The Advantages of Writing Early in the Morning

I consider myself an early morning writer. Mornings usually provide opportunities for fewer distractions, and with a fresh mind, I can tap into my creative side.

And I found I’m not the only one who follows the practice of writing in the morning — many renowned and successful writers, such as Maya Angelou and Anthony Trollope, preferred to write early in the morning. Do you wonder why? Because there’s something magical about the early morning hours when the world is still in slumber, and you are one with yourself.

And one of the reasons why these writers were able to produce book after book was that they never wavered from their early morning routines.

So if you’ve already built an early morning writing habit, consider that you’ve conquered half the battle. But if you haven’t, here are the benefits of writing in the early morning hours.

You tap into your consciousness

The early morning time is golden. That’s when you’ve just awoken from your restful night of sleep. Your mind is clear. You are still in your pajamas, and you’re not in a rush to get out of bed. This is the time to start writing — when the thoughts are still circulating your consciousness.

According to research, the prefrontal cortex is the most active shortly after you wake up. That means you can tap into your creative flow more easily. On the other hand, the analytical parts of the brain, responsible for editing and proofreading are more active later during the day.

It’s not surprising that many writers journal early in the morning. Having a fresh mind allows them to dig deep into their consciousness and access their inner thoughts.

To take this theory further, I decided to experiment. I started my early morning prewriting or my “preliminary writing” before I even get out of bed. That means before I have had my breakfast and coffee.

And the results proved to be better than when I wrote after my breakfast. Just 20–30 minutes of prewriting did the trick. I found I was able to tap into my creativity and get my thoughts out by writing topic ideas I can expand on later. When I skipped prewriting and jumped into writing after breakfast, I noticed some of the ideas I had in my mind were gone. It was like a balloon burst, and the air was out. I had lost the track of my thought process.

It’s less stressful and more convenient

Let’s face it: getting dressed, like anything else you do after you wake up, is a chore. Why clutter your mind when you can be in a relaxed state of mind with yourself and your laptop? You may be surprised that you come up with great ideas when you are still in bed in your pajamas. When I tried this method, I felt like I was having breakfast in bed in a 5-star hotel! Writing in bed with a squishy pillow propped up against my back put me in a blissful state.

And I didn’t care about if my stomach was growling from hunger or if I was in a hazy state from lack of caffeine. All I cared about was catching on to my threads of consciousness and getting my thoughts out. At the prewriting stage, though, my writing was a bit clunky, and the sentences didn’t come out as cohesively. But it was fine with me as prewriting is never supposed to be perfect.

You jumpstart your writing process

Prewriting is a great way to jumpstart your writing process. Every writer, at some point, has suffered writer’s block — it’s a common occurrence among writers. And if you’re someone like me, you’ve probably experienced it too. Prewriting before getting out of bed helped me tap into the creative side and kickstart my writing process. Whether it was just a quick thought running in mind, or a paragraph, it was enough to give me a starting point.

Whatever you jot down — those initial ideas can be great topics for you to work with in the future. They come in handy later when you are out of ideas and want something to lean on. Once you expand on any of those ideas, they can become a complete story or an article.

Here’s how to do it:

Keep your laptop close by your bed. As soon as you are awake, all you have to do is grab your laptop and start typing away. Get hold of your thoughts and write what’s on your mind. It’s as simple as that. Close your eyes as if you were meditating. What ideas come to mind? Try to tap into your inner consciousness. That’s where your best ideas will come from.

The takeaway

Early morning prewriting has proven to be effective and helped me take my writing to the next level. Thanks to the tiny tweak to my writing routine, I boosted my writing output, tapped into my creativity, and generated more topic ideas.

If you are a writer who wants to build a writing habit, writing early in the morning will give you a great head start. Whether your goal is to beat a writer’s block, crank out more content, write a novel or a short story, you’ll find writing early in the morning will help you achieve your writing goals.