My brain has no off switch. (This has nothing to do with the fact that my mouth has no filter. These are two unrelated things, I swear.)
It's just constantly on, running an incessant movie filled with scenes from books I've written, books I'm writing, books I have yet to write, or completely new characters. I think this is pretty commonplace for most writers.
But I also think most writers are able to turn their brains off at night. Me? Not so much. In fact, there are mornings where I wake up feeling like I've been working all night. Because at night, my brain takes everything that's been going on and assembles it in this giant dream collage. It mixes all those made-up stories in my head with all the people I know.
The result? Scene after bizarre scene starring friends and family. Like a recent one, where Mel Francis, Louisa Edwards and I were all laying out topless with my Dad. Yeah, that's right, I went there. In my Dad's defense, even in the dream he had the good manners to stare off toward the horizon. Not that his behavior did anything to stop Louisa from flaunting herself. That dream hussy.
*Ahem* I digress. I guess the warning here is, if you know me, fix your hair and makeup because your time on the brain stage is coming.
So...am I alone in this? Or do some of the rest of you have excessively active brains? Is there a cure? I'd just like one night's worth of sleep where Gena Showalter's kids don't have pink hair. Or I'm not working at a strip club populated by the chicks from Romance Divas. Or Lara Santiago isn't trying to steal my cats and sell them on the Internet. I think you get the picture.
I know I do.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
When Imaginations Go Bad...
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Alas, I don't have that problem. I sleep like the dead. But my mind is actively going as I'm falling alseep. Does that count? LOL!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember much of my dreams, but I know my brain is zooming all day - running through endless possibilities for any given situation, having dialogues with itself, day-dreaming up new story ideas. And like jennifer shirk, keeping my body from falling to sleep at night with it's incessant running.
ReplyDeleteIf you find a temporary off-switch, let me know.
I dream all the time, but typically the dreams are either reflections of my subconscious thoughts or issues I'm dealing with, or sometimes they seem like they make no sense, just to find out later that they were premonition dreams. Those still catch me off guard to this day. But, it's my naps I sometimes take on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon that are the weirdest. It's like I'm in my own parallel universe that is so rich in intricate layers that I wake up wishing I could write like THAT! :-) Unfortunately, the subject matter is so off the wall that no one would believe it even as a fiction novel. LOL!
ReplyDeleteChristina
So if Louisa was being a dream hussy (no surprise there, really) then I must've been demure and sweet and trying not to embarrass your dad. Right?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure all is right in your head, K. I've never met your dad. I usually wait until introductions before disrobing.
Okay, should I start to worry if you have bushy eyebrow dreams? ;)
ReplyDeleteOh! I would NEVER sell your cats on the internet. Sam gives back rubs. I'd keep them for myself. :):)
ReplyDeleteAnd as you well know...my writing mind NEVER shuts off. The good news is that sometimes I dream about difficult books in my sleep and wake up with plot holes resolved.
Speaking of dreams, you may not lure my kids over to your house to do your laundry. :):) They are my laundry slaves. Muwahahaha
L
yeah, I hear ya. I have dreams about my cats. Last night my cat, Julia, (our dominant female) took on a demon living in our firplace and her fur caught on fire. I had to water her down. Very, very strange.
ReplyDeleteTeri
Hehehe... }:)
ReplyDeleteI used to. These days I suffer insomnia so what little sleep I get is dead tot he world.
ReplyDeletei love dream hussies (call me, louisa!).
ReplyDeletefunny how a significant other is never cast in that role...
why do our brains do that?
K, and here I thought I was the only one who dreamed their plots populated by friends and relatives... odd. But the good part is that, many times, if I spend the time before I drop off to sleep thinking about my story and where I have a problem, sometimes I'll dream it, sail right through the stuck spot and wake with an idea for a fix. I don't use them all, but the ideas make my brain work - brainstorming in the dark. :)
ReplyDelete