Do you find you can't sleep?

"If it wasn't for my sleeplessness I never would have written a word." Louis-Ferdinand Celine

I have always been an insomniac. I used to stay up reading or writing as a kid to pass the time. I still do. A lot of writers deal with insomnia for both psychological and physical reasons.
1. Writing novels/scripts/plays, anything that requires a lot of time spent on the same subject for weeks+ on end will cause your mind to work on a consistent basis in overdrive. Psychologically, turning this off so you can get some rest is difficult.
2. Physically writing is not very taxing on your body. Sitting in a chair, typing doesn't burn much energy so you will not wear down as fast or as hard, your body simply won't BE tired. However the longterm of this is pure meltdown. Sooner or later you've got to turn it off or it will own you.

As for the sleeping pills...I recommend chewing valerian, taking nyquil, running laps before bed, eating a bunch of sugary food about 20 min before you sleep(my fav, the sugar crash drops me every time) anything before sleeping pills. Not only are they dangerous, not only do they not work for longer than a week or two, but your work may suffer.
When my doctor put me on sleeping pills it was like walking through a haze when I was awake. Finally I had to just tell him no more pills. I'm just not someone who is built for a 24 hour day, 16 awake, 8 asleep. You might find that you're not built to function at maximum performance that way either.

Good luck on the WIP, hopefully it's a bestseller and then you'll be able to stay up, for as long as you want, whenever you want, for the rest of your life.

-Grom

Stephen King, Charles Bukowski, Jack London are/were all insomniacs to name a few. There are many others but they're escaping me now.

brianm said:

I have always been able to sleep through the night with no problems. My father used to say I could "sleep on a clothes line".

However, ever since I started writing my WIP, I have found I can't sleep. I lie awake thinking about everything from what I need to fix in the MS to questioning myself for ever thinking I have the talent to be a writer.

I'm about to ask my doctor for some pills, but have an inkling it stems from writing.

Anyone else have this problem?

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If you can't sleep, might as well get up and write.

I do suffer from insomnia, but I usually find thinking about my current WIP such a happy exercise that it can help me go to sleep if I'm having trouble (of course, the alternative is thinking about my day at the office, the bird that my cat killed, or my credit cards - compared to that, anything is good). If the WIP is going badly, sometimes I manage to work through things in the moments just before I drop off, when my brain is clear.

However, some of my very best work, work done when I was in the 'zone' work that makes me go all teary reading it years later, was done after midnight when I just could NOT sleep and would rather have danced on hot coals than stay in my freaking bed one second longer. So go with it, and try to nap in the early evening after you get home from work to make up for it.

I fall asleep quickly due to exhaustion, but I wake up at 4 every morning aware that I have been thinking of my book all night. My characters have conversations and do things while I am sleeping. I end up trying to write it all down in the morning, only to have my thoughts evaporate while taking care of my children throughout the day. I have a laptop open on the kitchen counter and do some writing here and there while they are playing.

It's a hard knock life. Don't you love it?

I'm a light sleeper, but I don't have trouble sleeping. When I'm deeply involved in a story, I do dream scenes. And often if I'm stuck on a spot in the tale, I'll think of it as I'm drifting off, and invariably a solution presents itself by morning.

If I seriously can't sleep, I'll get up and read. I don't trust myself writing if I'm cranky or trying to doze off. There are a lot of avenues to try before taking sleep-aids, though. Please consider some of them first. Good health and great writing to you

I can never get to sleep when I want to. I lie there thinking and thinking, and my stupid head won't shut down. So, I've taken to writing at night. I may as well try to be productive.

I find that there's a specific scene in my head that I always think about before I go to sleep. Usually, I keep repeating the events (kind of like counting sheep) and then I just kind of drop out. Eventually it's a little Pavlovian, and the scene acts as a midpoint to the dreamscape.

It's better than obsessing over what I need to do or change, but I'm still letting myself think about the WIP.

Yes, I'm a restless sleeper these days anyway - but I keep a notebook and pen beside my bed so I can scribble.

I'd agree with gromhard - anything but sleeping tablets. Try meditation, exercise or herbal teas (roobios or valerian tea are excellent).

I always want to sleep after sex. Can be done alone or with another person. YMMV.

I find if I hit the right balance of writing, I get out all the good ideas and can sleep. If I write too much, I fall asleep while typing and can't make sense the next day. If I write too little, I get the ideas churning around until they are noted or lost.

