The advantage of getting up and writing at 5 a.m. is that no one else is awake. It’s just me, the blank page, and the keyboard. Even the neighborhood deer are asleep.

Waking before the sun motivates me to get words on the page. I mean, if I’m going to get up before a crack of daylight peeks over the horizon, I sure as hell ain’t gonna mess around scrolling through social media looking at other people’s posts telling me how great they’re doing.

So, in the inimitable words of Nora Roberts – and I quote:

“Stop making excuses and write.”

“Stop whining and write.”

“Stop fucking around and write.”