Creative Writing From Insomnia
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If you can't sleep and find your mind full of thoughts, do you get writing ideas from those thoughts?
Our mind sometimes rambles on when we have insomnia. I think this might be a useful source of material for writing. It works for me sometimes. It gets me inspired to get out of bed and write.
This can be a solution to writer’s block. Your tired, but active, mind is working at full speed subconsciously, even though you can’t think of anything to write about on a conscious level.
You can make use of your overactive mind by considering those thoughts as writing prompts. When it happens, rather than lay there and continue thinking all those deep thoughts, only to forget them in the morning, get up and write an article from it all.
I find that I tend to be more creative when I get up in the middle of the night and sit down at the computer to write. I believe the reason for this is that I am too tired to censor myself. So my mind is free to let out whatever is going on in there.
And at night, I find that a lot more is going on. I think it’s because there is nothing else to contend with that is usually involved with daily chores and such. So this is when all the deep emotional thoughts come up.
This kind of stuff is what dreams are made of. The theory is that during REM sleep, the mind is trying to work out problems. And as it does this, it plays out a scenario that seems weird when we wake up and remember it, if we do.
Many people don’t remember their dreams. But if you do, you might use those dreams to lead towards some creativity for your articles too.
But I think the best creative ideas for what to write are those that come from the active tired mind.
What I mean by that is, the mind that’s active and keeping us awake when we are trying to fall asleep. I call that the active tired mind because it’s active and keeping us awake, even though we are tired, very tired.
Remember, I mentioned that due to this extreme tiredness, we don’t censor our thoughts as well, or as much. So I think we can take advantage of that and let the juices flow and write an article from all of it.
The only problem I foresee is that by the time you actually are ready to publish it, after you've proofread it and corrected all the spelling and grammar errors, you may take a second look at it and say to yourself, “Am I kidding? I’m not going to publish that!”
Well, I’ve been there. What I did was sit on it for a while. I left it alone and went on to write other articles. Every once in a while I’d go back to THAT ONE. With a different frame of mind, I would rework it, just a little. Not much, because the quality of the uncensored mind is part of it and I don’t really want to lose that. So I just make minor changes, just enough to make me feel comfortable letting it out to the public.
Yes, some of my published Hubs are a result of that. I’m not going to tell you which ones, though. Just like I wouldn’t ask you to tell me which Hubs of yours came from this idea in case you do decide to try it.
But go ahead and try it. It will be your secret.
Copyright © 2012 Glenn Stok
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Some of my best poetry has been inspired in moments such as these. Isn't it amazing what is sometime painted in our dreamscapes? I have heard that many authors have written some of their best prose from the stuff that dreams our made of!
Great insights! The tone and the choice words are beautiful too! Anyway, I reckon that all writers are like this. We usually want to write poems and/or articles during dawn or at the middle of the night. I have no idea really why, probably because it is quite? or it is just our nature? It is a fantastic effect though when you write at this time.
In my case, I write poems or articles whenever and wherever I got an unforeseen ideas, for example, on the bus, on the beach or at the mountain rims. I normally set aside the daily routine, and just write my thoughts on to paper as I know that I can go back and do it again, but ideas will rarely come!
Lance
If you have time, please read my hubs too. Cheers and God bless. Please write more.
Hi Glenn:
This is certainly a good way for those among us, who suffer from writers block on occasion. I often find that I write better later at night, or in the morning hours, while ideas are still fresh in my mind. And as you mentioned these ideas that we dream about during REM sleep, are sometimes, or often fogotten about. However some of us may recollect, or be able to salvage some of these ideas from the night before. I am sometimes able to do this. I think while you're tossing and turning during one of those sleepless nites, the best thing to do, is get out of bed and write down an article title, or jot down some notes behind your thoughts and ideas. This way you do not have to write that particular article at 3:00 in the morning. But save it for the next day and rehash on it at that time. Interesting ideas and article, which I also voted up.
Jim
Dee aka Nonna Level 6 Commenter 3 months ago
When I have those moments I usually read something which can also spark an idea or two. I also keep a spiral notebook by my bed so that when I have those moments of sleeplessness I can jot down what come to mind.
Reading this hub I remembered a book I read some years ago. The author talked about waking each night and not knowing why he started to write what he was thinking, before long he had completed a book, etc. Those sleepless night just might produce the next great novel.