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The Whole Ball Of Wax

Typically, I do a lot of writing in the dead of night. Whereas many people lose their nights of insomnia to hours of Solitaire or Farmville (if that's still a thing?), I spend my non-sleepy time putting words to pages. Typically I can write a chapter or two until I'm so tired that my eyes feel like they are going to fall out of my head, and then I can go back to enjoy a sound and restful sleep in the short time I have until the alarm clock goes off.

It isn't a great system - after all I am losing a lot of sleep these days. But, it is what works for me. It seems to be what works for lots of other writers, too. I have been surprised at how often I read about how an established writer got their start and the article will say, "She woke up two hours before she needed to, so she could get her 1,200 words in for the day."

It begs the question, do creative types need less sleep than your average Joe? I'm beginning to wonder if the delirium of exhaustion isn't something we have found to help us channel our creative minds. Perhaps it's beneficial to us to have a lucid dream we can write down on paper, rather than enjoy the deep rest of slumber like everyone else.

... at least that's what I'm going to tell myself in the morning when I am hovering over my caffeine infused Chai Latte.

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