your own abilities. With practice, at 5 minutes, you’re exploring new thoughts. At 10 minutes, you start to uncover some original themes. At 15 minutes, you see you have an abundance of ideas: the words keep appearing and you have plenty to say.

These exercises may not be the essays, poems or stories you intend to share, but they are the route towards them. The first idea. The beginning or prompt for pieces to develop further. 

• You have everything you need, so use what you have

Let the stuff of life stimulate your writing. Cultivate a habit of noticing the world around you and collecting materials from everyday life as inspiration. Find dusty old maps, gather photographs abandoned in charity shops, make a scene with Lego figures, cut out an article from the morning’s Metro.

Use the seasons of the year as a source of inspiration. Describe how the light falls on your page in the morning. Write about the night sky. Discover which flowers are in season. Find out the most unusual international holidays that month (anyone celebrate Spaghetti Day in January?). These are all potential creative writing exercises and storylines.

So, in conclusion, rise early, write frequently and be open to inspiration everywhere. Writing in the mornings is the very best way to fuel creative thinking and to uncover bright, brilliant new ideas.

Write & Shine runs a programme of workshops and online courses gathering people to write together in the morning light. We welcome busy Londoners seeking space for creativity in their lives. Our sessions are open to everyone, whether you’re new to writing, have some experience or simply want to enjoy an energising and inspiring start to your day!

Gemma Seltzer , a writer and experienced workshop tutor, founded Write & Shine in 2015. She facilitates the sessions, along with a roster of guest tutors.

Take advantage of the longer days with Write & Shine’s summer season of morning creative writing workshops, retreats and online courses, beginning 6 June. Find out more and book your place here: https://write-and-shine.com

Photo credit: Rachel Cherry Photography    

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18 Awesome Descriptions Using Time To Use In Writing

By describing where the events are about to take place, you can transport your reader into another world. Make use of the five senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste – to evoke the atmosphere of the setting.

The following will give you some examples of how you can describe using time as the main element.

The same place can look and feel very different at different times of the day. Take a park, for example.  At daybreak, it is cool and invigorating, full of songbirds, walkers and joggers. At midday, it is sleepy, hot and still. In the evening, shadows lengthen and coolness returns. But at night, it can be a frightening place, with dangers lurking in the dark shadows of the foliage.

• The day dawned crisp and clear.
• The sun poured through my window. Another day had dawned, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations.
• The light of dawn seeped into my room. I rubbed my bleary eyes and walked to the window. There was a pearly glow in the sky.
• The first rays of sunlight lit up my room. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in.
• The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the scene.
• The just-risen sun shone softly on the city streets, bringing with it a flurry of early-morning activity.
• Dappled sun shone through the trees, creating mysterious shadows.
• The blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted lazily in the gentle breeze.
• The blazing midday sun shone relentlessly on the hikers.
• The roads shimmered in the heat of the midday sun. The sunlit skyscrapers pierced the hot, blue sky.
• The afternoon sun bathed the buildings in its warm light.
• Tiny specks of dust seemed to dance in the shaft of afternoon sunlight that slanted through the window.

EVENING AND NIGHT

• The evening sun cast long shadows on the ground. The slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky.
• The sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun.
• The night sky was aglow with bright city lights.
• The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky.
• We looked up at the blanket of stars that stretched to infinity.
• The occasional barking of faraway dogs broke the silence of the night.

Encourage your child to use these descriptions in the tests and examinations. Help them familiarise with these phrases through simple activities by writing short introductory paragraphs with one or two of the descriptions, or give them short dictation quizzes!

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Do you ever struggle to find the time or energy to write creatively in the morning? If so, you’re not alone. Many people find it hard to get into the creative mindset early in the day. In this blog post, I’ll discuss some tips for establishing a morning routine that will help jumpstart your creativity.

1) Get up early. 

