Space/Time Continuum

by Kait Carson

Way back when in the Stone Age, before YouTube or even MTV, there was a TV show named The Twilight Zone. It was hosted by Rod Serling, who had one of those fantastic announcer’s voices that made you see his words. That was the first time I heard the phrase space/time continuum. I didn’t understand it until I became a writer. 

Because we write on deadlines, our backs are always to the wall. Add in day jobs, family commitments, general life, and it becomes apparent that twenty-four hours in a day are simply not enough. Honestly, neither is thirty-six. Maybe seventy-two would be adequate. Every writer handles the time drain differently. Some carry notebooks or keyboards to all of their appointments. Using the waiting time to outline, write, polish, draw characterizations, study people and take notes (makes ‘em nervous I can tell you). Others set aside a sacred writing time and warn their families that if it ain’t bleeding, broken, or on fire, don’t interrupt. That doesn’t work at my house. As soon as I hang out the “do not disturb” sign, my family beats a path to my door. It's frustrating, but there's nothing to be done about it short of murder. That won't work, it's my family, and I love them. Besides, my research suggests there isn’t much writing time in prison either. 

How do I solve the problem? Dark of night. I’ve always been a night owl. I can do fine with six hours of sleep and get by with four. And something about the dark sparks my creativity. It may be the absence of outside stimulation. We live in the country, so night is…night. Few cars pass, no party noise, no street lights. Just deep, buttery darkness that is broken by the occasional moon or meteor shower. Images flow across my imagination in the night. I can turn myself inward and watch the movie of my book unreel in my mind. Characters speak, scenes unfold, situations deepen—every move or word draws on all the senses, and the book almost writes itself.

Bring on the dark.

What about you? Do you have a favorite time to work? If you could, would you rearrange your life schedule to accommodate your preferred schedule?

Kait Carson writes the Hayden Kent Mysteries, set in the Fabulous Florida Keys, and is at work on a new mystery series set in her adopted state of Maine. Her short fiction has been nationally published in the True Confessions magazines and in Woman’s World. Kait’s short story, “Gutted, Filleted, and Fried”, appeared in the Silver Falchion Award Finalist Guppy Anthology Hook, Line, and Sinker. Her nonfiction essay was included in the Agatha Award-winning book Writing the Cozy Mystery. She is a former President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of Sisters in Crime, and Guppies.