Thursday, October 22, 2009

A Deepening Madness



So here I am in Act II. Still approaching my Big Middle, already deep in the belly of the Big Madness.

Maybe it's because I plotted this one out first, but this time the madness took me quite early. I was barely a few chapters in when I hit my first bad morning-- instead of my usual 1000 words I did something like 100. This kept up for two, maybe three days before I had hit my first sleepless night. I got a lot written that night, dragged my ass through the next day.

Since then, this has become my process. I'm averaging two or three insomniac episodes a week. It's thrown my sleep patterns all out of whack-- I fall asleep suddenly, completely, and briefly, like someone stuck a naptime pin in my voodoo doll. Most days, my fatigue drags behind me like a black and rusted chain.

I tell you, it's enough to make me nostalgic for my razor-mania...

7 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I long for an unbroken stretch of sleep myself. To wake and not to have to wake, and to sleep again with a smile on my face.

Unknown said...

Nothing worse than broken sleep...have been there. Is it the book or is it something else. If the book - walk away and if possible go away for a day or more someplace out ofthe ordinary and brain storm... see what happens.

Good luck and I hope you get some sleep as I know only tooo well about sleep deprivation.
lx

Lana Gramlich said...

Eek! Remind me to stay on your GOOD side (or the other side of the world.) *L* Best of luck enduring the agony.

Barbara Martin said...

Since you have plotted the storyline out, have you considered perhaps writing another section of it. Whenever I become stuck in writing I often go to another area and tackle a scene or two there. When this occurs a writing spree is begun and I don't stop until that particular idea is over. Then I go back to where I got stuck to see if inspiration will solve it, and most times it does. It's worth a try, Steve. Then you'll be able to sleep better.

Angie said...

About the non-patterned sleep patterns, I'm like that all the time, despite several years of attempts by my doctor to fix it. I don't have a day job, so when I quit fighting it and just started going with the flow, life got a lot easier. I don't know whether you can do that, or whether this is just a temporary thing for you (I hope so) but there is life after (or during) circadian-weirdness.

Angie

Riss said...

I have so been there. (c: Lately it's been the trend for me to go to bed and wake up talking about work...always a bad sign..hehe.

Here's hoping you get some sleep and don't try and pull that "i'll just take a quick nap" while operating anything more advanced than a toaster. We don't want any limbs to be lost or anything...(c:

cs harris said...

I suffer terribly from insomnia, although I blame subtle allergies (certain foods, chlorine) rather than my muse. I've only recently discovered the link.

I'm finding more and more that when a scene isn't working, it's because there's something wrong with what I'm trying to do. I'm attempting to train myself to recognize that rather than simply berating myself for not getting more done.