Getting up earlier can give you more time to focus on your writing. Plus, there’s something about the quiet of early morning that just feels conducive to creativity. So set that alarm clock a little earlier than usual and see how it goes. Personally, I baulk at the idea of getting up an hour early, but I can manage twenty minutes. Those twenty minutes make a huge difference to me and my writing life.

2) Take some time for yourself. 

Before you start writing, take a few minutes to do something for yourself. This could be anything from taking a quick walk around the block to reading a few pages of your favourite book. The important thing is to take a few moments to clear your head and get into the right mindset for creative writing. 3) Find a comfortable spot.

Make sure you’re comfortable before writing. Find a spot where you can sit or stand comfortably. You might also consider playing soft music in the background to help you focus.

4) Try journalling or free writing before turning on the internet.

Set a timer for five or ten minutes and just write whatever comes into your head, without stopping to edit or worry about spelling or grammar. This can help get the creative juices flowing and warm up your brain for writing later in the day.

5) A change of space. 

If you want to write in the morning, but you’re struggling, try writing in a different location each day, or at least mix things up a bit. If you typically write at your kitchen table, try taking your laptop outside to the porch or park or working at a coffee shop instead. A change of scenery can help jumpstart the creative process!

If you’re not a morning person, don’t despair – there are plenty of other times during the day when you can get your creative juices flowing. Try setting aside some time each day to brainstorm new ideas or work on developing existing ones. If you can’t seem to get started, try brainstorming in the evening before bedtime or whenever you have some free time during the day. The important thing is to find a routine that works for you and stick with it! Want to know more about your writing routine? Click here for my fun quiz.

Do you have any other tips for jumpstarting your creativity in the morning? Share them with me here.

If you want to read something similar, check out the following:

How to Find the Time to Write How To Set Effective Writing Goals

Rachel Grosvenor

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With a PhD, MA, and BA in Creative Writing, and as a Certified Professional Coach, I’m well poised to help you with whatever issue you are experiencing.

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Writers Routines: Writing in the Morning

Are you the kind of writer who is already hard at work as the sun comes up? Do you do your best writing in the morning, where your productivity can flourish as the day progresses? If this sounds like you, you’re in good company.

Successful morning writers include Salman Rushdie, Virginia Woolfe, Kurt Vonnegut, and Ernest Hemmingway. Despite writing wildly different books, they all share a common love of morning writing routines. No matter what their days bring, they start it off with the thing they love the most.

Taking advantage of morning energy

Early risers tend to be at their most energetic first thing in the morning, so it makes sense that they would capitalise on this energy to make the most of their writing time. After waking up, the first thing Salman Rushdie does is go into his office, often still in his pyjamas. He once told journalist Cal Fussman that there was a “little package of creative energy that was nourished by sleep” that he didn’t want to waste.

Keisha N. Blain, the award-winning historian and author of Set the World of Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom starts her writing day between 5:30 and 6 am. It allows her to start with some writing done, moving on with the rest of her day when that creative spark leaves her head.

“I know it’s time to stop when I start thinking about everything else but the piece I am working on. For the most part, I am able to maintain this routine. If I don’t write early in the morning, I feel unsettled throughout the day, so I try not to veer off schedule even when I don’t feel like writing.” Keisha N. Blain

Distraction-free Writing

The pace of modern life often means that the most distractions happen during regular work hours. That’s why a lot of morning writers enjoy the early start, as it allows them a distraction-free writing environment before the hectic pressures of the workday bear down on them.

“A good writing day starts at 4 AM. By 11 AM the rest of the world is fully awake and so the day goes downhill from there.” Daniel Gilbert

Ernest Hemingway wrote first thing in the morning for just that reason. Just as the sun peeked over the horizon in the morning, he was at his desk. He found that the early mornings meant that there were fewer people around to disturb him. Like Keisha N Blain, Hemingway wrote until he came to the end of his creative stream. He then stopped with a full day ahead of him ready to hit that creative bubble again first thing the next morning.

