by Marilla Mulwane

Created on: November 04, 2009

It is impossible for me to get any writing done if I am tired. For that reason, I am a caffeine addict. My caffeinated drink is lovingly called my "think juice". I have learned that when I am tired, little to nothing gets written. When I am awake, my work is well-written, my dramatic scenes perfectly heart-breaking. When I have my "think juice", my funny scenes are laugh-out-loud funny, and so are my dramatic scenes.

I am not condoning the consumption of massive amounts of caffeine, but that is a different topic anyway.

The point is that being tired can greatly inhibit your writing standards. Here are a few reasons why:

-Being tired keeps you on a one-track mind-

When you are tired, the only thing you can think about is sleep. Or worse, you cannot think at all and your mind just shuts down to all thought. I have spent many days staring at a blank computer screen, and my eyes slowing closing. Or, I lean back to rest, just a moment, and end up deep asleep with my mouth hanging open. If you can think about nothing else but rest, you will probably only write two words: sleep, please.

-Being tired limits your creativity-

A tired brain is a confused brain. That machine needs to crank out interesting ideas and sentences at a fast pace. When you are tired, your brain is slowed down. Rarely are you going to write a good sentence. Many times, I have thought I wrote a good sentence, my tired brain playing tricks on me. Then when I re-read it later, I had no idea what I was trying to say. I would have to rewrite all I had tried to accomplish when I was tired. What a waste of time.

Also, when researching or re-reading work, being tired messes with you. You have to be creative even when doing the drudgework. You will be too tired to read thoroughly, or with a writer's perspective. While researching, you might skip over something important, because your brain scanned over it in a blur. These things are just as important as the actual writing, and doing them when tired could greatly hurt your work.

-Being tired zaps you of energy-

It does not matter if you are only sitting at a desk, typing on a keyboard; you still need energy to write well, or at all. Your body is still functioning, and will not function at its greatest capacity when all it wants to do is sleep. You need the energy to think, to keep your mind on the task. You even need the energy to sit up straight, move those fingers at a rapid pace, and to keep yourself from falling asleep.

So, get a good night's sleep so you can be alert the next morning. "Think juice" is optional and not recommended. If you are too tired to write, don't. Take a nap first.

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