How to get up early for dawn photography? I REALLY want to get up early.

Arrange to go shooting with a pal, using a rendezvous point away from both your residences and a pre-dawn start time.

Traditional solution of non-technical cultures for waking up earlier than usual: drink an unusual amount of water before going to bed. It's also a classic backpacking solution, much better in the wilderness than an alarm.
You can purchase a timer which will turn on lights so you don't have to rely entirely on sound. For rising with the sun, if it's safe to do so where you sleep, open your drapes.
A student solution, which I've known some to use -- attach a wad of double-stick tape to alarm clock snooze button before going to bed. Alarm clock sticks to hand. Best with non-permanent tape and cheap alarm clocks!
A final alternative, if you are truly a night person, in good health and it's a holiday, stay up the night before. Go to sleep when you're done photographing.

What Andrew said.

If I'm going off by myself, I'm tempted to hit the snooze. If I'm meeting up with a buddy, I can't let him down. It's really helpful if your buddy doesn't have a cell phone. Once he leaves his house, I have no way of calling it off. :)

Eric

Stay up all night. Start photographing at dusk; keep going through dawn.

Thanks at least in part to age, my eyes pop open at 5AM - no alarm needed. However, my wife, who is getting into photography seriously, is a charter member of Surly Risers Anonymous. If I poke coffee at her on the end of a long stick at 7:30, she might be up and glaring at me by 8:00. After 34 years of marriage, I don't think that's going to change (and God help me if she ever sees this post!)

Anyway, that means that sunrise shooting expeditions are usually solo. The only exceptions are when we plan trips to places that she really wants to see and shoot in morning light. Then, she's standing at the door, saying, "Aren't you ready to go, yet?)

So, I guess the answer is motivation: What places can you think of that really get you excited as having potential for The Shot Of The Century? Plan for those, preferably with someone who's equally interested who acts as an enabler.

One thing we've found that helps is spending the night before the shoot in a motel (that's "inn", for you) near the scene. It seems to be a lot easier to wake up early there than at home...

(Oops!)

Recently we had to drive off at 5:30 am when the sky was still totally black at 5, a bit of light came up by 5:15, then at 5:30, lots of olive green sky patches, then more blue hues etc into pink underneath lit clouds by 6:30 and the first rays to hit the treetops by 7.

So: simply get an alarm clock, set it to "still black sky", aka 4 am, have a quick breakfast as you shiver out of bed, then get outside when or before the sky first turns. And watch. move about, remember what you saw when and where and repeat with camera and tripod on another day.

Do get an ALARM clock, set it to 4:30 or such and use your backbone to do it. Marvelous light, eery empty streets, low fog over everything, silver dew, critters still about, foxes, deer, .. !

I have a fool proof method. Use two dogs (one for the job, one as emergency backup). Take them for a walk around 6:00 in the evening, no later. Give them a big drink of water when you get back, and no more out-the-door time. They will make sure you're awake at 4:00AM, no problem.

Also: it's quite possible you're just not getting enough sleep. Force yourself to get up earlier a few mornings, and then lie down earlier than usual at night, reading a law journal or a text on quantum mechanics. Before you know it, you'll have adjusted your internal clock.

If you have a cell phone, set the alarm for about 30 minutes before you want to be up. Then set the alarm tone to the most irritating sound you can find. Sleep next to it, and set the alarm mode to repeat forever.

30 minutes early should allow you time to retrieve the cell phone from wherever you threw it.....