Award-winning historian Andrew Roberts is also an early bird. Like Rushdie, he starts in his pyjamas, dressing gown, and slippers, usually at about 4:30 am. With such an early start he gets at least five hours of uninterrupted writing time. Then, the pressures of the day start to set in.

Living with a writing routine

Morning writers often crave the routine that writing first thing in the morning affords. It allows them to plan their days with dedicated writing time at the forefront. This is especially important for morning writers who aren’t morning people .

Steven Pressfield, the author of titles like The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire, and The War of Art is the kind of person who hates early mornings but has built a routine around them to get the most out of his day. He uses a concept coined by a friend of his called “Little Successes.” A little success might be something as simple as going to the gym. By starting the day with a “little success” it allows him to create momentum for his day that makes the blank page less daunting.

Virginia Woolfe, on the other hand, built a daily routine that meant she worked to the same schedule every day. She would get up at the same time every morning, have breakfast with her husband, and be at her desk, ready to start writing by 9:30 am. Similarly, Philip Roth was in his writing studio at the same time as Woolfe with what he described as “terrifying consistency.” Both writers built a consistent daily routine around their writing practices.

As an antithesis to a traditional routine, however, Kurt Vonnegut allowed his body to create the routine for him. Following his creative and physical flow allowed him to stick to a routine that was largely unintentional. He awoke at 5:30 am, worked until 8 am, ate breakfast, then worked until 10 am. The rest of the day was spent doing errands, swimming, and teaching, before slipping off to sleep at 10 pm. He worked within the parameters of what his body and mind needed, which just so happened to fit with an early morning writing routine.

A “just get it done” attitude

While someone like Steven Pressfield built a routine around “little successes,” there are other writers who use their morning writing times with a “just get it done” attitude.

Joan Didion, the American writer and essayist gets up in the morning but faces a perpetual dread of writing every day. She sits down at her desk every day of the year and writes. Forcing herself to get words on paper means the morning start stops the inevitable procrastination that comes from doing other things first.

Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz has a similar relationship to his morning routine. He allows himself to use the internet only briefly before getting down to the business of writing.

If you’re a morning writer, what is it about writing in the morning that makes it the perfect time for you to get words on the page?

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How to Describe a Winter Morning in a Story

By Brittany Kuhn

Is the main plot in your novel set in the winter? Scroll down to get some tips on how to describe a winter morning in a story.

Undisturbed by motion or noise.

“She awoke to a quiet winter morning as the overnight snow had dulled even the softest sound.”

“The quiet winter mornings were his favorite; he could wrap himself in a robe, sip from a warm cup of coffee, and ponder the day ahead in silent contemplation.”

How it Adds Description

Because winter mornings are often still dark, there isn’t a lot of activity as everybody is still forcing themselves to wake up and start the day. Snow also softens sound, so if a winter morning has snowfall, then the morning will be quiet because of the snow.

• Without movement .
• Free from disruptions or interference; composed.

“He opened his curtain to a complete still winter morning, not even a leaf rustled outside.”

“Winter morning training runs were made better by how still the rest of the world was around her.”

Still adds to the description in the same way using quiet does but with more of a focus on the lack of motion as opposed to the lack of sound. Using still emphasizes that the rest of the world is struggling to wake up and start moving because the cold, dark morning makes them want to stay in bed where it’s warm.

• Having a biting chill to the air.
• Covered with ice.

“Today’s winter morning was just as frosty as yesterday’s.”

“She hated waking up to frosty winter mornings; it made her want to curl back in bed and hibernate until spring came.”

Frost is different from snow: it’s icier, colder, wetter. Where a snowy winter morning might be exciting and playful, a frosty one suggests it’s so cold you can’t escape from it as it seeps into the clothes and bones.

• Completely relaxed and at peace .
• Clear skies with no storms and possibly the sun shining.

“We stopped at the top of the hill and took in the serene winter morning scene laid out in front of us.”

“The sun reflecting off the snow-filled fields and crystal-lined tree branches made the winter morning feel more serene than cold.”

