Dealing with a fuzzy brain

Libby - you are not turning into cotton wool! Although I know what you mean.

I get this exact same thing and have found that I cannot make it go away by trying harder. That just makes it worse. I have to take a proper break and do something completely different - exercise, cleaning out a kitchen cupboard, talking to a friend or neighbor, then after a while it clears...

Drugs are availible... Neurontin or generic Gabapentin

Yeah, that's extreme!

Fuzzyhead is part of CFS which can be treated with those drugs. Although I personally don't take them cos I find the side-effects worse than the condition.

The only thing that gets rid of my FH is rest. Whether that would work for you, I don't know.

Maybe meditation?

Sounds reasonable to me.

Maythe said:

Sometimes, like this evening, I sit down to work on my writing and I just can't think clearly. It's like my brain is full of cotton wool.

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Been there. Done that. Still do in fact.

Mine's due to "chemo brain," the side effects of strong chemotherapy. My issue is that I know the word I want is "strawberry" but all I can think of is "banana." So it comes out as "that red fruity berry with little seeds that my wife likes in jam..." For me, there isn't any cure other than putting in a filler and coming back later, when I remember the word just fine.

It's more problematic, and frustrating, in a conversation.

The solution, basically, is just to move on to something else and come back later. And sometimes coming back several times until it's right.

Jeff

Or they are lying through their teeth. One of the two.

Hmm.... just call me Mrs Cynical....

WeaselFire said:

Mine's due to "chemo brain," the side effects of strong chemotherapy. My issue is that I know the word I want is "strawberry" but all I can think of is "banana." So it comes out as "that red fruity berry with little seeds that my wife likes in jam..." For me, there isn't any cure other than putting in a filler and coming back later, when I remember the word just fine.

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Yeah, ditto here. Even 8 months later, I'm still not as sharp as before.

For others who have woolly brains for whatever reason: maybe rest, maybe take a walk, maybe drink coffee or water, maybe just come back to it later. I think many people have woolly brains at times. Can't be on top all the time.

Fatigue is really good at causing Fuzzy Head. Even just being tired after a week's work can do it.

My worst episode of Fuzzy Head was a few years ago. I was making toast and took the slices out of the toaster, put some butter on the knife .... and then totally forgot what I was supposed to do next. I was standing there looking at the toast and the knife and the toast and the knife ... and my brain was going I had to go into the living room and ask my OH what I supposed to do with the butter.

So yeah, CFS Fuzzy Head, not so fun.

I've had friends with CFS it seems like a total pain in the arse.

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It is but you get used to it. Most of the weird stuff happens in the early years before you learn how to cope with it.

But yeah, it's restrictive.

But.... I do think maybe you need to find a job that isn't so far away so that it doesn't zombify you quite so much.

Some random ideas which may or may not be relevant ...

When I get mushy between the ears, it helps to write stuff down. I will sometimes write little letters to myself telling me to write a scene about X, where Y meets Z and so-an-so happens. Or writing a CV for my characters. Or a rough timeline of what happens next. There is something magical about putting these things down on paper. It helps to make them feel more concrete.

Music might also help. When I was writing a James Bond spoof, I had a compilation of Bond movie theme tunes running in the background. There is nothing quite like Shirley Bassey giving it full volume on Gooooldfiiingerrr" to get you in the mood. There was also something calming about having a set piece of music for a particular book. It was a way of drawing a line under the real world and getting my book head on.

One other thought. In your OP you said: "I can't think clearly enough to decide which of my MCs should have the POV in a particular scene."

I can't tell for certain without seeing what you've written, but this was ringing alarm bells for me. Only little alarm bells. More like those tinkling wind chimes. Not necessarily those big booming bells in Big Ben. Enough to niggle me.

If you have lots of main characters and lots of viewpoints, you might be setting yourself up with a difficult book to write. Multiple POVs may feel convenient because almost any plot problem can be solved by warping into someone else's head. But they are tricky to get right. It can also be unsettling for a reader if the book is constantly jumping.

The $64,000 question - are you sure you haven't got too many MCs and POVs?

I'm only giving up this job if I physically have to, or if I'm certain I can make some cash with my writing -

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That makes it trickier. Hmm... you'll have to slow up a tiny bit at work! Just a little that no-one notices.....

So that's two main characters plus occasional guest POVs? We can never say that any particular approach won't work, but that does sound quite complicated.

An omniscient narrator sitting one one or other character's shoulder? Well, okay. Does that mean that the narrator knows things that each POV character doesn't? Part of the reason for having a POV character is that you see things through their point of view - ie they don't see everything. I am struggling a little with the idea of a narrator who is both omniscient and showing a third person POV.

Or maybe I'm now suffering from mushy brain!