Sleeping problems when writing

I do this all the time, especially when I have a tight deadline or tough material. Sometimes it works to my advantage, like when I write a great lead or ending in my sleep. Of course, I still wake up tired and feel like I worked all night. Whew!

ETA: Oops, sorry. I don't have any helpful suggestions. I'm waiting to see what everybody else says because I need help, too. LOL

When I'm writing I have terrible insomnia. I'll go to sleep, wake up at 2 AM, and be awake the rest of the day. I always considered it - those weeks of insomnia - as a sort of creative peak. It rises and falls with story momentum, and creativity for me. Even in the hours I do sleep during those times at the crest of that wave, it is tedious sleep, and I typically dream about characters.
I don't have any suggestions to help you out. Long ago I just learned to surf the wave while I had it.

Yes. I have that, too. It almost feels as if you've had your REM sleep while awake and working on your story, so you don't get it while you're actually sleeping. As far as useful suggestions? No. Not really. Learn your own body. For creative reasons, take advantage of it when it happens. Plan for easy nutritious meals and for some decent sleep when it passes.

Wow. Now I can tell hubby that I may still be crazy, but at least I'm not alone.

I have dreams about my characters, about the book, and then I wake up and can't get back to sleep, mind racing...

Tylenol PM usually works though.

I can't get to sleep when I'm working - terrible insomnia as I play scenes in my head, seeing physical reactions, all the little details, trying to improve it. And of course if I get up and go to my PC it's never quite so vivid.....

Sleep and creativity for me tend to have an inverse relationship.

Whenever I'm particularly creative I have sleep problems. I typically can't get to sleep, and when I do sleep, will only manage a few hours.

However, I don't usually feel as tired when I wake up as I do in non-creative periods.

I just went through a period of a month where I slept very soundly, 10 hours a night. I was totally uncreative in this period.

try a touch of vitamin B12 -- its amazing how much better you'll sleep. DH was listening to a talk show on the radio and heard about it, so I tired and they were right.

I have bad insomnia anyway, but when I'm writing it does tend to get worse. Just as an example, the last couple of days I've been on a roll with both my WIPs for the first time in months, and also last night figured out a cool idea for a short story competition (there's like an open challenge thing over at Historical Writing for short stories). Anyway, I plotted out the story, went to bed, and ended up sitting for the next few hours writing down notes for other stories that just kept coming to me. It was about five am before I got to sleep and I ended up missing class today as I was just too tired. Today now I'm having a hellish day, and I think it might be partly because I'm tired and not paying much attention.

I don't have any useful suggestions other than trying to get your body used to a routine. Maybe have a hot bath before going to bed, that sometimes helps me, especially with those herbal soak things in it.

I have never had insomnia, I sleep the sleep of the dead.

I do not like to sleep. I sleep for about 3/5 hours and that's about it and If Im writing something I like I can stay up for 2/3 days writing, reading, and researching. But when I crash -- I crash ... eye crust, drool and neck cramps from sleeping like Baby Jessica.

Funny...I am an insomniac except when I'm writing full-out. I get the best sleep I've had since I was 10 when I'm putting in 8-10 hours/day and dreaming about my characters.

But, being an insomniac about 60% of the time, I do have a few suggestions on the non-medicated side of things that might help:

1) try the bath, though leave at least 20 minutes post-bath to cool off before going to bed. Adding real lavender (meaning the essential oil or the dried herb - the chemical version is hit or miss) can really help.

2) have chamomile or some other non-caffeinated, sleep-friendly herbal tea (Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime actually works pretty well) with a spoonful of honey sometime in that post-bath 20 minutes.

3)since it's specifically writing-related, try doing something restful and utterly non-writing-related right before bed/bath/whatever. Meaning no reading either! And no TV or computer - apparently looking at the screen can also mess up your sleep cycle.

4) I find having some kind of white noise not only helps me sleep by blocking out all the other noise that wakes me up, but it helps me stop thinking. A sound machine with a rain setting is perfect. That's just me, though - some people hate white noise.

Good luck. Nothing worse than running low on sleep.

