I need my sleep. Really. I turn into Mr. Grumpypants when I haven’t had enough shut-eye. But life with small kids doesn’t always let me sleep when I want to. Now I’ve been woken up every night so consitently for years that I’m almost finding some value to it. And why not?
I have never written or drawn on drugs or alcohol, but I have occassionaly gained some creative inspiration from drinking coffee too late at night. It screws up my sleep so badly that I sometimes get almost fever-like dreams and wake up with my heart pounding. And sometimes I can use the weird stuff my mind comes up with. Not often, but still.
The script I wrote for my film school program came to me between two and four AM. My three-year old daughter deserves the credit for that. She wakes up in the middle of the night, no exception, and comes into our bed. Some nights her mucking about keeps me awake more than others. This night I was laying there angry, annoyed to be awake. But I decided I might as well think up a story, since I was just laying there with my eyes closed trying to fall asleep.
And an entire story, beginning, middle and end, main protagonist, antagonist, subplots and themes just popped into my head. It was like watching a train roll into the station. And luckily I could remember most of it the next morning.
I don’t recommend sleeping badly. What I reccomend is that IF you’re sleeping badly, make the most of it. Keep a notebook by the side of the bed. Your mind is like a computer; if it’s on, why not use it to your advantage, type in a question. Who knows, an answer might pop out.
Instead of trying hard to shut the gate to my subconscious, I just lie there, waiting to see what happens. Usually I just fall back asleep. And if I don’t, I try to embrace insomnia.
PS: Guess when the idea for this blogpost came…