Describing the winter morning as serene evokes images of waking up in a cabin in the woods with a soft snowfall outside. So long as there isn’t a blizzard outside, winter mornings can be serene in their quiet and stillness, even if the character is taking a walk in nature among the hibernating animals.

• Cold in a stimulating, refreshing way.
• Easily broken.
• Given to a crunchy sound when tread upon.

“She opened her door to a crisp winter morning and wrapped her scarf a bit tighter around her neck.”

“The crisp winter morning caused the leaves to crunch beneath the children’s steps as they ran and played.”

Crisp is one of those sensory words that activate the senses of touch and sound. It is so cold that the leaves and tree branches have practically been frozen solid, crunchy whenever stepped on, but it’s not a bitter-feeling cold. Instead, a crisp winter morning invites you to wrap up warm and come outside to be a part of it. It is a rejuvenating cold.

Having or covered in a lot of snow .

“Watching out the window as the snow feel on this snowy winter morning made me smile; the softness of it all was comforting to watch.”

“We set out to enjoy the winter morning in spite of its snowiness .”

A snowy morning is a morning with the perfect type of snow: not too much, not too wet. Kids can get out and play in it without feeling too uncomfortable. Because snow reduces sound, a snowy winter morning will often be a quieter one, which will cause less feelings of anxiety and pressure to rush around and get moving.

7. Glistening

Sparkling , often from reflecting another light like the sun.

“The sun glistened off the snowy fields this winter morning.”

“The snowflakes were glistening as they fell in the winter morning sun.”

Glistening shows that the sun is finally out even in the cold and snow. Describing a winter morning as glistening suggests that it will be a beautiful winter day, regardless of what the weather was like the night before or how low the temperature might be throughout the day.

8. Blanketed

Completely covered , as if by a blanket.

“Driving to work this winter morning showed fields blanketed in snow.”

“The winter morning was blanketed in darkness still; it wasn’t quite late enough for the sun to be up yet.”

Blanketed often immediately calls to mind images of fields and houses completely covered in snow. It can also mean that the darkness of those long winter nights is hard to shake off in the mornings.

• Not having a lot of light
• With little sun, overcast.
• Indistinct or unclear.

“The dim winter morning made it even harder to get ready to go to work.”

“She could see the dim light of the day peeking out over the horizon this winter morning.”

Winter is known for the long nights, with the sun starting to rise around 8am in some places. Describing the morning as dim not only shows the reader a more precise time the story is taking place, but also highlights how dark the morning is in spite of the sun rising.

10. Enchanted

• As if by magic .
• Completely happy or captivated.

“It was an enchanted winter morning with an effervescence in the air.”

“Whenever the snow fell, it made the winter mornings feel more enchanted and storybook-like.”

Because snow can sparkle in the sunlight, winter mornings after a soft snowfall can look like it’s created by magic. Using enchanted to describe a winter morning like this helps the reader get that feeling of charm and contentment waking up to such a scene.

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19,898 quotes, descriptions and writing prompts, 4,964 themes

cloudy morning - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

• cloud forest
• cloudy night
• early morning
• pink clouds

This morning, each sole upon the street, each soul riding upon the clouds, ever warm in that bright sunlight.

The cloudy morning brought the blacktop street to dappled hues that spoke of soulful blues.

The cloudy morning is shafts of light amide the blue-grey and the soft promise of sweet rain.

My dreams give way to wakeful wonderings as the cloudy morning ever bluer.

The cloudy morning brings a gentle diffuse light that soothes the eyes and gives space for my soulful musings.

On this morning the clouds diffuse the daylight to a soft gentle sweetness; even out in the street I could be cozy under my duvet in a strong summer light. They move much as the ocean, showing the blue amid the whitish dove-grey, a medley of silvers that ripple outwards to adorn the sky.

