I would have used the cliche "sleepless in Seattle" but I am not a fan of the term. Normally I sleep quite well in this bustling metropolis with the glorious mountains and gentle breeze. Tonight is still, no sirens, limited street traffic, and a stunning sunset. I cannot sleep. I am exhausted. Sleep however does not want to cozy up with me as it already has with my children. Is it wrong to be jealous of my children? I am. They are completely out, dreaming of summer vacation and, in my son's case, Cars 2.
I am sitting here pouring over my query letter, feeling a little ADD and roving over a few pages of my manuscript as well. Restless. A little warmer than I like to be and certainly wishing my good friend sleep would decide to wipe out the racing thoughts in my head - where should Kriton go next, should I use Loki instead, should I query from a different character's vantage point? The questions go on, frustratingly with few answers. That's it. That is my problem. Sleep's arch enemy - writer's block. EEK! I said it. The worst thing to happen to a writer! I was sleeping just fine when the story poured out of my head faster than my poor fingers could dictate it. Now that I am at the end, the labor-intensive editing phase (yes it is my fourth revision and yes I have added over 4,000 pages the last few days) sleep has become evasive and my characters have become invasive and demanding, not necessarily in that order.
Perhaps if I can simply purge a few of these ideas into my bedside journal my characters will be satisfied to allow sleep to fold me into her (his?) arms and take me to that place where I can dream of margaritas and fajitas on the patio of a delightful Seattle restaurant - what are the chances of that?
Hmm, I know how you feel. I often feel like I have ADD when I'm working with my writing. And I have found that it is very nice to be able to work on, say, a query letter or some other important piece of writing while I'm editing my manuscript. Changing it up keeps me from going insane--the rest of the way insane. =) Followed you here from QT!
ReplyDeleteSo frustrating when the brain will not shut down and let you drift off. If you know yourself to be alert enough at a sleepy time, then forge ahead and write. But you run the risk of getting your second wind and then not getting enough sleep (esp. when your boys wake you early), or finding in the morning that you dislike all that you wrote in the wee hours. Good luck.
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