Comments on: A writing escape

By: pianogirl88

pianogirl88 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:16:08 +0000

Oh my yes, I’m a napper! On the days I teach (at a college), I’m up at 5:30 and out of the door before 7am for a 2 hour drive. By the time I get home at night, I will have been gone for 13-15 hours, depending on my schedule that day. Fortunately I’m only there 3 days a week, but I try to block off a 30 minute chunk of time when students can’t rehearse with me each day. I dim the lights in my studio, lock the door, and set my timer for 17-18 minutes. I usually awaken just before it goes off, but I’m refreshed and ready to face the rest of my long day. The couch in my office is so ugly a high school drama production would turn it down for a stage prop, but I will not let the music department get rid of it!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:11:38 +0000

Good to see you, Maggie! Not surprised to find you’re a napper, too.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:11:09 +0000

Kiwi, traveling is one of the great boons to the writing life (at least for me). I love seeing new places, hearing new stories, finding new things out bout history and life and…..

LOL, cat naps really ARE great! Think I’ll take one now.

By: Kiwi

Kiwi — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:27:39 +0000

Your traveling life must be great. Books are great too. I’m really an art/ book person. I’m getting unbelievably calm and relaxed all of a sudden… cool…

P.S. CAT NAPS ARE G-R-E-A-T!!!

By: Maggie

Maggie — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:31:16 +0000

afternoon, that is. Sheesh!

By: Maggie

Maggie — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:30:37 +0000

I try to take a cat-nap every aternoon–I only need twenty minutes and I’m good to go again.

Great to read your process, Barbara. It’s always fun to see how others do this stuff.

Maggie

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:50:29 +0000

Keziah, I love it that you went there, too. It is a very pretty spot, no kidding. And the food was excellent, I agree. Great hotel.

Tapsi, seems like napping for exams would serve the same purpose, to help access the hidden material in the brain. Or, well, not.

Hey, Janelle, we’re in good company. Thomas Edison was a big cat napper, too. Very creative habit. CR knows that I’ll work for a couple of hours then come lie down and I’m always asleep instantly, then awake in 10-20 minutes. If I’m really working hard (often at the end of a book, when I have to immerse), I’ll work/nap/work/nap for periods of 12-15 hours. That’s only possible for a couple of weeks, and only when the book takes over my life.

By: Keziah Hill

Keziah Hill — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:02:08 +0000

Hey Barbara! How wonderful that you won that package! When I was in America in November last year, I indulged shamelessly and stayed two nights at the Langham in Pasadena on the way back to Australia. It was ridiculously expensive given the exchange rate but, for a whole lot of reasons, just what I needed. I thought it was fantastic. Beautiful grounds, fantastic food, just a completely luxurious experience. And a wonderful place for naps!

By: Tapsi

Tapsi — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 06:25:43 +0000

Ahh, my ‘cat naps’ last for two hours, at a minimum, so I don’t think they can really be called that. I’m in the middle of studying for an exam, have somehow mislaid my motivation along the way and hence the naps serve to quiet the muted, yet insistent, voices in my head that tell me I have to study.

By: Janelle

Janelle — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:24:06 +0000

Naps are a vital part of my creative process, though I tend to feel horribly guilty about them. I mean, how is that WORK? But, it’s as if my left brain can’t let go and let me listen to the girls unless I go to sleep for a bit.

I love coming out of a nap, equal parts asleep and awake, and *knowing* what I need to write next.