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Have you ever been so tired that your bones hurt?
So tired you feel as if you've been beaten up by a hockey team or run
over by a Peterbilt?
We've all had days like that. Days when we got to bed way too
late the night before and had to get up too early in the morning to
go to work. Days when everything was too hectic - with too much
to do and not enough time.
Sometimes we go like that for an entire week. Or even longer.
Too often most of us don't get enough sleep and after enough days
like that we can barely drag ourselves out of bed, let alone think
clearly or be even close to productive.
Let's face it, there are way too many days where we can barely make a
decision because we're too sleep deprived.
So let's get back to your character.
Your character is tired. We're talking dog tired.
So tired she can barely see what's on the other side of the room or
the street.
She's in that same canoe right now with no paddle in sight.
Why is she so tired? What has been going on in her life that
has meant that she's not getting enough sleep?
What happens when she gets this tired?
Does she make poor decisions?
Does she do really foolish or stupid things?
How does being tired manifest in her life?
What does her home look like when she's tired, compared to when she's
well rested?
Does she eat differently when she's tired, compared to when she's
well rested?
Describe the differences
What does she think about when she's tired, compared to when she's
well rested?
Write down some of her thoughts.
What does she look like when she's tired, compared to when she's well rested?
Where is she right now? What is she doing? Why is she so tired?
Put yourself in your character's shoes and finish these sentences (in writing):
She's tired and she's thinking &ldots;.
She's so tired that all she really wants to do is &ldots;.
She's so tired that all she can think about right now is &ldots;.
[Your character's name] sat down on the _____ and thought &ldots;.
[Your character's name] stared at the _____, but it was too much
effort to even &ldots;
One of the great things about being a writer is that even when you're
so exhausted that you can't see straight, but it's the time you've
set aside for writing, just be your character when she's tired and
write about that.
I hear some of you saying, "but I can't even SEE straight!"
Well, when I sat down to write today, I was so tired that a bus could
have run over me and I wouldn't have even tried to move out of the
way. And I stared at the screen on my laptop and the only
sentence that came to mind was, "I'm tired. I'm so tired
that &ldots;."
So I wrote that down and then kept writing about being tired and how
that would look and feel. I started thinking about all the
aspects of my life that could be affected by that and wrote that
down. Then I began wondering how I would describe that.
And, before I knew it, I was typing away like a crazed woodpecker.
And that's how you get things written.
You set aside writing time that is sacrosanct. Then you
sit down to write at that time no matter what. Because that is
what writers do.
And, wherever you are at that moment, that is what you write about at
the very minimum. Put yourself in your character's shoes and
imagine what is going on with her at that moment. It can be
part of the plot or not. It doesn't matter. It could end
up going nowhere or turn into something that becomes part of the
story. No matter how it turns out, for that time you will
have gotten into her head and moved the character along or the story
or both.
Even better - you will have written.
And that's how you write when you don't feel like it. And
that's how you become a published writer.
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