C - Cats are nocturnal as are Writers

Date: December 3rd
Letter: C
Topic: A Writer's Mind

It is 3 am. Your alarm doesn’t go off for another two hours but you’re wide awake and full of ideas. The average human being will use the restroom and return to bed ridding the thoughts from their minds and fall back asleep.

Writers don’t have that luxury (at least most I’ve come across). When the idea pops in your mind you don’t want to forget your potential meal ticket, you have to get up.

What if it’s the missing piece for your current novel? The connection you’ve been trying to come up with for the past eighteen days has just shed light on the plot they’d hope you’d consider and now at 3:11am it’s ready to speak.

You figure that your cat was once nocturnal and you trained them to sleep at night and stay active during the day… can’t you do that with your mind?

Then a new idea springs up and instead of jotting only the first idea down you now have a full chapter you should be writing.

I’m a bit dramatic when an idea comes to me… it’s a little like this:

I jump out of bed.
Grab the notepad and pen by my bed.
Reach for invisible lamp.
DANGIT WHY IS THERE NO LAMP HERE!
I walk to the writing table and trip over cat toys.
Trip.
Fumble for lamp.
Turn it on.
Husband wakes, “What’s going on?”
I mumble “Wri-amdutng-idea-amdign-gobacktosleep”
Husband snores.
Jot idea down.
Climb back in bed.
Stare awake.

When are we to sleep?

I suppose when we’re dead.