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. 


You should know, this problem isn't unique to just writers. People in all manner of professions experience this from time to time. Maybe it's because has something to do with the fact some people are most relaxed just before bed; there's something about a goodnight's sleep that gets the creative juices flowing.

Writers and Insomnia

There are other times when it's not just one idea floating through your mind, it's trillions! When you spent hours working on your story and come time for bed, your mind refuses to shut down. Scenes play out in your head, possible characters, twists etc. These times it's really hard to sift through the plausible ideas from the flat out crazy ones and often times this contributes to writer's insomnia. Some writer's get up out their manuscript and type through it, others simply try to wait out the sleep. It's really up to you to determine which method works for you.  

Just some little kinks I'm finding in this #writingLife.

#KeepWriting.