Curious

[dragonlady7]

To anyone reading this:

What do you think about as you are going to sleep?
Do you have some sort of routine that helps you drift off?
Do you tell yourself stories as you lie in bed, or think about something in particular, or daydream as you're drifting off?


Just curious.

It's when I do most of the imagining that leads to the writing I do. Usually I lie in bed for an hour or more before falling asleep, and from a very young age I've entertained myself quite happily by the purposeful imagining of stories or scenes. I do it when I wake up in the morning too-- I very rarely get out of bed right away. I actually never wake up to an alarm. (At the moment I'm actually stuck in a rut of going to bed earlier and earlier and waking up earlier and earlier to the point that I can't sleep past seven to save myself-- but then, if I do, I feel guilty.) For the last decade and a half most of this imagining time has been devoted to stories I'm writing, but I do admit that sometimes I indulge in fantasies about real-life things-- like, say, if I had a lot of money, the things I would do with it. They're not daydreams, really-- they're much more purposeful imaginings.
I almost never, I admit, imagine scenes I'm going to write and then write them just that way. Things that make a great deal of sense when I am swathed in flannel and snug and cozy and, well, horizontal, with my eyes closed, don't usually translate very well to the other-people-are-going-to-read-this page. (My stories are infinitely more salacious in this initial stage. Lots more gratuitous everything. I admit it.)

But that's what I do instead of, you know, writing an outline and sticking to it.

I admit it.


That said, I'm going to put the computer to sleep and turn the light out. Squee! Bedtime is my favorite time.

Comments

[eggplantia5.livejournal.com]

when i was younger, i'd always think about the plots of the books i had just finished reading or was currently rereading and just revisit the books. and sometimes i'd imagine alternate endings or other, new plots.

actually, now that i think about it, since i still tend to read in bed for at least 15 minutes before i go to sleep, i still think back on the plots and characters of stories. or maybe movies and television shows now. when i was a kid, i really didn't watch a lot of tv. i'm such an advocate for not having a tv in your bedroom, because my parents put a tv in my room when i was 10, and it totally was a brain suck. but anyway, since i was a teenager, i'd more often think about my plans for the next few days, and just go over everything i needed to remember to do.

sometimes when i am having trouble falling asleep, i try to do relaxation exercises or clear my mind, but that pretty much never works. i do recall hiccupping myself to sleep once. i just couldn't stop hiccupping and i think i just eventually fell asleep.

this year, since i've been so very busy, i haven't had much trouble falling asleep quickly though. but before that, i generally took a long time to drift off. i think i spent that time worrying, which didn't help matters.

speaking of sleep, i'm going to go to sleep now. i am sick, and have been asleep more hours than not the past two days. good night!

[ethangilchrist.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be horridly cheesy and admit that I think about my family before I go to sleep.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

On a good day, I do the same as you and make up stories in my head, either for writing or for personal entertainment. (Although the writing ones can be dangerous as they can wake me up and force me to write them down.) On a bad day, I think about how much I suck.

[kkatowll.livejournal.com]

I tell myself all sorts of stories. I love it. But I'm never interested in actually writing them down later -- after all, I already know how that story will go. Onto the next... :)

[kittyc1978.livejournal.com]

Most of the time, falling asleep is not difficult for me, it takes less than ten seconds of horizontalness to enter sleep. But, I often find myself rubbing my feet together to make them warmer. And when sleep seems to fail me I tend to immerse myself into some day dream or another about different things...like Orlando Bloom or a story I'm writing...I often see what I write as a movie in my head, which is why I have such a hard time writing, it is so much more efficient to "See" it!

Since I've discovered Yoga, I tend to lay down and breathe deeply and focus on happy thoughts. I dream a lot and wake up happier than I have in a long time, though I still would rather stay in bed than go to work. (I think that's because sleeping is my favorite thing to do aside from read and write) Anyway, I've rambled on enough for you, though I suppose you did ask!

[(Anonymous)]

Well, you already know this, but I'm leaving this for the edification of your readers: When I go to bed I find myself inventing solutions to invented problems. But not normal problems, oh no. I once spent two weeks of naptime deciding my answer to the question:

If this mattress were a piece of bread in a toaster, and these sheets were slices of cheese, which kind of cheese would be most comfortable once it melted?

Discuss.

- Z

[kkatowll.livejournal.com]

Z:
Do you really?

[(Anonymous)]

As I recall I finally decided on a hard Swiss, like Emmentaler or Jarlsberg, with the proviso that there be more than one slice to mitigate the effect of the holes. But now that I'm thinking about it again - Gruyère's got about the same consistency, but no holes.

- Z

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Yes he does.

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

But... all of that melted cheese would get stuck in your hair. And when you woke up it wouldn't be melted anymore. You'd be stuck in the cheese. This is very disturbing.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, you're totally right. I never thought of that. As if waking up with an oily frontside and a crumby backside isn't bad enough.

- Z

[sirielle.livejournal.com]

What is a difference between day dreaming and making up stories in one's head? I thought it's more or less the same. Saying daydreaming I don't think of dreaming on better me, but making up stories on various subjects.

Anyway, I do it, too. Actually I spent most of my time daydreaming or planning what I could draw or write about. Or how I could drive my life in a better way. I also spend a lot of time on thinking how I waisted years on not doing the things I should. But before a sleep the main thing is making up stories. Also when I wake up, this is quite new habit. I can never wake up properly because of that, for while I make up the stories I fall to sleep again... I should stop it at mornings. Sometimes have the alarm set on 3 different hours and it doesn't help. But I should go to bed on proper hour, too, it would help a lot.

OH, sometimes I think also of latest things happening around me, a book I've red or discussions I took a part.