Are you a night owl or early bird?
I'm usually an early bird, but this year I've become a night owl.
Our circadian rhythms generally determine when we're feeling most awake and when we're feeling tired. They can be changed (natural light works best), but it might explain why there is such a difference between people. The circadian rhythm is a day cycle (24hr) which can be inferred if you learned Latin since circa approximately means "about" and dian is from "dies" which is day. Unfortunately for me I did not get into Latin in high school. I did learn about root words in elementary school, but the most I can remember is a little singing chant of a few words: "Ante before, anti against, bi two, circum around...de down, dis away...com together, con together..." That's it.
Our circadian rhythms are a natural process and to bring it into writing, you might consider writing a character's abilities as fluctuating depending on the day. I think some writers do this unconsciously. You've got witches that only cast spells on certain days. Werewolves turn on the full moon. They're not exactly circadian rhythms, but you can still transfer the concept of a cycle into those examples.
When we fly into different time zones, most people experience jet lag. There really isn't a way to avoid it and this is because your circadian rhythm has to adapt to its new cycle. You're telling your body that based on societal conventions and your location, you must go to sleep at night and get up during the day. If you flew from America to say Great Britain and you arrived in the morning, it is better to keep yourself awake and active during the daylight hours so that you can fall into an exhausted sleep at the end of the day. It will help with resetting your circadian rhythm to fit your new time zone.
Circadian rhythms are so important that you could also use them to change a character's health. Not only do our rhythms affect when we feel sleepy or awake, but they also change when our hormones are released, when we feel hungry, and the temperature of our bodies. As for temperature, have you ever noticed how your body cools down as you fall asleep and then heats up as you wake up - that's part of your circadian rhythm! Our bodies heat up when we wake up because we're about to get up and start our day. Movement is easier when our muscles are warm, not cold. Probably why we warm-up before we workout, we want to ease into the hard activity by preparing ourselves...but I'm getting off topic.
Did you know that in the legend of Cuchulain the men of Ulster were weakened at a certain time of year? Cuchulain is from Irish mythology and he was a warrior. When the warriors of Connacht were trying to raid Ulster, Cuchulain stood against them. One boy against an army. He was a demigod, son of Lugh Lamfadha so he was your supernatural teenager of the day, but in the stories he is also described as a monster/demon. (Also, I know there are a lot of different spellings for Cuchulain and Lugh. These are just the ones I'm familiar with.)
I learned about the Cattle Raid of Cooley through a wonderful book called "The Hound of Rowan" by Henry H. Neff. The great thing about reading a book written by a history teacher is that he knows how to add history into it and lots of stories. I've learned so much from that series. On a related side note, Max McDaniels, the main character in Neff's books, is strengthened during his birth month: March. As you can see, there are so many cycles of power included in stories and perhaps it is something that you will want to include too!
So, let us circle around to the beginning, are you a night owl or an early bird?
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