Any correlation here?

[LizW65]

Since I've begun writing more or less steadily again (at least 2 hours a day if I can manage it) I've noticed that not only am I dreaming vividly all night, I'm also sleeping more soundly.  I can't help thinking that it may have something to do with the increased brain activity, and am wondering if anyone else here has noticed the same thing when they write.  Input, anyone?

[Cooper]

When I write, it doesnt seem to effect me mentally.  I just get. The usual strange dreams of thing I can't make out.

[blgarver]

There is a direct correlation between my mood and how often I write.  I always sleep more soundly if I've written something - anything - that day.  I'm in a better mood if I've been on a good routine for a few days.  I'm generally a melancholy sort of fella by nature, but I am downright giddy when I have been able to stick to a regular writing schedule.  It's borderline child-like glee, even.

So yeah, I think there can be a direct effect on your mood.  For me it is simply a matter of doing something that I absolutely love.  Writing is the only thing that makes me feel happy in that "cloud nine" sort of way.  It's a satisfaction that I can't find anywhere else.

[seradhe]

I treat my writing as a sort of "emptying the reservoir". If I don't put these plots and characters and stories out on paper, they sit there and I dream them. A lot of my favorite stories started off as dreams I wrote down at crazy early morning hours. If I don't write, my mind has a habit of getting cluttered, and I lose focus and sleep less.

Of course this is me, I have a nasty habit of zealously trying to hang on to every little idea that pops into my head

[meg_evonne]

Hey, I think you are a fellow "night" writer.  If so, consider yourself lucky.  Nothing like getting things organized while you sleep soundly!  I've had several people tell me they write the same way, so if you are--you aren't alone or weird.  You can train yourself to be better at it as well.

Here's the test, when you get to a spot you don't know where to head next or you've backed yourself into a corner or a character isn't layered enough--just tell yourself to figure it out while you sleep.  If you wake up the next morning with a 3D solution including sight, smell, and texture-- consider yourself extremely lucky.  Scribble it down quickly though before you lose it.

[GWiz]

I've always done my writing overnight.......as in from dusk until dawn, so I usually sleep pretty well afterwards regardless. I gotta say that writing doesn't seem to "empty my thoughts" or "clear the pallette"; actually, I usually have so many things going on by the time I quit I have to re-read what I wrote the night before to remember my own plot direction......how's that for wierd? As for dreaming, I never ever had a dream about anything I wrote, and never wrote about anything I dreamed.........

[meg_evonne]

amazing how we are all so different.  GWiz, Do you tend to have vivid dreams, the kind with walls, smells, etc? or do your dreams fade at morning light?

[GWiz]

Both, I guess......My dreams are real enough, I suppose, though only my nightmares are consistently cohesive........when my daughter was 2, I dreamed that she was attacked by a male baboon in an animal park....although I tried, I was not fast enough to rescue her......
This nightmare was scary on several different levels, but what I remember most about it was the feel of her blood as I tried to hold her together, waiting for someone to help her, the feel of her dress, the ground beneath my knees; everything was hyper-real......and while I dreamt this years ago, and never had it again, it's still very fresh in my memories.......
as for the rest, I remember stuff as I wake, and it fades slowly. I write stuff down sometimes, like driving my Mustang through an Italian restaurant, or blowing into a handkerchief and flying through a K-mart.....stuff that's sufficiently odd to be funny or mildly interesting, but also stuff I'd forget later if I didn't write it down. But it all seems really real when I'm dreaming..........I do the same thing with music; when I was playing, and we were amusing ourselves by writing our own musical lamentations, I used to carry a recorder with me and sing measures to be deciphered later at the piano or bass (I'm a drummer.... ) because while I had some cool tune ideas, I'd forget them if I didn't record them.....
I'm pretty sure my subconscious self screws with my conscious self just for fun......