Writing at 3 in the morning: not a great idea · 2:53am May 9th, 2012
So. So, I tried to do what I said I was going to do, and ended up writing out the prologue of a story that's over 100 words long. I'm thinking it's going to be Rainbow Pie. However...
I have just finished writing it this moment, and already I freaking hate it. Urgh. There's too much dialogue and not enough setting and needs more characterisation and it's not long enough but it's also not concise enough and why can't I do this cool thing that I said I would do? Graggle-fraggle! On a rating scale of woeful to tip-top, I would rate it as riddicublah, rather than incrediboss like I was aiming for. I used to be able to do this stuff, long, long ago. I promise, guys.
And the worst thing is, even though I hate it with the passion of a million fiery suns, I will probably still post it just so I can post something, and then I'll feel guilty about it because I'm wasting everybody's time.
Writing. At 3am. Makes you hate yourself. Don't do it, guys. It's not worth it. Don't take the candy. Don't climb in the van. Don't play Contra, because you are not the only dude bad enough to save the president. Your body is not ready for this. Yours is not the drill that will pierce the vault of heaven. Li-Shang cannot make a man out of you.
Okay, I'm done now.
I've found that my writing actually improves if I start after having been awake for over 50 hours straight.
Suppose that wouldn't work for everybody though.
106616
It's not sleep dep that's the problem. Give me one and a half day's worth of sleep dep and I, like most, will become a raving genius capable of doing practically anything, up until I pass the 48 hours mark and start hallucinating. 3 in the morning is just a really sucky time to do things.
All my best writing is done at about 1 am. 2 am is good too. 3? Three is the hour of madmen and wereweasels. Only the truly brave write in that cursed hour. I salute you. And I also know you can still write well - you're too good at it not to be able to.
106616
What compells you to stay up that long? You'd think you would just pass out eventually
Anyway, It's quite clear that you are suffering from lack if sleep. That or you're just being you... In any case, glad to hear you've gone ahead and tried to write something, you'll only get better as you do. On the other hand: curse this growing popularity of RainbowPie! I swear, it irritates me to no end. I never could get behind that pairing, how do you put up with it?
And hey, putting it up allows you to acquire feedback, and feedback is good
106663
Mine's usually best at nine, because after that I start to relax. I'm pretty much naturally nocturnal, so 9pm ends up being the equivalent of noon for me. Except, y'know, darker. And less cheerful. 3am is even darker than that and even less cheerful. It's just depressing, is what it is. Yet, that's when I get all my ideas, which is just ridiculous.
You say that, but believe me, I've had some humdingers. I've had enough practice that my grammar and spelling stay basically decent, but beyond that, everything starts falling apart. Oh well.
106665
Ahahaha! It's actually just me being me. I write quite often, but since I specialise in very short stuff, writing long stuff annoys me. In a 100 word piece, you can take it in all at once, see any great flaws. In a 1000 word piece, you can't. That makes me just the most paranoid of panda bears, I tell you that.
As for RainbowPie...Well, I'll tell you a secret: I generally pick up pairings from friends or writers that I know. If the stuff that my friends ship is plausible and not completely alien to me, chances are that I'll see what they like about it, understand that, and then I'll ship it too- at least a little bit. Of course, when you realise that the writer I've known longest in the fandom is Donny's Boy, who lists RainbowPie as the OTP...
My best writing tends to take place between the hours of midnight and five AM, since that's the only time I CAN write. I work and have school, so that means I can only do any proper writing after my shift's over on Friday and Saturday nights.
106702 Heh. I know what you mean about absurd ideas. And you're actually right - all my best ones come to me in the early morning. Maybe it's because the lack of sleep makes me not immediately think 'no, that's stupid.'
106704
Wow, that sucks. As a university student and overall waste of society's time and effort, I have a bigger window of opportunity...which I then dutifully waste.
106718
I usually get my ideas in one of two ways- the first is from sleep dep, and the second from getting myself up and walking six miles or so to spark my brain. I walk three miles a day as a bare minimum, so I get a few good ideas each week...and go through a whole lot of shoes.
106732 I used to get ideas from walking, but i'm not so much capable of decent length walks anymore - medical issues. Now it's either sleep deprevation or random odd things people say that make me go 'huh.' And hey, i'm a waste of society's time and effort too. We should hang out and waste some time, one of these days.
106746
Aww, man. Sorry to hear that- dunno what I'd do if I couldn't walk as much as I do. It'd probably involve murder, arson and squirrels, in precisely that order. And I'd be delighted to take you up on that, but knowing the internet, that would probably involve some degree of ocean crossing. So very few people on the internet hail from my little island, sadly.