The Downside to Creative Energy

Dawn:  When men of reason go to bed.  ~Ambrose Bierce

I’ve become a night owl.

I can’t sleep, mainly because when I start to drift off toward that blissful state, my characters begin talking. And they speak too loudly to ignore.

My affliction, while annoying, is nothing new.

This happens each time I’m working on a book and I start to  “get to the good parts.” You know how you read a book and wait for that moment. That part in the book where the story really gets rolling and you can’t put it down, you just can’t wait to see what happens next.

I’m there right now in my own work in progress. The downside to the downside of creative energy? It just gets worse the closer I get to finishing the book.

Basically when I start writing the second half of a book, I sleep less and less, but I don’t really feel tired. I end up feeling like a cross between some superhuman who doesn’t need rest and adrenaline junkie high on a fictional world.

I’m really not complaining. By now, working on my third book, I know that this is my process. I’ve succumbed to it.

I know that I’ll ride this wave for another month or so while I finish my work in progress. Then this thing inside me will die down. At least until the next time I get to the good part.

*Disclaimer: Hopefully this blog post reads well and makes sense to those not sleep deprived and on a writing high. If not, well, please don’t hold me personally responsible for its absurdity  ;-).

Fellow writers, if you have any writing quirks you’d be willing to share, please do so by telling me about them in the comments section below.