Sleeping & Writing: Why ideas come when we're trying to sleep

Ever have an awesome idea pop into your head just as you're about to fall asleep? It could be a really great concept to improve your next chapter or add another intriguing layer to your main character except the problem is you're very tired and just cannot find the energy to get up.

If you're an author or an aspiring author, chances are this has happened to you at least once. If you're like me, you choose to lie in bed, confident you'll remember it all the next morning, except you don't. In the morning that brilliant idea will disappear into the "ne'er- to- be- seen- again" land.

Write it down

Note to all newbies - GET UP AND WRITE THE IDEA DOWN!!! Unless of course, you have one of those superhuman memories. I should warn you though that there' an off chance you'll wake up in the morning, look at the paper and wonder what the hell is this? All of a sudden that awesome plot twist looks like total gibberish! When that happens I tend to just blame it on the fogginess of my mind at the time the idea was conceived. In any case, it's good to have it jotted down, that way you can re-assess and discard if necessary.