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The Fine Line

Sherry French

The world of the writer is unique. The challenges and obstacles we face are often not the same as those of others in more traditional occupations. We walk a fine line between our real and imaginary (written) worlds, often feeling like we are performing a juggling act on a tightrope.

T-zero's FineLine column offers discussion and advice regarding the difficulties and struggles you face during the process of writing your lines.

Dear Fine Line,

My problem concerning writing is of an entirely different nature. Writing is a mysterious process, which at times is beyond one's control. I work as a creative writer for a magazine and when I get overexcited over a piece or if the subject is too intense and cerebral it steals away any form of rest. Sleep, the elusive element withdraws enticingly to some distant corner, the body aches to float down into the waters while the mind does marathons. A subliminal form of subconscious processing of information, sifting of data ideas, notions etc. At times this heightened state of mental activity lasts for a week till the article is completed. The thoughts fall into place, like a shower of ideas, or a clearing in the clouds... though afterwards the result is satisfying the process is rather discomforting do I evade writing such challenging articles.

Sincerely,

Sleepless in Karachi, Pakistan

Dear Sleepless,

Studies of the brain have shown that, as we enter sleep, the right (creative) side of our brain takes over as our logical, left side of the brain takes a rest. For anyone involved in creative projects, this can be extremely disruptive to getting a good night's sleep. The right brain suddenly starts generating ideas at a fast and furious pace after being kept quiet during the daylight hours. Click here for more information on the "Left and Right Brain Characteristics".

There are exercises that can be done to both stimulate the right brain when we find our creativity hindered, as well as exercises we can perform to settle it down. Some of these settling down activities are:

Keep the Left Brain Active

Yes, there really is something to the idea of counting sheep. Counting is a logical, left brain activity. If you can remain focused on something logical until sleep overtakes you, the creative processes will kick in once sleep has come. You will get a good night's sleep but your creativity continues while you're getting it. Many writers report that they wake up in the morning with the answers to whatever problems they went to bed with at the top of their minds, the perfect title found or correctly worded paragraph virtually written. Some people adopt a mantra, the repeated chanting of one word over and over again and find that this bores them to sleep. Another logical bedtime activity is reading. A warning here though, it is in your best interest to choose reading material that isn't over stimulating. No page-turners at bedtime allowed!

Develop a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Everyone is different and, so too, are the things that we find relaxing. Some people are calmed by a hot bubble bath. Others enjoy soft music and candlelight. For others, taking a relaxing meditative walk alone or with a companion, mulling over the events of the day, clears the mind. The simple tasks of locking up the house and turning things off can give the comfort of knowing everything is in its place. Favorite, comfortable pajamas can also help to create the peaceful setting needed to settle down your mind.

Exercise

Many people incorporate nightly exercise into their routine. Vigorous exercise followed by a shower or bath has been reported to have positive effects both physically and mentally. It is also mentally freeing to focus the mind on different parts of the body during stretching exercises and yoga.

Avoid Stimulants - Consume relaxing foods

Eating or drinking stimulants late at night can be extremely disruptive to sleep. Many people find that a glass of wine, or drinking warm milk, hot lemon drinks or herbal remedies help them to sleep.

Be Prepared

Many writers fear that the ideas that come to them during that highly creative state between awake and asleep will be forgotten by morning. It is this fear that jolts them into complete wakefulness. A good way to combat this is to keep a notepad at the side of the bed so you can jot them down. The idea is not to jump up and start writing madly, just to jot down a note to yourself that will remind you of the thought the next day. Some people find that they can accomplish this without the notepad by associating the idea to an everyday event that will trigger their memory. Others have learned to adopt the attitude that, if the idea is a good one, they will remember it when the wake up.

Remember that your mind continues to process information even when you are deeply sleeping. In a controlled study, movies depicting disturbing subject matter were presented to two test groups. The sleep deprived test subjects were less able to handle the presentation of the identical material the second day, responding in the same way as the first time it was shown, while the subjects who slept reacted much less forcibly. If you are interested in reading more on the subject of sleep and cognitive function, please click here.

Clearly, our minds continue to process information and sift through the problems we are working on after we fall asleep. Hopefully the knowledge of this combined with some of the activities above will enable us to get the rest we need.

Good luck to you as you look for ways to balance your sleeping time on the fine line.

Do you have any comments or suggestions about this letter? Do you have a problem with some area of your writing life? FineLine would love to hear from you! Please direct your letters to FineLine@wvu.org putting the words "Fine Line" in the subject.