Oh, Those Summer Nights
First off, to my musical and karaoke friends, you're welcome for letting me get that stuck in your head.
Now on with the blog...
Back when I was talking with reporter Fran Reitz to develop the promotional article with The Courier Tribune, she asked me with a good humored chuckle, "What goes on inside that head of yours? I've always been curious about what makes authors tick." I believe I initially laughed and said she really didn't want to know, but I also suggested it was pretty much a rabid squirrel's nest inside my brain. I have ideas, dialogues, plot maps, story scenes, character developments, story inspirations, random soundtracks, and all of the regular day-to-day life crap packed in my cranium so tight that I think I've heard my skull fracture at points. Some days I actually amaze myself at how well I manage to function with everything that bangs around up there on a regular basis.
As of this last week, though, I can honestly say one of the most frequent things that has gone through my mind has been, "Shut up! Shut up! For the love of God, shut up and go to sleep!"
Let's be upfront about one thing. If it's hot, I'm not sleeping. It's just something my body refuses to do. I live in a cheaply constructed, brick-sided, two bedroom apartment with only a single wall unit AC (in the living room) and an older dude living next door who has had his doors and windows open for about 80% of the summer. My bedroom is on the west end of the brick building, so I'll let you do the estimating on just how comfy my bedroom isn't when I'm trying to go to sleep in the middle of July...in Kansas...during the dry season (even though there's usually 80% humidity, but whatever). Let's just summarize that the odds are not in my favor for restful slumber already.
Now let's add the factor that I'm a naturally creative person on a pretty solid writing hot streak. Friends, my sleep schedule may still suck, but I've been churning out material for Book 2 pretty solid all week, and it feels AWESOME. I'm actually pretty excited about what's being produced too, which is nice given the fact that I was hedging around tackling it since Book 1 released back in April.
Ok, so here's the downside (I'm sure it's not exclusive to creative types, but I've mostly experienced this issue when I've hit a creative mode so I'm just going to run with it.): For whatever reason, my brain kicks into overdrive as soon as I lay down for bed at this point. It doesn't matter how tired I was when I changed clothes and brushed my teeth. As soon as I lay down, boom, off we go. Story ideas, entire scenes, plot devices, the very creation epic of Chalisaria, have all been topics of "discussion" inside my brain as I'm trying to go to sleep this week. And I don't mean a cutsie "telling myself a story to fall asleep to" scenario. Oh no. This is full blown business meeting dialogue between the creative and analytical parts of my brain. "We've got things to figure out, and by god we're going to get this hashed out right now.", "Who's this person's father and how do we tie it back to *redacted* and how are we going to get them to *redacted*?" and "Wait, did we just write *scenario* today? But how does that work if we said *random fact* in the earlier chapters? What do we need to do to keep this consistent?" All night long. For hours. All week.
Then there's the factor that once I do manage to fall asleep, I don't always stay asleep, or if I do, the dreams are crazy vivid when I'm in this mode. One of the perks of my personal creative process is that I can actually visualize the things I'm writing and basically see them playing as a movie in my mind. It's a really useful talent to have. Unsurprisingly, this quality carries over into my unconscious process, and let me tell you, friends, my brain has no issues with going hog wild outside the creative constraints of my current book or series. This week I've been through an apocalypse, teamed up with super-powered strangers, been pregnant and in labor in a trailer court based "hospital" (as myself, not as a different woman), been chased by and fought back against several variations of monsters or paramilitary groups, and at least one time I adopted several dogs and cats that kept turning up while I was doing other things. As you can see, it's been a busy week in dreamland also.
Why, you might ask, am I letting this writing process affect me like this? How can I function like this? What the hell is wrong with me? Am I nuts? Is it worth it?
Well...
It's the price I pay to do what I love.
Surprisingly well...for now.
There isn't enough time or blog space to answer that one.
Oh God yes. I'm pretty sure that was a given by now.
I suppose that depends on what you qualify as "worthwhile?" I'm not making a ton of money off my books (yet). But I'm doing something I'm passionate about, entertaining and inspiring others, making my mark on the world, and chasing my goals and dreams without inconveniencing or harming anybody else. I'd say that is most definitely worth it to me.
So, as I go into this weekend, I'm struck with a quandary. Do I keep the writing hot streak going at the risk of burning myself out, or do I take the days off that I promised myself I would back when I was in my slump? On the one hand, I feel compelled to try and make up for lost time while I still have the motivation and drive carrying me. On the other hand, I have to acknowledge that most of that motivation and drive didn't exist until I FORCED myself to take some time off.
Hmm... Well that was easier than expected. I seem to have answered my question before even finishing it. See ya next week, folks! Have a great weekend! Happy reading, and may all your adventures be grand!
