Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Sleep is Good

Like, really good.

I work nights, and can't sleep during the day, so if I don't go to bed when I'm exhausted I will be physically incapable of sleeping until the next night.

Now, I know as a writer, especially if you are a WriMo'er sleep is one thing we sacrifice to get our writing done.

I know that.

I've done it.

But please, make some time to sleep. A whole sleep cycle is an hour and a half. Or, sleep in 45 minute increments. Or look up online how long you should sleep.

Because I'm smart and slept the night before I had to work, I could't sleep at all the day before, so when  I finally got home from work, I had been up for over twenty-four hours. I know some people can go 36, or even 48 with no sleep. I am not one of them. Caffeine stops working for me at the twenty-four mark.

Still Not Convinced?

I know the feeling. 

Depending on who you talk to, lack of sleep could be good for creativity. Some people say opposite. But you know what? Sleep deprivation is not good. For anyone. Today was probably the first time I've gotten a full eight-hours in a week. You know how much creative writing I got done during that week? No work on Mortality. Just some character development for Tainted, and most of that was thanks to the NaNoWriMo forums. 

Now imagine if you did that during NaNoWriMo next month. No creative output for a week? Maybe that's been my problem. 

I have never completed a WriMo with 50,000 words. I rarely sleep a full eight hours. Especially now that I work nights. 

So the way I see it, get as much sleep as you need. You'll be more creative. 

Food For Though

What's your view on sleep and creativity?

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