Hypnagogia - A Writer's Best Friend

By Buffy Greentree


Hypnagogia is a stage right between waking and sleeping wherein the mind is relaxed and the subconscious is more accessible. In the morning, you come out of it and at night, you sink into it. If you can perfect a technique on how to use it, you will become very productive.

'Hypnagogic' and 'hypnopompic' were terms coined by two scholars in the 1800's. They referred to the state of conscious as one slid into sleep and as one came out of sleep, respectively. 'Hypnagogia' was later coined by Dr. Andreas Mavromatis in 1983 to refer to the general state of half asleep, half awake, regardless of which way you were going.

This state is the most wonderful tool for a writer. Morning is easier for writing because the aim is to finish awake, which is useful when you are writing. On the other hand, at night you get the best bits just before slipping off, and when you try to write it down you only wake yourself up again, and may not manage even to do that. However, you can still use this time to produce some great ideas, you just have to learn how to remember them in the morning.

If you have problems coming up with ideas or being overly critical of your work, milk this state for all it's worth. Sometimes if you slip too much onto the sleep side you get very strange results, but when balanced properly, this state will allow you more freedom in your writing and the ability to write much, much faster. Remember that during this stage, your subconscious is much more accessible and your critical nature is often disengaged. It is amazing what can come out if you use these stages to develop your work.

So do not waste these free episodes if you want to become a prolific writer. As you drift off contemplating on your novel, make use of every time you have at night. Allow dialogues to take place in your head and present your genius with any problems you are stuck on. In the morning, be sure that the first thing you do is to write. Write whatever answers your subconscious has thrown back at you. While still only partially awake, recall the messages of the night and write as much as you can.

You can produce entire story outlines in twenty minutes by writing down a dream while it is still warm and malleable. If you write in this partially conscious stage, your genius can still mold the dream into a more book appropriate form. Leave it too late, and it is difficult to understand and straighten out how the dream connected and what could make it a good book.

Learn how to use these stages and you will realize how exciting your work could become if created during these times. Train yourself to always spend the first few waking moments writing, and your last few focused on your work.




About the Author:



Popular Posts