To Write, Perchance to Sleep

I’ve blogged nonstop once a week for the last seven years, and in that time, I’ve skipped that many blogs or less because of lack of time. There are only so many hours in a day and sometimes other things happen.

Fellow writers sacrifice sleep, family, and other obligations because their writing commitments take precedence.  I admire them for that, but I can’t.

I get physically ill if I don’t get my sleep.  I never fought naptime as a child and have been this way all my life.  I can get by with five or six hours of sleep at night, but only if I get to nap sometime the next day.

My optimum writing time is in the early hours – morning through late afternoon, but come evening, my brain is fried and the quality of my writing starts to falter.  When that happens, it is best for me to set the alarm for an early hour and go to bed because nothing much is going to get done when I am physically tired.

My family are THE most important people in my life.  Helping them in an emergency comes first before my writing, and I let them know that this writing thing is not a hobby, but often, I get called away to help them and I sacrifice the things I had planned. This writing thing is my passion, my life force, so if they need me, it better be important and not just because they think I have loads of free time and have been waiting for them to call on me to fill it.

When I’ve skipped writing a blog or a chapter in my work-in-progress, it’s because I’ve had to put my needs and wants second to address a family emergency, a huge occasion, or a disruption in the force that requires me to forget everything else and roll up my sleeves and get dirty. It leaves me with no time for myself while I take care of what others need. These usually leaves me exhausted and unable to focus on anything else.

If I were like some of my other writer friends, I’d sacrifice sleep. I’d learn to say no.  I would carve out my needs first and forget everyone else, but like I’ve explained, this is not who I am. 

My body demands sleep as much as it needs to write, so here is my question. To sleep or not to write; to write or not to sleep?