When We Write

I've always been a morning writer, mostly out of necessity. Get it done early before life intrudes and the creative side of my brain is overrun by minutia. A couple of months ago, though, circumstances conspired to force me into a few days of afternoon writing sessions. To my surprise, the writing went well, really well. I thought it a fluke, and went back to my morning focus. 

Fast forward to today's Writer's Almanac (subscribe if you don't already; it's free, and outstanding), in which Anthony Burgess, author of the dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange is described:  "Unlike many writers who swear by morning or late-night writing sessions, he preferred the afternoon best of all. He said: "It's a quiet time. It's a time when one's body is not at its sharpest, not at its most receptive — the body is quiescent, somnolent; but the brain can be quite sharp. I think, also, at the same time, that the unconscious mind has a habit of asserting itself in the afternoon. The morning is the conscious time, but the afternoon is a time in which we should deal much more with the hinterland of the consciousness." Hmm, think I'll do a bit of experimenting this week.

What about you? When do your creative gears mesh best?