Waking Up in the Middle of the Night Thinking About Writing
I hate this. To be clear, this is different than that situation many writers experience where a great idea pops into your head while in bed and you have to scramble from your covers to jot it down before you forget it.
The situation described in the title of this post goes more like this: you wake up at 3 AM, feeling oddly alert, your mind restless and worried as it ponders the state of that thing you’re writing.
You wonder if the chapter you finished last night resembles too closely the work of another author? Or maybe you suddenly worry your protagonist is too predictable? Or perhaps certain narrative developments in the final act suddenly seem a little trite.
These are all legitimate concerns, of course, but I don’t want to be thinking about them in the middle of the night. They’re reserved for sitting on the couch with a drink, going for a walk, or commuting to work.
So why am I wide awake thinking about these things in the middle of the night when one: I’d really rather be sleeping, and two: if I have to think about anything, please let it be something besides this book I’m writing?
Sleep is complicated, so there are numerous reasons why this might be happening. If the situation sounds familiar, I’d definitely do some research, as there’s a plethora of great information available online.
One possible solution that I’d like to offer here is to consume honey before bed. Not much — just a teaspoon or two — and make sure it’s also raw and organic (most generic brands have GMOs).
When we sleep, our brain is extremely active. It actually feeds on the glucose made from carbohydrates we’ve consumed the previous day. But we spend a lot of time sleeping, and eventually, that supply of glucose is depleted, causing our blood sugar to drop and our brains to panic.
We experience a rise in cortisol and adrenaline levels, an evolutionary response that’s convenient if you’re a hunter-gatherer and need to go get some more food to survive. But if you’re lying comfortably in bed, not so much.
Now you know why you might suddenly be wide awake in the middle of the night thinking about things you don’t want to be thinking about.
So the trick is simply to make sure your blood sugar doesn’t crash in the middle of the night. Try honey. See if it works.
Again, there are all sorts of reasons you might have trouble sleeping, so don’t look at this as a grand solution to your nocturnal dilemmas. But I tried it, and so far it’s worked wonders for me.
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