On this cloudy morning there are growing patches of blue, the sort of hue that is soft and bright at the same time. Though beneath the sheet of cloud is a grey that deepens to steel, the leading edge is a brilliant white, as if it is the pages of a new book ready for any curious eye. So, on this day that could bring rain or sunshine, I'm hoping for both, for the chance of a rainbow and to feel so much more because the day is blessed with clouds.

Clouds move in the morning sky, kissed into brilliant white by the sun. They move south toward the ocean, together yet independent. Gaps widen and close, one slides right under another and always they are changing shape.

The morning brings strings of white stratus to contrast against the blue sky. They drift lazily in the breeze without destination or purpose, as if every day for the clouds is a Sunday afternoon.

Light grew steadily outside until the curtains glowed just the same as stained glass. Eddie stuck his head behind the fabric to survey what the day might bring. The road was slick with water, though the puddles remained quite still, no hint of rain still falling. Above the clouds were still grey but without the denseness of yesterday, allowing patches of blue to form.

The clouds were arranged as neatly as child's toys, scattered over blue, content to drift where they fell. The morning sun had the potential to bring a day as hot as yesterday, but those wonderful puffs of white radiated it back out into space. The air was cooler, the colours less vivid and all without a drop of rain.

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20 Morning Writing Prompts to Inspire a Great Day

by Laurie Jonas | May 26, 2020 | Manifesting | 0 comments

Starting your morning off in a positive way can make all the difference. In fact, I’m of the opinion that utilizing morning writing prompts is one of the best ways to inspire a great day. When I listened to Abraham Hicks last week, and he told me that “You are in pure positive energy every moment that you are asleep,” I immediately wrote the post, The Power of Positive Thoughts in the Morning . It included 30-morning affirmations you can choose from to keep the positive energy flowing. But I feel like there is more you can do. So today, I am providing you 20 morning writing prompts to keep the positive momentum going.

To motivate you, here are a few reasons to start writing in your journal every morning:

• Your mind is clear and flowing with positive energy. Take advantage of that and write some of the positive intuition and messages down.
• If you journal before you check your phone or social media, you can focus on what you want. Not what you should be doing or how to do something better than others. Journaling is a way to tap into your own creative mind.
• When you repeatedly do something, it becomes a habit. In this case, a positive habit that can change the momentum of your days.
• If you get up early enough, you can take advantage of the quiet before the routine of your day has to start—schedule time when you will have no distractions.
• The more you write about what you love and what makes you happy, the more things that you love and make you happy will show up in your life. It’s the Law of Attraction !
• The key to creating your best life is to be clear on what you desire. Journaling can help you find that clarity.

OK, now that you know the benefits to journal writing , here are some morning writing prompts to get you started.

Just pick one each day. Notice which one triggers a response when you read it. What is your intuition nudging you to write about?

20 Morning Writing Prompts

These 5 things make me feel good and will make me feel better today.

How does my body feel today? Where is there tension and stress? Where do I feel light? Start with your toes and scan to the top of your head.

What is one baby step I can take today that will move me in the direction of my desires?

This is what is really exciting in my life right now!

What thoughts kept me up last night? Write for 15 minutes about that thought and why it lingers.

What can I do today that I will appreciate tonight before I sleep?

How can I bring someone else joy today?

Related Post: Journal Prompts to Find Focus

Start Your Morning Off Right

What can I do today that will make me feel healthy?

What is my soul telling me today? Take 3 deep breaths and ask the question. Then start writing whatever comes to mind.

Where in my life do I need more help? Money, spirituality, love, career, purpose, friendships, or health. Who can I ask to help?

A praise I have is… A prayer I have is… Write praise and prayer. What am I grateful for, and what do I need? This morning writing prompt idea borrowed from Elizabeth McCravy .

Is there a new affirmation I want to write ? Write one based on the answer to these questions. What do I want to feel like today? What am I really good at? How do I want to show myself to the world?

What would a perfect day look like today?

Things to Journal About in the Morning

Write about a memory from my childhood that makes me happy.

What popped into my mind while I was showering, exercising, brushing my teeth, making coffee, etc., this morning? What is my intuition telling me?

