Take last night for instance: I woke up at half past four. (Not something I would recommend). I got out of bed and went to the toilet and then got back into bed fully intending to go to sleep. Oh, no! my brain said. You know that story you were working on this evening? Well there's something you've missed. Remember you mentioned so and so at the beginning? Well, you forgot about it after that. Oh yes, I thought and switched on the light and jotted it down (no glasses on). I tucked up under the duvet again, turned out the light and closed my eyes.
A few minutes later: Hey, Wendy? It's brain here again. You know you wrote that bit about loss, well the reason it isn't working is you didn't use his voice. Really? I thought. I'll make a note of that. On went the light and I scribbled down a note. By an hour later I had seven more notes just like it, written down beside my bed. Finally, my brain went back to sleep.
Now you probably won't be interested to hear that by this time, my back had decided it wasn't happy, so I didn't get more than 20 mins after that, which may be why I've done little more than tend to my poorly mum and watch TV for the rest of the day. I'm not going to lie, half past eight would have been better. But yes I did implement all those ideas between breakfast and lunch, which I believe made my story far better. This is not the first time it has happened and I hope it carries on. I'm starting to believe I write better when I'm asleep.
Does this ring any bells?