Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Sleep? What is that?

This is topic Sleep? What is that? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Crotalus (Member # 2345) on :

Really just seeing if my username and password still work, since I haven't posted in so long. Moving, new job, and life have been interfering with my forum posting for about six months now. Probably nobody even remembers me.

Hey, I'm Crotalus. I'm a chemist by day; husband, father, and writer/artist by night.

I need sleep, but I need to write more. Does everyone else have this problem?

Posted by TMan1969 (Member # 3552) on :

No matter what you try, eventually sleep will catch youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.....

Posted by Alethea Kontis (Member # 3748) on :

Hi, C.
You know, I majored in Chemistry.
Good job on the whole husband/father thing. Keep up the good work.

Sometimes I think I stare at this computer 24-hours a day. I live, breathe and eat here. During the day, I buy lots of books with someone else's money (why yes, it IS possibly the best job in the world). Every other minute lately I'm: writing an essay, or editing someone else's novel, or writing a compendium, or rewriting a short story for an anthology, or looking over what my fiance has written today and offering comments, or sending emails to my webmistress to update my site, or chatting with my friends online, or answering interview questions, or asking interview questions, or...wait...what was the question?

For the record, I do force myself to sleep in the other room. I have a very nice bed in the other room. And I try not to check email at 3am, but when you're corresponding with folks all over the world, you never know when one's going to pop in...

[This message has been edited by Alethea Kontis (edited October 20, 2006).]

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Try working the post office night shift for years at a time...not only sleep deprivation but, thanks to constant pointless changes, I never get to even sit down while working anymore...and add to that crazy supervisors who threaten disciplinary action when I've done something exactly the way I was told to do it.

(I'm on vacation right now. I dread going back.)

Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :

We all have our handicaps. If you want to write, you find a way to overcome them. Otherwise, you quit.

Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :

So, Crotalus, where's the new venue? Closer to family?

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Well, I managed to churn out fifty thousand words of meandering novel despite hellish conditions at work. (I'm taking a break from that right now---I want to gain some perspective, besides figuring out what to write next, besides wanting to make notes on what I've written so far.)

I don't expect conditions to improve when I go back...but I hope I can keep writing if things give way from under me.

Posted by Crotalus (Member # 2345) on :

Will,

By venue do you mean my home? Dude, you've been here! How are things going btw? I'm about 30 miles from where I grew up. Never thought I'd move over this way again, but life is an unpredictable thing.

I'm finally posting again b/c things have finally settled (about as much as they are going to with a 4 and 1 1/2 year old around). The nuclear power industry is a bit different from the pharmaceutical, but it's all book fodder is how I look at it.

Robert, I've never worked for the post office, but it sounds like the same logic the pharma co. used to apply. Old boss to me: "Why are we so far under budget?" Me: "Because you told me to find ways to cut costs." Boss: "Well start spending again or we won't get any money for next year's budget."

Right.

Oh, and Alethea, props to a fellow chemist--but it sounds like your job is way more fun than any of mine have ever been. Let's see, I've done the Navy thing, Taught Highschool, farm work, and now i'm on round two of the chemist gigs. And so far no one pays me to read or lets me buy books with their money. How do you swing that!

It is nine thirty at night. This is about the time I get to start writing for the evening. The boys are in bed and the house is halfway straight. I just broke 20k words on my second of two unpublished works of staggering genius. Maybe I'll get a good wordcount in, if I can just pry myself from this forum. Which brings me back around to the original topic of this thread: oh the things we sacrifice for our art!

Peace,
JSW (Crot)

[This message has been edited by Crotalus (edited October 21, 2006).]

Posted by Alethea Kontis (Member # 3748) on :

9:57pm. Still editing. Page 270 of 432. I reeeeally want to get to 300 before bed. But that might be another hour. My right shoulder is almost frozen. I need Ben Gay, a hot tub, and a massage.

As luck would have it, I think I can manage the first.

The secret? Live and breathe books and love them until you hate them. Easy and dangerous. Obsessions are kind of like that.

Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :

Oh. I thought you were saying you'd moved (since then).

Why not drop Munsil Man a line and become a weekend flasher? WIth a time limit of 90 minutes, it's no big time commitment.

I sent Big Powwow off to an agent. While she's looking it over, of course, I thought of changes that needed to be made, so I'm doing another revision.

Posted by Crotalus (Member # 2345) on :

Yeah Will. That was the new place. It's just taken this long for the dust to settle. I've thought about LH for awhile. I think I'm ready to give it a try, so I'll send Munsil an email. Do I still need a referral to get in? If so, give me one.

Good luck with BPW. I can't wait to read it.

Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :

Done! (The vouch, that is.)

Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :

velcome back crotalus
enjoying the new job?

Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :

Hey Crotalus,
Nice to see you pop in here! Glad you found a new job; I hope it's interesting.
I don't get much sleep those days either...

Posted by Crotalus (Member # 2345) on :

Thanks for remembering me Hoptoad and Silver3! The new job is challenging. I learned most of my practical chemistry in a pharma setting. Getting used to the nuclear industry is taking some time. Radiological practices and all that. But I don't think electricity will be outsourced anytime soon and we are finally getting to the point in the US where we are building new reactors, so the industry looks promising.

Will, thanks for the vouch. I've heard back from Mike and am now awaiting his final authorization. Mayhaps I'll do my first flash challenge this weekend! Even less sleep, yea!