Learning while I sleep

Self-Reflection: What unexpected strengths or qualities have I recently discovered in myself? How can I use them more deliberately?

I used to think good sleep hygiene was the key to good sleep, but I’m more convinced now that insomnia is primarily a memetic disease. Much in the way that the idea of writer’s block makes writer’s block more likely to become an intractable problem. Obsession with the conditions that cause insomnia leads to more sleepless nights. I’ve been putting this idea more into practice and found that my sleep has stabilized. Even if I stay up too late one night, my sleep slips back into the natural rhythm now without much worry on my part.

I’ve also learned how to turn off sleepiness when I get drowsy, usually from boredom. This represents a shift for me away from conditionality to conscious control. In one case, I stop looking to use the external world to control my state of mind, instead letting it do what comes natural. Meanwhile, I keep practicing how to control my mental state more directly when I need to. That’s a pattern I want to replicate in other areas of my life.

Creative Question: How much structure do I need before I feel ready to draft? Is it more or less than I assume?

We tend to classify fiction writing into two camps. Let the structure emerge naturally, or impose a rigid plan. Both of these are a bit wrong, though. The implicit patterns of narrative usually go unexpressed, and its these patterns that determine if a reader will enjoy a story. So even though I’m practicing both discovery writing and outlining, what I’m really trying to learn are these patterns.

“I’m writing a relationship plot thread–two characters at different extremes change each other–and right now I need to establish their baseline.”

It’s not as detailed as an outline, but more than just discovery writing. As with my sleep discovery, I want to get to a point where it happens naturally, but I’m able to take conscious control when needed.