Another insomniac here - my mind is always working on something, whether it be my WIP or a real-life situation. So I have more or less given up and decided to become a night owl. I often start writing around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. and don't quit until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. When the words are too blurry to make out, I quit. Fortunately, I work for myself, so my boss lets me sleep in almost every day.

The funny thing about doing this is I can go back later and reread something I wrote at 2:00 a.m. and totally not recognize it. I'll be wondering who on earth was on my computer adding that scene?!?!

Reading always puts me to sleep. I'll third (or fourth) the warning against sleeping pills.

And of course, you can always try finishing the book and sleeping then.

Physical exercise could help, too. Go with natural remedies first, please. Alcohol and sleeping pills may be fun, but no matter the romance of the drunken writer who has to knock himself out to step away from the keyboard, be smart, not romantic. K?

PS-I have no trouble sleeping. I have trouble remembering my dreams. I went back to sleep FOUR times the other morning because I had dreamt a perfect beginning to my revision project...and each time I was awakened abruptly by one of my kids. Dream? Poof! Aaarghh...

I used to wake up with brilliant ideas and be convinced that since my idea was so good, I'd remember it in the morning. I was wrong. Sometimes I'll get out of bed to go write down a great idea at 12am... 1am...3am...
I also feel I do my best work after 8pm. Writing from 8pm til 2am would suit me; I feels that the rest of the world has settled down and I can focus better.

Light exercise can help. Take a walk around the block to clear your head and relax before you go to sleep.

Also, take a look at your diet. Have you been drinking more coffee than usual while working on your novel?

If things don't change soon, talking to your doctor isn't a bad idea!

Jackie

brianm said:

... and I know I will regret asking this I'm sure...but, what does YMMV stand for?

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YMMV = Your mileage may vary.

I've always found a snack of bread and peanut butter to be relaxing before going to bed. Then I found out peanut butter has tryptophan in it (at least, I think it's tryptophan), which naturally makes you drowsy, so that explains it. Much better for you than sleeping pills, assuming you like peanut butter.

If no one will take my other suggestion, I can recommend a sure fire way, but it comes with a major downside.

Fast food - preferably McDonalds. 2 cheesburger meal, fries, milkshake, 20 piece mcnuggets, and an apple pie. Always did the trick for me, but it might have been less of sleep and more of a diabetic coma.

MattW said:

Fast food - preferably McDonalds. 2 cheesburger meal, fries, milkshake, 20 piece mcnuggets, and an apple pie. Always did the trick for me, but it might have been less of sleep and more of a diabetic coma.

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LOL!

Here's my idea: Get a small radio w/ headphones. Tune it to a 24 hour newsstation. Keep the volume low, but still be able to hear it. Almost guaranteed you'll be asleep within 15 minutes.

Until I finish this WIP I'll be up again tonight until the wee hours. I seem to get a second wind around this time everynight.

brianm said:

Okay... show of hands... how many of you knew YMMV stood for "Your mileage may vary." ??????????????

Be honest... please, don't let me be the only idiot in the room.

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Not me...but I'll have what you're having.

I tend to write late at night - once everyone else is asleep. 10-2am usually. I sleep from 2-6am and occasionally if my little guy naps during the day I'll catch up on a little shut eye too.

I will go weeks with 4-5 hours of sleep each night, and then, once a month or so I'll fall asleep around 630-7pm and sleep about 12 hours straight.

Take care all -

I don't have a problem falling asleep but I have a problem staying asleep. I constantly get awoking by dreams of whatever I did that day. If I was revising - I revise all night. if I was writing - I write my next scenes. If I was critiquing - I continue to critique even if I don't know the rest of the story. If I am doing graphics - I'll rotoscope all night in my sleep.

I wake up like 50 times a night. Sometimes I solve plot problems through dreams. I have a vivid memory so it's rare I don't remember my dreams in the morning.

In the later chapters of a novel, when there isn't too much room for uncertainty about the course of the story, I find myself waking up every night with free-floating anxiety. The only cure is to head downstairs and write.

No pills. Your insomnia is your muse trying to tell you something. Many people are under the impression that being inspired should feel good, but that isn't how it works for everyone. To quote master novelist William Gass: "When my work is going well, I feel sort of sick all the time."