Friday, February 24, 2012

Insomniac Writer Counting Sheep

Every so often, I won't be able to sleep--insomnia, the evil foe. Grrr. Ok, I don't have insomnia (thank the heavens), but my mind will start reeling right as my head hits the pillow. Don't get me wrong, loads of my writing/blog ideas surface during these sleepless moments. I would rather enjoy the rest, but when ideas come, you take em when you get em.

I'll write down one of the distracting thoughts to get it out of my mind just as another takes its place. The maddening cycle will continue for a while until my brain decides its tired enough to stop grinding its wheels at top speed. All thanks to the sheep creeping in the room for me to count briefly until I'm purring peacefully, blissfully in my dreams depths. 

*Bah Bah Bah* ---> Sheep sounds.

I've heard some people get there ideas while in the shower. Some while driving. Others while eating their bowl of cereal in the morning.

When do your writing ideas arrive, distracting you from getting sleep, massaging shampoo into your hair, swerving off the road, or totally missing your mouth while shoveling in another tasty spoonful of Lucky Charms?

Writing. Jewels.

PS: Don't forget to enter my Flash Fiction Friday contest. You could win a $25 Amazon.com gift card by writing your own flash fiction. For more information, follow this link. I'm going to extend the entry date to Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 5:00PM MST. Shout this out to the world. I want more people to enter. Wahoo!

22 comments:

  1. Buckaroo Banzai says we get our best ideas in the 3 Bs: Bed, Bath and Bus. These are places we generally remove all distractions and our minds don't have to concentrate on what's going on, so they make leaps they wouldn't normally be able to.

    I have great ideas while I'm falling asleep and my wife got tired of having me throw off the covers and get out of bed to write them down (I know if I don't write it down, I'll forget it by morning) so for Christmas, she got me a lighted pen and a notebook.

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    1. Great to know. I must meet this Buckaroo Banzai. I'll have to invest in the lighted pen.

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  2. Mine come like yours, while my brain is settling and I'm really wanting to sleep. Conversations creep in, or sentences that are just *perfect* that I have to write them down before I forget, and before I know it I'm sitting in a recliner instead of laying in bed and I've been scribbling for an hour!

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    1. I'm glad I'm not alone. I wager most writers struggle with sleep due to formulating scenes or the such.

      Thanks for the comment!

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  3. Driving, getting ready in the morning, almost asleep, almost awake, lots of times when I'm doing something totally unrelated to writing.

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    1. That's like me. My WIP idea came to me while watching a movie. Crazy when great ideas can hit ya.

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  4. My ideas come all the time - just never when I want them to. I generally get them whenever I'm inspired by something. So, watching TV, driving, not much in the shower. It's kind of weird.

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  5. A psychologist I once worked with told me insomnia is common in writers due to our imaginations.

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    1. That's pretty cool there's scientific proof for why I have trouble sleeping sometimes.

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  6. Nice to meet you, here from the Platform. Inspiration comes to me when least expected :) You have been tagged. http://sivmaria.blogspot.com/

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    1. Hi! Nice to meet you. I'll run over to the tagging. :D

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  7. My writing ideas often come at night or in the car. I always have pen and paper on me and on my night stand. Often I find myself scribbling in the middle of the night ideas and scatter brained thoughts. Drives my husband crazy lol. The next morning I have to decipher chicken scratch and sometimes it's a bit of a challenge.

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  8. My writing ideas tend to come when I'm about to go to sleep or when I'm listening to music or watching T.V. or a movie. The hubby thinks I'm crazy cause I grab something to write on and start jotting it down before I lose it. I get so mad when I can't find anything and the idea disappears. But what can you do? Great post, Jules!

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  9. I'm a shower person. Two days ago I got an idea while showering. Something about the hot water clears my head and makes me get creative. :)

    I hope you get some sleep. Dream those story ideas. :)

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    1. Well, it's sort of cliche but my first book's idea came from a dream. Really! :) I like hot water in the shower. My mind wanders but typically writing ideas don't come to me there. At a writing conference I went to this guy said he has a whiteboard marker in the shower and he'll write his ideas on the shower wall when they come to him. Hilarious but productive.

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  10. Hello! I get my ideas just while I'm busy doing things. I will think about them and then stop to clean or something like that and WHAM I have an idea where I have to drop whatever I'm doing and write it down.

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    1. That's nice. Sometimes being away from writing helps me to get my ideas straight. I can relate.

      Thanks for the follow and comment!

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  11. Totally happens to me right as I'm drifting... When my brain's relaxed... Bad timing, eh??? Fun post! :D

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  12. My BEST ideas - beginning and ending lines - fixes to scenes - ALL come to me while I'm trying to sleep. ALMOST without fail

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  13. I've been thinking about this a lot lately!

    I too get ideas as I'm falling asleep (and then forget them by morning -- doh!).

    But if I'm stuck with a story and need to work it out, oddly enough, it's when I'm doing my hair that I figure out the fix for the problem. My hair straightener: a necessary tool for writing and revision.

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