Writing when tired

Bowler1

Bowler1

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Or trying to.

I've been very busy in work recently and I'm usually about ready for bed each evening. I'm still doing a bit each night, but it's a low word count. I know the bills have to be paid, but not having a relaxing release, which my writing is for me is frustrating sometimes.

It's also hard to get the words to behave when I'm tired and my concentration is low. Naughty words sneak in and cause trouble.

Anyway a little grumble, I think it's allowed once in a while.
 
*sends virtual mince pies*

I can't write when I'm tired, either. Even if I can summon the energy to open the laptop and read, the words won't come and my brain is just mush. My advice is to have a rest and don't push yourself. Do some physical exercise so your body's as tired as your mind, and have a few nights of good restful sleep, then come back to the writing at the weekend.

Hope work lets up soon.
 
Sometimes it's impossible to write - you just have to accept that. However, you could always try relaxing to music which may evoke something of your story? That way you might at least be able to spend a little time thinking on it, even if you only jot down a few notes, or a passage or two. Lots of little things make a big thing. :)
 
Bowler1 said:
It's also hard to get the words to behave when I'm tired and my concentration is low. Naughty words sneak in and cause trouble.
Click to expand...

Sometimes it's just a good idea to let the bad words happen. You can't use it but it does let you blow off some steam. :)
 
Brian Turner said:
Sometimes it's impossible to write - you just have to accept that. However, you could always try relaxing to music which may evoke something of your story? That way you might at least be able to spend a little time thinking on it, even if you only jot down a few notes, or a passage or two. Lots of little things make a big thing. :)
Click to expand...

This reminds me that I would do research if I was too tired to write. But don't edit! NEVER EDIT WHEN TIRED!! Because you'll end up deleting the whole thing...
 
I struggle to get enough writing time due to work, 4 kids, neurotic wife etc and i know how you feel when you are tired. My problem is that if i dont write, i feel bad because it needs to be done!
Writing when tired can yield some strange work though to be sure.
 
I can't claim to have this problem too often but I do know that when tired I can neither read nor write. Reading is the worst since I reach a point where my mind will almost blank out mid sentence. Always best to knuckle under or perhaps just collapse into the comfortable bed and come back refreshed.

My problem has been that when I am on a roll it is usually coming up on my bed time-I have a day job and have to get up early-so when I should be going to bed I'm wide awake and typing madly. Oddly though, when I do quit, I can nod off quickly.
 
Write tired. Edit rested. Isn't that a thing?(n)

I'm the same at the moment, I try to squeeze in 10 minutes of editing before I go to work, because I just don't do it when I get back (especially with it getting so dark so early now). All I want to do when I get home is eat, melt into the couch for a bit then sleep.
 
Thank you everyone for the very kind support.

I am still knocking out some words most nights, so it's not too bad. Like Quellist above, I do like to keep going and do something, even if it's only a small little section - it all adds up eventually.

I'm planning a lie in tomorrow, so I'll be well rest in time for the Christmas season and visiting friends. Cheers everyone.
 
It's deeply frustrating when tiredness (or stress) makes it difficult to write. Glad you're able to get something done most nights.
 
Don't worry about it, nobody's gonna kill you if you don't write. I don't read or write when I'm knackered (which is all the time lately). I usually just open my WiP and stare at the words, don't add anything, then close the file. Which is pretty much what I do when I'm not tired. :D
 
Annoyingly, some of my best ideas arrive when I'm tired and if I don't write 'em down, they're gone by the time I'm rested. I think my muse finds it easier to reach me when my mind isn't thinking about the 20 things I've got to do tomorrow. But write tired if you have to, and re-write rested - that is progress, however slow!
 
Mouse said:
Don't worry about it, nobody's gonna kill you if you don't write. I don't read or write when I'm knackered (which is all the time lately). I usually just open my WiP and stare at the words, don't add anything, then close the file. Which is pretty much what I do when I'm not tired. :D
Click to expand...

Yes, this. I do this.

I just bide my time until I get a day when I open the file and suddenly my fingers start a'tapping. Those days have come when I'm tired or hungover, then I've written some satisfying paragraphage... Other days I feel fantastic but the words are hiding.
 
Slap...

I wrote today and I was knackered. I'm still knackered. I try to have dedicated writing time now and have stopped writing so much in the evening, although I will sit and plot.
 
I've always found that forcing myself to write while exhausted just ends up with me feeling disappointed in myself and a random jumble of letters and words on the screen. I sympathise with you though, I'm the same at the moment. I work, then I get home and generally go pretty much straight to bed. Whimsical passtimes, which I find generally includes everything, have to wait for the weekend.

If you really want some time to write you could go off work 'sick' for a few days. Sick leave if just another form of holiday leave, right?
 
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