Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Midnight Writing: My Guilty Pleasure

The other night I was lying in bed after a Ghost Whisperer marathon with my husband. He was about to drift off to sleep in that infuriating way husbands do (I don't think he's ever had insomnia a day in his life) when he made some joke offhand about dreams.

BAM.

Book idea. I do love writing about dreams and all the possible twists on that human phenomenon. So I lay in bed for a good ten minutes trying to decide if I should go to sleep or keep thinking about the book idea.

Psh! As if I had a choice!

The book idea kept swirling around in my mind, growing into a substantial plot with some pretty lovable characters, darn it. And I just couldn't say no to them anymore. So I slipped out of bed in complete darkness and tip-toed into the living room to get on the desktop computer where I do my best writing.

I wrote 1700 words without even trying. It was bliss. And then I went to bed.

Does this happen to you? Do you secretly love it or hate it?

P.S.s


Amparo linked to 10 Killer Queries That Worked from her favorite authors. That's a don't-want-to-miss lesson in how to pitch your work to an agent. 


Kristal's continuing her series on self-publishing on Operation Awesome, today featuring our own Angela Townsend's recently published adult novel, FROZEN FURY

5 comments:

  1. This has happened to me before, but I'm not a middle-of-the-night kind of gal (young kids make you appreciate sleep). It's love/hate for me~ new ideas are exciting, but I end up staying in bed and trying to fix it in my head so that I'll remember the next day. Eventually, I'll give up and stumble out of bed for a post-it, but I have to say, I resent those late-night ideas almost as much as I love them :)

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  2. Jess, I know what you mean about kids making you appreciate sleep. I have two under five. I still do my best writing at night when it's quiet. Sucks because I'm a zombie mom the next day. Needless to say, it takes me a long time to finish a manuscript. :)

    I totally get your love-to-hate thing. Here's wishing you lots of good sleep!! ****

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  3. This has definitely happened to me before. Midnight is always the best thinking time for me.

    And congratulations on the SNI!

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  4. Sadly, once I hit the bed, I'm gone!

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  5. Thanks, Emy!! Alex, you and my husband both. As much as I love the midnight writing high, I'm so jealous of you hit-the-pillow-and-out sleepers. Oh well, what you gonna do? Lemons, lemonade, and all that jazz. :)

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