another Comp. of Phil. note

Quick note… After taking the whole day off from the book project due to mental exhaustion and a general feeling of indifference, I was surprised to find myself, after midnight, in a rare writing mood.

What to do in that case? Opinions vary. Philip Glass apparently only allows himself to compose music in the morning, and ignores even good ideas that come to him in the afternoon or evening. He compares it to “training the Muse to come calling at my hours,” which is a nice line, and is a good way to have a sane life along with being productive in one’s field.

My own approach is different… To me, these moods of really wanting to write are precious, and to kill them off would be an act of cruelty. There are obviously cases where you must do so. For instance, if I were teaching tomorrow morning, or if I had some other obligation, then I would just regretfully ignore the Muse and go to sleep now that it’s 1:15 AM.

However, this is a situation that calls for seizing every productive mood and exploiting it… Just coming off a lethargic day today, summertime with no obligations, and a built-in rest period of several days planned for whenever I finish drafting these next two chapters.

So, this is one all-night horse I’m definitely going to ride. Back to work…