Sleeping and writing

For most of the summer I've been working nights. Basically 9 to 5 overnight. I try to sleep during the day, but it's not easy. Neighbors mow their yards. Or play music. Or kids are in their yards playing... I don't fault them for their normal routines, but obviously, it makes sleeping difficult. Also, it's just hard to sleep during those wonderful summer days when the temps in the 70s or low 80s and there's a nice breeze. It's easier to sleep on those dark, rainy days -- except that means my little kids are in the house. To my wife's credit, she was wonderful in keeping them as quiet as she did all summer long. I know that wasn't easy!

The other thing I've noticed about sleeping during the day is -- people just assume that your sleep schedule is 'flexible'. Just sleep in the morning and do this or that in the afternoon. Or, stay up after work and do this or that in the morning and sleep in the afternoon or evening before going back to work. Now I ask you - do most people do that when they work during the day and sleep at night? How often have you gone straight to bed after work (say 6pm) and woke up at 1 or 2am to attend some function and then stayed up until the following night?

No, I'm not ranting. In fact, I did that to myself many times too. I enjoy walking with my little guy to the bus stop in the morning. I enjoy having dinner with my family. I've rarely slept the same exact hours during the day multiple days in a row. Sometimes, I'd take two or three two-or-three hour naps in a day. Of course, those nights at work, I'd be hurting.

What's the point of all this? Well, lately I've felt like a zombie. If I'm not at work, it feels like I'm trying to sleep. Or write. And as I mentioned in a comment to another post, writing while feeling like a zombie only makes that first rough draft even crappier. And then, inevitably, when I go back to look at what I've written on those rare days when I'm less zombie-like, I am discouraged by what I read. My wife tells me I'm just being overly critical of my writing (and she's usually right, I often am), but that doesn't make it any less crappy.

Or maybe I'm just overly tired, and cranky and truly being overly critical...

Perhaps it would be better (and wiser) to simply write the first draft and worry about making it better in rewrites. I know, it sounds so simple, and I have done that before on my other books, but I have a hard time putting that critical, perfectionist-driven editing voice aside at times (especially when I'm tired). If you're a writer, you probably know about this little voice, right? You shouldn't listen to that voice when you're working on the first draft. I know this, you know this--but as I've said, it's so much harder to push that voice aside and quiet it when you're tired.

Fortunately, it looks as if life might be returning to some sort of normalcy soon. A routine of sorts may be returning to our lives here and hopefully with that routine will come a set sleeping cycle for me-which in turn will provide me with a set (relatively speaking) writing schedule.

At least, despite all the turmoil of the summer, I have managed to add significantly to my current WIP, I've done some minor edits to both of my novels, I've polished off my query letter for The Legend and the Dark (again) and I have written the first drafts of a couple of short stories--probably not much compared to some, and perhaps more than others.

Oh - and I started this blog and dabbled into learning a bit about twitter.

Thanks for listening. It's almost time for me to get ready for work now. Take care.