Nap Attack

If I could measure my current energy level on one of those telethon thermometers, there wouldn't be much red showing above the bulbish part at the bottom. Revisions have been consuming the majority of my energy stores this week. I've learned that barrels of ice cream and bathtubs full of coffee can only do so much to restore my get-up-and-go to normal levels. 

So naturally I was intrigued by a blog post, "Nap Your Novel Into Existence", by Ryan Lind. I'm a big fan of naps, now that I'm an actual adult (on most days), although graham crackers and a rug on the floor aren't my style anymore. And I'm also a big fan of novels, and writing them, since that's what I expend 125% of my energy on.

Mr. Lind believes a brief nap is one of the best uses of your writing time, and argues that you will produce better work as a result. However, he advocates setting an alarm, so that you do not spend all of your allotted writing minutes asleep.

He also says you need to read a book to send you off to slumber. But it can't be just ANY book. 

He says, "I usually choose something literary and heavy, even overwritten, because my goal is to fall fast asleep. It might take me a month to knock out Cold Mountain. OK, a year. Don’t take something from your light summer reading list. No James Frey.The short sentences lead you to stay awake."

This is when I knew we were simpatico, because I used to cure any bouts of insomnia by dragging out my law school textbooks. There's something about trying to read the particulars of "So-and-So vs. Somebody Else" that will ninja-kick you right into sleepiness. Unfortunately, after several household moves, including a cross-country one, I had to find a more portable sleep aid. 

Right now I have a few (unnamed) candidates on my nightstand. Every one of them should have a sticker on it, something like "WARNING! Reading this in public may induce narcolepsy, drooling, and that head-bobbing thing where you snatch your head up and look around sheepishly to see if anyone noticed you just dozed for five minutes straight."

Of course, the most important part of Mr. Lind's napping process is writing down your thoughts. Otherwise, it's just a regular old nap, not one that will create a novel. He suggests you write down the thought that pops into your head as you go to sleep, as well as the one that appears as you wake up. Not only are you refreshed, but your brain is tossing out ideas left and right, and you have the energy to turn them into something exceptional.

I usually try to beta-test any of the processes I blog about, so I can work out any of the bugs before you try this at home. Since I didn't have the opportunity to test this BEFORE I posted about it, I guess I better give it a go now.

I just need to stay awake long enough to pick a boring book to read. I know it won't be mine, thanks to all those revisions I've done. 

Comments

[Melissa]

Ugh. I lost another post. I could get a complex here. LOL Kidding! :) I'll see if I can reconstruct.

On the napping to help create a novel, the concept sound great for writing down those thoughts pre-slumber thoughts. It does seem like those are some of the best ideas. At least I think they are. I usually fall asleep before I write them down. LOL Or if I did write them down, I'd wake up enough not get the nap in! Such a vicious circle. LOL

Revision is definitely exhausting. Like the nap concept, it seems like another circle of seeing "one more thing" to fix or add that takes longer than you expect. Or, one fix leads to something else to revise. Hang in there! You've made tons of progress and I bet you've had some great "that's it!" moments when you know you've tweaked just right. :) There. Hope it goes through!

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, I feel so bad about you losing your posts! I wish I knew why that was happening. Because I'd love to kick somebody into gear to fix it (if I knew who they were!) I know Maureen has had troubles too, so maybe TypePad doesn't like "M" names? LOL

Thanks for not giving up -- I love reading your comments. :)

Whenever the writing wears me out and I decide I'll lay my head down, "for just a minute", BANG, there comes a great idea to wake me up. LOL It couldn't show up a few minutes earlier?

And thanks for the encouragement about the revisions. :) I think the more you work with something, the more you see, so it can feel like you're not progressing, even when you are. Persistence will win the day! (I hope! LOL)

[Terri Osburn]

There are nights I come home from work and my body just crashes. The nap is usually only 30 minutes, but I do wake up refreshed. However, I don't wake up with great book ideas.

Now, going to sleep at night? Almost all of my ideas have shown up in those moments. On occasion, I'll turn the light back on and take notes. If I don't, it'll all be lost by morning. *sigh*

If I ever have the chance to write full-time, I can totally see employing these naps. :)

[Maureen]

Melissa - I figured I was losing comments because I wasn't moving through the 'code' words at the bottom. With the size of my monitor, I wasn't seeing them at first...

Naps? No bloody way. I just don't nap...never have been able to. Unless I'm really sick... I have a friend who grabs her change and takes a bus ride to refresh herself. Finds without doing the driving, but just being a passenger, ideas just flow into her.

I do find ideas when I head to bed...it's the storyteller in me. Lay down...actually usually start in the shower, telling myself a story. Sometimes it's the one I'm working on, sometime it isn't. I've worked out problems this way...

[Donna Cummings]

Terri, I think a "restorative nap" at the end of the work day is a great idea. It probably lets your thoughts gather together, kind of like a "mental defrag". LOL

I've tried to remember all the brilliant things floating through my brain as I'm drifting off to sleep. Hah! I can't even remember my dreams in the morning. LOL

I don't take very many naps, but I like that it's an available option. :)

[Donna Cummings]

Maureen, the naps aren't required -- LOL -- I just like to present things that MIGHT work, and this seemed like an intriguing possibility. The bus ride is an interesting notion -- and I'm sure there's plenty to observe with the fellow passengers. :)

Taking a shower, and letting your brain relax as you go to sleep, really do coax out the storyteller. If only there was a waterproof laptop! LOL Or one that could work in my brain while I was sleeping. Now THAT would be worth buying!

[Maureen]

Well, generally, Bonnaroo, I don't really worry about writing it down. Most of what I come up with at these times is just entertaining without being pursuit worthy...

If something really excites me, I figure out a way jot stuff down soon as I leave the shower.

;-)

[Terri Osburn]

I love that Maureen just mixed up Donna with her pooch. LOL!

Maybe someone needs a nap.

[Donna Cummings]

LOL -- I kinda wondered about that! I thought it could be a typo, since sometimes she calls me Donnaroo. :) I agree -- naps for everyone!

[Maureen]

I plead a typo...

Not that it isn't likely I need a nap. I just can't seem to catch one and keep it.

[colbymarshall]

I need a nap, too, though I doubt I can novel nap :-)

[Donna Cummings]

Does it count as a nap when it's nighttime? LOL