Chapters - XIII

“It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time-this should be banned.”

This brings up a topic of discussion I have with many people: when do you find time to write?

Well, for 16 years, I worked the night shift at various motels. 11p-7a. My weekends were whatever two days the supervisor scheduled. Usually, I would go home and if I needed to be up for class later that evening, I would go to sleep right away. If I had a free evening I would consider going outside to workout. Run, bike. When I lived at the campground for several months, my workout schedule was very erratic. When I moved to Carlisle, I discovered the high school was across the street so that meant the football field surrounded by the track. This made it easier to run in the mornings. There were times, on my days off when I would run late at night or in the wee hours. It was quiet and cool and nobody to bother me.

Now that I work for Gannett, I’ve had a lot of overtime. Sleep is precious. I’m often tired in the evenings even if I don’t work OT. Sleep has been an issue because many nights I can’t fall asleep when I want. I toss and turn, go out to the too short couch and doze, back to the bed, etc. I may not fall asleep for a couple hours. This makes me tired at work.

On weekends, I catch up on a bit of sleep. And on weekends, is when I usually write. Maybe I’ll do some in the evenings I’m free (I think Tuesday, for the most part is free a lot, unless I go to a writers’ critique group). Saturdays or Sundays are my writing days. I go out to a local park and sit in the shade at a picnic table and write.

I’m working on a collaborative story. I have been waking up and going into work early and spending a few minutes on Google Drive editing this story. Sometimes it works, but with that OT, not often.

Sleep. Sometimes I want to write, but I know sleep demands attention. A nap is in order. Otherwise, I’d feel like I was trying to force the words and I wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

How about you? How does your sleep schedule affect your writing?