I tend to fall asleep but then wake up during the night and then too early in the morning, wired and ready to go!

I like the herbal teas (especially the more potent ones with valerian.) Never touch caffeine past early afternoon, and for the past few months have really been limiting the wine with dinner. Those "eye pillows" (especially scented with lavender) sometimes help.

I think this may be related to getting slightly manic during creative periods (though I've always been a light sleeper.) Goes with the territory, but I do think it's important to learn to manage it in order to survive!

Good luck!

Oh yes, do I ever have this problem! The only way I've been able to nip it in the bud is to keep a work schedule and follow it by a household routine. For example, I can do this because my kids come home at 2:45pm - from there, it's snack, homework, cooking, cleaning, baths, teeth brushing, reading, and bed. Once they're in bed, I have at least one hour of "I don't have to do anything" before falling asleep. By this point, my mind isn't on work at all . . . unless, of course, I have a huge deadline looming and have to work after hours. There's no solution I've found for that kind of sleep/non-sleep because of working problem. LOL

It looks like we all have different sleep patterns and problems. What works for one may not work for another. I think, from my own experience, that if you can get in an hour or two of some activity totally unrelated to writing or any other thing taking up all your mind space before you try to sleep, it helps. I have no trouble getting to sleep, but then the dreams start. They are usually unrelated to my writing, but are strenuous. When I read myself to sleep I find my sleeping self continuing the story, in the same style as the author, into some areas she/he did not intend.

I also have sleep problems when submitting. It's probably all linked to anxiety.

If I'm game, I'll stay up to 2 just to get at 7 for work. When I sit in bed and close my eyes I have to mental shut off the writing part. Oddly enough I don't recall ever once dreaming about part of my works.

I write full time, so I wouldn't be functional if I couldn't sleep. Maybe that's part of the problem - try regulating yourself so you're not just writing in a sudden, round-the-clock fit of enthusiasm before crashing. I do two thousand words per day, regardless of whether or not I'm feeling inspired. If I feel like continuing after that, I go for it, but if I don't feel like it I leave off. Of course, even when I am really inspired, I tend to store up my enthusiasm for the following day, because I know I'm going to have to meet that 2K quota and if I use up all my excitement today, I'm gonna be running on empty tomorrow. Anyway at one point in my life I would have said that it was impossible to channel my creativity that way, but right now I feel like I'm the boss, and I'm in charge of the process.

Another suggestion I have is to make sure you do some sort of physical activity during the day that will really make you TIRED. I find doing this doesn't wear my brain out, so if I do, say, 2 hours of heavy housework in the morning, it feels nice to sit down and write in the afternoon because my brain is still going. Then at night, my body is nice and tired and I zonk out immediately.

For decades, I think of the stories in bed and try to work them out. Sometimes I fall asleep, other times I just keep thinking of the scenes for hours. When I get them to go smoothly, then I'll write 'em down and be bedeviled by the next ones, sigh.

I'm most similar to sunna7core. I've been a chronic insomniac pretty much since birth, but I tend to sleep best when I feel like I've had a productive writing day. I also sleep best when I keep a very set schedule - same time to bed and same time up every day.

Since my insomnia is maybe worse than most, I may not be in a position to offer advice, but I would suggest this: accept what you've accomplished today and give yourself license to wait until tomorrow to continue working. This may be tricky. You have to tell yourself "I've done enough today. I'll accomplish more tomorrow. Tonight, the most productive way I can use my time it to sleep." And then forget the story until tomorrow.

try melatonin.
One of those 'wave' sound machines.
sex.
I know for sure that two out of three of these work. LOL

I've always went to bed after midnight. As I've grown older I've noticed a problem with insomnia, so now I might not get to bed till 2 or 3. When I'm finishing a book or in the editing stage, I'm the worse. I have to set a cut off time of midnight, or I'll never tame my brain enough to sleep. I've also been known to slam a beer or two before bed to help ease the brain from thinking.

Oh yeah, from some above posts:

I agree that alcohol on a reasonably full stomach and white noise can make a big difference. I never sleep without a loud fan or my waterfall ambiance noise playing.