Why Writing at Night Might Be a Great Idea
Annabel Abbs-Street on the science of nocturnal creativity
“The night changed, became a place of refuge.” —Annabel Abbs-Streets
Preview: Episode 108 The Creative Benefits of Being a Night Owl with Annabel Abbs-Streets
“Imaginative. Open-minded. Spiritual. Open to sense of mystery.” These are just a few of the descriptors writer Annabel Abbs-Streets uses to describe her night self. In this episode of Emerging Form, we speak with Abbs-Streets about Sleepless: Unleashing the Subversive Power of the Night Self, a book that weaves science, memoir and history to explore why women’s brains work differently at night, and how we can harness that altered state for greater creativity, insight and courage. We talk about the genesis of her book, the connection between sleeplessness and grief and creativity, the relationship between darkness and epiphany, and studies that show how night might increase our empathy (especially for our inner critic), our courage, and our connection to the divine.
Annabel Abbs-Streets is an award-winning writer of highly researched fiction, non-fiction and memoir. Sleepless is her seventh book, and her work has been published in over 30 languages. She writes regularly for a wide range of newspapers and magazines, and has spoken at literary festivals across the world. She has a degree in English Literature, an MA in Marketing, Research and Statistics, and is a Fellow of the Brown Foundation. She lives with her family in London and Sussex.
What We’re Reading and Listening to:
Rosemerry:
Sometimes hope feels impractical, perhaps, but lately I’ve had the loveliest exchange with our previous guest T.A. Barron (Episode 74, The Power of Stories) on the necessity of hope. This thread began when he sent me the link to this lovely essay he wrote for Orion on the power of play, how our early memories inform us and, you guessed it, hope.
Soooo … you all know by now, probably, that I just LOVE choral music, especially, well, all of it. And I was so moved by this setting of hymns by René Clausen sung by the Concordia Choir … the harmonies! The single note that links hymn to hymn to the closing. The dynamics! Just freaking OH!!!! for six minutes.
Christie:
I love Anne Lamott’s essay, “All that is true about aging is illuminated on a walk.” Lamott writes about walking with Shelley Adams, her friend of 64 years.
Rainer Maria Rilke was only partially right when he wrote that “life holds you in its hands and will not let you fall,” because both Shelley and I, like all older people, have been dropped. But life also at some point pulls you back to your feet.
On their walks, their lives and their friendship comes into full view. And Lamott offers this: "Age is giving me the two best gifts: softness and illumination. It would have been nice if whoever is in charge of such things doled them out in our younger years, but that’s not how it works.”
I adore Tim Krieder, and his latest Substack post is evidence of why. In it, he writes about the plight of the middle aged creative person: “Those of my own artistic cohort who’ve been ambitious and fortunate enough to make careers of their chosen art forms are now at a point in life when they’ve been doing the same thing for a few decades and become fairly accomplished at it, and a lot of them are beginning to get bored, antsy for a change.”
He writes about artists like de Chirico and Derain, who, he suggests, may be “the real revolutionaries—truly independent spirits who gave not a passing fuck about critical acclaim or popular opinion. They stepped disdainfully out of the mainstream to follow their own meandering paths into the wilderness without a glance back.”
He goes on: “What I can’t help but admire about them is their indifference to critics and admirers alike, their untouchable self-assurance in their own idiosyncratic instincts and judgment. I admire their doggedly following their own paths, even if I’m not as interested in where they led. I admire their cussedness.”
You really just need to go read it. It sparked quite a discussion among one of my writers groups.
Teach Me the Dark
Teach me the dark, the infinite
shades of the infinite dark, the basis of all
the light that is, the origin, the ink bright spark
that leaps from the great black well,
the darkling spring, the raven luck, the mother
from which the big bang sprang, the womb
of dawn, the only cloak measureless enough
to hold everything, everything in its folds.
Teach me the inner midnight,
the moonless rooms, the lavish corners,
the mighty dark inside the fist, the vastness
of limitless space that links
with no effort the everything that is,
the everything that ever was, the everything
that will ever be. Teach me the song of soil,
the song of deep winter, the pure dark song
of the sea. All the dark that’s been terrorized
by light, and all the dark that’s been pushed away
and all the dark that’s been feared,
teach me its valor, its ferocity, its kindness,
its gentleness, its blinding generosity.
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, from her album Dark Praise (Sweet Tooth, 2023)
A Note About Paid Subscriptions:
First, we want to thank ALL our subscribers! We are so grateful you join us in this conversation about what it is to engage with yourself, the world and others in a creative way. And a BIG thank you to our paid subscribers. You make this podcast possible. Starting this month, only our paid subscribers will receive our bonus episodes as a thank you for their financial support.
This week, we speak with Annabel about the nocturnal biome, why you might want to keep a candle beside your bed, the benefits of writing by hand, meeting fear, and writing in secret. If you are not yet a paid subscriber, you can go now to our website, EmergingForm.substack.com, or by clicking the button below. Thank you!
Two Questions:
(share your answers with us here on Substack or in our FB group)
What is the difference between your creative self during the day and at night?
Which of your creative projects benefit from being done at night?
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Emerging Form is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I used to like to write at night, at some point my internal editor turned off, more recently it feels like my whole brain turns off after dinner, which doesn't work as well.