Blog 3: Can't sleep?

I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow.

Would you believe me if I told you I was writing this at 1:50am sitting on the sofa with a snoring cat next to me? Well I am and I would bet my furry, pink dressing gown that, like me, you get those nights where your head is so full of details from the day, thoughts about tomorrow and things you need to do, that sleep is just not co-operating with you at all! I certainly get times when my brain will just not shut up. It bounces around like a ping pong ball from one thing to the next, and I feel the time passing by with the additional thought of, if I don’t get to sleep soon, I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow.

What about when your brain keeps serving up new ideas for stories? I know you’ve had them. You get an amazing concept for a world, main characters, a plot, and you even have dialogue and scenes flashing in and out of your mind. Sound familiar? But it’s coming on for 3am and you have to get up at 7. It’s decision making time: do you (a) try to go back to sleep, even though you realise this is going to be difficult with your head chattering away like a manic monkey, or do you (b) get up and write all this down, because despite the fact that you keep telling yourself you will remember it, you aren’t entirely convinced it won’t slip from your head, the moment you fall asleep? Well, did you get up in the wee small hours and write it all down, preserving your sapling of a story? Or did sleep finally come for you and snuff it out? If you fell asleep and remembered it the next day, then congratulations. I’m impressed! And if you weren’t walking around like a zombie after your lack of sleep, you have to be some kind of superhuman. Seriously, how did you manage that?

Now, I’m not saying you should get up in the middle of the night and spend hours writing what you believe to be your next masterpiece, so please don’t give my name to your boss if you end up being late to work or fall asleep at your desk. However, it is a good idea to have a writing implement handy to make notes before they disappear. I have a friend who writes poetry and has a notebook full of ideas and lines that she just jots down as they pop into her head. Then, when she flicks through it, she receives inspiration for new poems.

Even if your idea isn’t fully formed yet, perhaps it’s just a character or a world, it can sit there, waiting for more to join it, or be a prompt to get you going when you’re having a bit of a writing slump. Unlike my friend, I don’t have a notebook to write my ideas down. All my ideas are quite safe in my head! Okay, that was a joke and anyone that knows me will be having a good giggle right now. I do, however, know someone who has an amazing memory, give him a date and the year, he will tell you what day it was and also what happened on it!

Unfortunately, my brain is pretty much the opposite of that. I rely on lists for shopping, chores, appointments ... in fact, if you can think of it, it is probably sat on the notes on my phone. I’ve tried writing lists on paper, but they seem to end up with the missing socks and Tupperware lids, propelled into another dimension perhaps or rendered themselves invisible to the naked eye by means of some dark curse placed upon our house. The good thing about my phone is I can ring it and find it-most of the time. Do you remember those keyrings that beeped when you whistled, so you could find your keys if you misplaced them? Yes, I’m showing my age there. I basically need those keyrings on everything I own! My phone notes are also my go-to place for creative lightbulb moments: story ideas, scripts and poems. I spend time re-reading and editing them before they get promoted to the level of laptop status.

The thing is, you never know what may ping a new idea in your head, and let’s face it, when you get them, they feel like little gems, that you need to keep safe until they are ready to come out into the world and shine. You could be on the bus listening to an elderly couple chatting, walking along a canal watching the birds in the trees, you may even be putting the bins out and PING, there’s a spark of an idea. If you’re like me, and a lot of others, you will have your phone with you or nearby for the majority of the time. I know some people take theirs into the bathroom! Maybe you do too, hey, I’m not judging. However, if I did that, I would almost certainly be one of those people who accidentally drop it down the toilet. Anyway, my point is, don’t let your ideas get away, much like your phone might if you take it to the toilet. Get them written down and see where they take you.

Well, I should be taking myself back to bed, as I’m due to get up in 4 hours to get my youngest daughter ready for school. Goodnight, everyone. Wish me luck.