The Science of Napping

It's been a while since I blogged about anything personal - nearly three weeks if you don't count the mention of some good reviews for By the Book then the submissions call-out at Total-e-Bound. So what have I come up with today? Something important - nay, vital - to all true writers.

Napping.

The creative brain needs rest, and having to deal with accursed chores and paying bills and mixing with - *shudder* - fleshpeoples fair takes it out of you. I know when I have an early start in the morning, by noon I'm knackered, because I never sleep well at night. When the alarm goes off I could smash it up, but I use my mobile phone as my alarm clock, so I can't. I just drag myself out of bed and plan for my prompt return to it.

A combination of broken sleep and...well, more broken sleep, necessitates naps quite often in my world. The strange thing is, if I know I need to go out in the evening, naps aren't as restful as the ones I take when I have the rest of the day free. The pressure to go out and mix with fleshies stops me sinking into proper, dreamy, warm, restful sleep.

So my ideal conditions are thusly:

• The rest of the day free. If I have an evening appointment, I'm under pressure to be wide-awake, bathed, changed, presentable...and napping tends to make me look a bit crumpled. So I prefer to know no other human being will see me for the rest of the day.
• Fleece pyjamas. Don't ask. They're just better than any other kind of sleepwear. Why? Because I say so.
• A bottle of juice by the bed. Sleeping through the day raises one's body temperature, which can lead to dehydration - my number one migraine-trigger. However, sometimes I just damn well need to nap, and as for the fleece pyjamas warming me up a little too much? They're comfy. So there.
• Painkillers. Just in case, given the point above.
• A dirty book. I like my ereader. I read a few pages just before napping, which makes for interesting dreams.
• Usually a few hours' sleep is enough to take the edge off. Any more than that and I'm dozy, and in danger of headaches and migraines. It's never good to sleep too long when there's filth to be writ. Maybe that's why my night-time sleep is broken; I'm always thinking of my characters, who don't like me to be unconscious too long.

The best kind of naps send you off into some daydreamy/half-asleep headspace where scenes from your current WIP play out in your head, so you crawl out of your pit arise from your bed refreshed and raring to get back to work.

See? This is srs bznz. Every writer needs a nap occasionally. Jensen Ackles says so.