Can I remember anything about my dreams last night? What might they have been trying to tell me?

Related Post: 16 Thoughtful Journal Prompts for Self Reflection 

What do I have to do today that I would rather not do? How can I change my perception of it?

Who can I connect with today? What kind of friend do I need in my life? Who can get me closer to my goals?

Or try these prompts taken from my Living Marvelously Journal.

Say this to yourself or out loud, “Spirit, take my hand. I am ready and willing to speak with you today. Thank you in advance for your words, your wisdom, your guidance, and your grace.” Then start writing.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if…? Finish that sentence in 25 different ways.

Journal Writing in the Morning

I hope I have given you some inspiration to start writing each morning with these morning writing prompts. Take advantage of the time in the morning when your mind is still in pure positive energy and is clear.

You may discover your next big dream or desire. Or, you might solve some issues that you have been struggling with. And I know you will start your day with a more positive mindset.

Happy writing!

For more motivation and inspiration to live a positive and marvelous life, check out The Living Marvelously Journal and The 5 L’s of Living Marvelously .

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How to Wake Up Early in the Morning: 12 Tips to Try

• Shifting Wake Time
• Bright Light
• Weekend Sleep
• Earlier Bedtimes
• Winding Down
• Avoiding Caffeine
• Eating Earlier

Exercise Strategically

Unplug before bed.

• Snacking at Night
• Moving the Alarm Clock
• Difficulty Waking
• When to Seek Medical Care

If you want to wake up earlier but struggle, it could be a sign that you’re not getting enough sleep. Your circadian rhythm , the body’s natural sleep-wake pattern, may be off. When your circadian rhythm falls out of sync, you may also notice drowsiness, difficulty focusing, poor coordination, and more.

Over time, poor sleep quality can increase the risk of diseases like cancer, high blood pressure (hypertension) , obesity, diabetes, and mood disorders.

This article discusses why getting going in the morning might be difficult and strategies for waking up earlier.

Olga Rolenko / Getty Images

Shift Your Wake-Up Time Gradually

Sleep changes don’t have to happen overnight. Instead, try easing into an earlier bedtime and waking schedule. You can begin by going to bed 15 minutes earlier than you typically do and waking up 15 minutes earlier. Do this every few days until you reach your target wake-up time.

Get Bright Light First Thing in the Morning

Exposing yourself to bright light when you first wake up can shift your sleep-wake cycle and make you feel more alert. Some studies suggest bright light affects melatonin , a hormone your brain produces in response to darkness, and serotonin , a brain chemical that regulates mood levels.

Spend some time outdoors in the sunshine first thing in the morning. Bright light therapy , which involves sitting in front of a lamp or box that emits light, is another option.

Avoid Sleeping Late on the Weekends

Consistency is key to a healthy sleep routine. Research shows that keeping a regular bedtime , even on the weekends, leads to better sleep and an easier time waking up. Waking up at the same time on weekends can result in less daytime sleepiness .

Give Yourself an Earlier Bedtime

If you have difficulty waking up in the morning, you may need more sleep . Going to sleep earlier can help you feel more refreshed the next day. What’s more, studies suggest that people who go to sleep earlier have fewer negative health issues.

Wind Down 2 Hours Before Bedtime

Easing into bedtime with a nightly routine may make it easier to fall asleep. There are many ways to help you relax. You might consider taking a warm bath, reading a book, writing in a journal, or meditating.  

Avoid Caffeine After Lunch

Caffeine can interfere with your ability to fall asleep, making it harder to wake up in the morning. One study found that this effect persists even if you consume caffeine six hours before bedtime. It’s best not to drink coffee, tea, energy drinks, or other forms of caffeine after lunchtime .

Eat Meals Earlier Rather Than Later

Consuming your meals earlier throughout the day may help you get to bed earlier. Researchers believe this trick works by affecting your circadian rhythms. One study found participants could move back their sleep schedules two hours earlier simply by eating an early breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Exercise can promote quality sleep, but be careful not to work out too late in the day. Research suggests exercising early in the morning can help you get to bed earlier. Rigid physical activity late in the evening may make it harder for some people to fall asleep at night.

