My schedule often demands I write late at night. Exhausted, from twelve to eighteen hours of activity and ready for bed, creating an original story can be challenging. I have adopted a new strategy to make even my midnight writing sessions productive. The trick is scheduling, planning, and working while I slumber. It sounds crazy, right? But the results are surprising. The last thing I do before I cuddle my pillow is to decide on the next piece. I may have a concept or some vague notion, or I might be clueless. It doesn’t matter. I only need a general direction.

Tired, yawning, and falling asleep, I assign the problem for my brain to solve. I tell it to conjure a tale for the morning. Upon waking, I sometimes discover a fully formed idea, with a beginning, middle, and a satisfying end. I take notes, scribbling away, so I don’t lose the thread. If I feel compelled and have a few spare moments, I open a document and spew whatever is in my head. Otherwise, hold the story tight until my next scheduled writing session. On other occasions, only a seed has germinated. Those ideas I nurture, forming more details throughout the day. Since I started my experiment, my nocturnal puzzle-solving sub-conscience has not disappointed me.

What writing tricks do you use?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer