Lack of sleep and its effect on writing

Mentosy

I'm writing a novel at the moment and I need a question answered in order to write part of it.

It's in a diary format, and at one stage in the novel the writer cannot sleep (his life depends on this). For this I want the diary entry for each day to progressively get more and more disjointed and badly written due to sleep deprivation, culminating in one last entry as he succumbs and can't stop himself from nodding off.

He will be doing everything in his power to stay awake, so this is likely to go on for a while. However, the longest I've gone without sleeping is 30-something hours, and I didn't write anything during that period. I don't want to 'fake' this so I'm faced with the option of research and chats with people who have tried writing after a few days of no sleep, and -if it comes to it - more extremely to put myself through exactly what the main character is going through.

What I need to know from you fine people are the effects of sleep deprivation on a person's writing. When it starts going downhill, how it starts going downhill, common mistakes etc

Any and all replies will be much appreciated

Winters

I do my best work at night and in the evenings usually....
Pity I have to work during the day


Generally even if you stay up late there is a certain time where you cannot function correctly and bed is needed. There is a thin gap between awake groggyness ... and late night sleepy tiredness where work gets done. Thats like the optimium working time.

Ive done 40 hours awake before. I couldnt type or write or anything like that by the end of it. Was quite teh zombie. Just sorta stared about at stuff.

nyarlothothep

Writing sentences and forgetting what you wrote at the start could be an effect.

Black Swan

Mentosy wrote: »

What I need to know from you fine people are the effects of sleep deprivation on a person's writing. When it starts going downhill, how it starts going downhill, common mistakes etc

Common spelling errors, lack of flow, run-on sentences. Syntax errors and ending sentences with prepositions. An introductory paragraph that fails to introduce, body paragraphs that you assumed you had written, but were only in your sleepy mind and not on paper, and a summary paragraph that fails to summarize. Disjointed thinking while writing is typical. I've suffered from this when pushing it way beyond my limits of sleep deprivation, finally to get needed sleep, only to later be forced to do extensive revisions on what had been written while sleep deprived.

Sitting at your writing table (or wherever you write), staring at notes, or at the wall, or out the window, for what you think are only moments, when in fact a great deal of time passes without any writing.

Dosing off while writing, thinking your eyes are still open and that you are still writing, when in fact you have dozed off. Sometimes you drop something like a cup of coffee, and only wake up when it crashes on the floor.

Rereading what you have written over and over again, but quickly forgetting, and having to reread it again.

brianthebard

OP have you heard of a comic called Johnny the homocidal maniac?

randylonghorn

In my experience, you more and more see what you THINK you've written on the screen, rather than what's actually there.

I tend to look back the next day and think "wtf?!!".

(Bit like Wincest when he's pished, probably! )

Winters

I assure you when I am typing pissed I am quite confident I have hit every button correctly...

Evidently when I check the next morning/afternoon I realise just how wrong I was.

watty

If you are forced to be deprived of sleep long enough you lose all judgement, sense of proportion, get disorientated and are more susceptible to suggestions. It's why it's used along with very loud music as part of "brainwashing" (which wears off after a week of normal living).

Lots of coffee/chocolate only works for 1st 20 or 30 hrs. Activity, standing/walking, and noise is more effective after a while. Driving on a motorway or operating monotonous machinery is a bad idea... Talking with someone helps.

Rozabeez

Perhaps try and capture the state of mind commonly referred to as being "overtired".

cHaTbOx

randylonghorn wrote: »

In my experience, you more and more see what you THINK you've written on the screen, rather than what's actually there.

I tend to look back the next day and think "wtf?!!".

(Bit like Wincest when he's pished, probably! )

I agree with randy

After days of not sleeping, day and night seem to blur together into a place of non existance.There is no sense of reality

watty wrote: »

If you are forced to be deprived of sleep long enough you lose all judgement, sense of proportion, get disorientated and are more susceptible to suggestions. It's why it's used along with very loud music as part of "brainwashing" (which wears off after a week of normal living).

Lots of coffee/chocolate only works for 1st 20 or 30 hrs. Activity, standing/walking, and noise is more effective after a while. Driving on a motorway or operating monotonous machinery is a bad idea... Talking with someone helps.

If sleep is your comfort you will find this terribly difficult.
Don't dare to do things like drive.Some people are rash in decision making.
If you really want to make it like someone who is sleep deprived the it will have poor grammar and syntax.

Maybe a better idea is to write it like this and comment on it looking back.

Lady Lainy

I did journalism and broadcasting in college, so i was writing, redrafting and retyping pretty much 18 hours a day, in college we were writing then at home we were writing, at one point i would be writing on the way to college on the bus.

I'm not a nerd, but i don't like handing in assignments and papers late, at one point, i was so sleep deprived, my writing actually turned to pure muck! one of my papers was so badly written, that it wasn't even graded, the tutor told me take it back and read it for my self, and oh my god i was so embarrassed, it was horrific. my writing was just so so so bad! the tutor told me get a good night sleep, and to redraft it.

thank god she gave me a second chance! got distinctions across the board for all my writing assignments in journalism and creative writing, but yeah sleep can have a HUGE effect negatively or positively on someones writing.