Phones, laptops, televisions, and tablets emit blue light , which can reduce your circadian rhythms. Research shows that exposure to blue light can significantly suppress the amount of melatonin your body secretes.  It’s best to turn off all electronic devices at least an hour or two before bedtime.

Avoid Late-Night Snacking

Heavy late-night snacking can affect sleep quality. Studies show that consuming high-calorie meals or snacks less than an hour before bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep. However, lighter nighttime snacks, such as tart cherry juice, a handful of nuts, or milk, might promote a good night’s rest.

Try a Melatonin Supplement 

A melatonin supplement may help people with short-term sleep problems fall asleep faster. It is a natural hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle. Most experts recommend taking 1–3 milligrams (mg) a few hours before bed. Melatonin is generally safe to take for up to two months.

Place Your Alarm Clock Across the Room

Studies show that more than half of adults hit the snooze button when they wake up in the morning. Though there's mixed research on whether this habit is harmful, snoozing can put you back into REM (rapid eye movement) sleep , which may leave you disoriented and less refreshed. Setting your alarm clock so you must get up to turn it off makes hitting snooze a less attractive option.  

A Word From Verywell

Consistency is key to waking up earlier. Pick a schedule that gives you enough time in bed (seven to nine hours for most adults) and wake up at the same time every day. This consistent wake-up time is a strong signal to help entrain your circadian rhythm to an earlier schedule.

Why Is It so Hard to Wake Up in the Morning?

Not everyone is an early bird. Your everyday habits, natural sleep patterns, or underlying health conditions may contribute to trouble waking up early .

Sleep Deprivation

Not enough sleep is a big reason you might struggle in the mornings. Staying up too late might be the culprit. Or, you may have disrupted sleep, which causes you to wake up multiple times during the night.

Your chronotype is your body’s natural preference to sleep at a specific time. Research suggests chronotypes are strongly correlated with genetics. Some people are inherently “night owls” and have difficulty waking up early.  

Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders can disrupt your rest during the night and make it more challenging to wake up in the morning. Some common sleep disorders are:

• Sleep apnea : A disorder that causes you to stop breathing while you sleep
• Insomnia : A condition in which you have trouble falling or staying asleep
• Hypersomnia : The inability to stay awake and alert during the day
• Restless legs syndrome (RLS) : A disorder that causes unpleasant sensations in your legs and the urge to move them

Mood Disorders

Some mood disorders can affect your sleep quality and ability to wake up. For example, people with depression or anxiety may have a hard time getting out of bed. They may lack the energy or motivation needed to get going.               

Health Issues

Many health conditions can affect your energy levels. You may feel the need to sleep longer or often throughout the day. Additionally, certain medications can make you more tired and less likely to wake up early.

When to Contact a Healthcare Provider

If you are really struggling to wake up early, you may want to contact a healthcare provider. Additionally, it's a good idea to seek help if you always feel tired. An underlying illness could be to blame for your fatigue.

Waking up early gives you a head start to your day. If you’re trying to become more of an early bird, it’s best to make incremental changes to your schedule. Practicing good sleep hygiene is also an essential part of the process. Over time, you can shift your sleep/wake schedule to fit your needs.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Circadian rhythms .

National Institutes of Health. Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Your guide to healthy sleep .

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By Julie Marks Marks is a Florida-based freelance health writer with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism and creative writing.

Fall Daily Writing Prompts BUNDLE for Centers/ Bell Work

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Are you looking for writing activities for your centers, extensions, morning work, bell work, etc.? Look no further! This Fall bundle would be the perfect addition to your writing center, morning work, extensions, or any way that will fit into your writing activities for your students. This bundle includes three months (September, October, and November) of engaging and creative prompts that your students are sure to enjoy writing about!

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