Of Sleep and Word Flows by Konnie Enos

Have you ever tried to go to sleep and found all you did was toss for a while?

 You realize the sun’s been down for hours and only the night owls are moving about. It’s bedtime and you should be sleeping, not reading, doing sudoku or puzzles, or maybe even watching something. None of them help you shut off your brain so you can sleep, but I think the worst offender is writing.

You’re not sleeping if you’re thinking about the next word, sentence, or scene. You’re brain is going a million miles a minute. It’s those times when attempting to sleep will just have you tossing for hours getting little to no actual rest.

I’m sure sleepless nights happen to everyone, but you can’t go forever without sleep.

What do you do when you’ve been up half the night, or longer, and now you need sleep?

When I was younger, I’d just hide in my bedroom and hope the household noises didn’t disturb me. It doesn’t work anymore, because all the ruckus of several animals and humans moving about their day is sure to disrupt any attempts to sleep. Either that or the sun is a deterrent.

Recently, I had places to go the next day but I could not get to sleep. I sat up all night, doing little of nothing, but otherwise occupying my time until morning. Just as the sun was coming up I forced myself to go to bed but sleep never really came.

Yes, I got comfortable and closed my eyes. And no, I never managed to sleep. My brain just never fully shut off. Between the bright light and others talking, I finally gave up after only a few hours. Needless to say, I went to bed much earlier that night.

Then there are other times when I think I’m simply not going to get tired enough to sleep and decide to write something, only to fall asleep in the middle of typing a word. And no matter how hard you try when you get back to it, it’s impossible to remember what you were trying to say.

I have one story that I got interrupted on in the middle of a word and I still have not been able to get my train of thought back since. It’s been years.

I can also remember times when getting some rest or stopping for any other activity didn’t stem the flow of words for days, even weeks. Days when you spend nearly every waking moment typing the words onto the page, and when you’re not typing you’re thinking about the next word, sentence, or scene, never losing your train of thought even when interrupted.

The last time that happened to me, my one story turned into five.

Sometimes the lack of adequate sleep conspires against you to stem the flow of words while others, you have to fight to stay awake long enough to keep up with the flow.

The only constant about sleepless nights is you end up dragging, your head aching and your body fighting to be in a more comfortable position, so rest can be obtained.

I don’t know about anybody else but those times when it happens too frequently are the worst. You barely recover from one sleepless night and find yourself stuck in another one before you fully recover, making the whole experience much worse. This happens enough and soon it’s obvious you’re not getting enough sleep to everyone around you.

What brought this train of thought on?

One, some of my recent sleepless nights. Two, I’m working on some scenes to show one side character’s extreme tiredness. So, yes, I’m thinking about all the reasons that might cause it but also what signs and symptoms your friends and family might see.

How long can you keep going without others noticing?

How soon do those close to you start to worry?

Though one thing I’ve realized is that in a story, you have to pinpoint what is causing it. In real life, sometimes it can be harder to define.

True. Most of the time you know.

That night when you are just too interested in reading that really good book or binge-watching that great show. Or maybe concern about a family, or all those things you need to do. Or it just might be the inability to get comfortable and all the reasons that might occur.

Or just a combination of several factors.

Last night started with attempting to write about that sleepless character. Then it segued onto fixing some errors in the story, which required backtracking. When I gave up, I tried to write this post. Tried being the operative word.

Oh well. Maybe I can sneak in a nap later.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.