By William Dylan Powell
Ideas always come to me at the same time: lying in bed when I’m not quite awake yet. Everyone is different, but for me they come all at once: the beginning, middle, end, characters, what could make it interesting, how a story might be structured. It all appears as though a magician has pulled it from a hat.
I’m always grateful, but when I think about this process I’m also usually also perplexed. Why do I only seem to get ideas in bed as I’m waking up? I never get them in traffic or working out or gardening or almost any other time. Not even going to sleep. My ideas come almost exclusively in bed at morningtime. So I looked into the why of this pattern a bit and now it seems to make a lot of sense.
As it turns out, being intentional about blocking out morning lazy time for creative concepting or problem solving can be a powerful tool. Here’s why this is such fertile ground for creative thought:
- Nobody is talking to you.
I don’t know what your life is like, but from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep, someone is pretty much talking to me or at me or wanting something from me. Like, all day. And I don’t even have kids. As I’m waking up first thing in the morning, I’m not yet on anyone’s radar.
- There is no pressure.
Unless you have young children or a caregiving situation, nobody has expectations of you as you’re lying peacefully in bed. When you stop worrying about what everyone else expects of you, you can start the playfulness that professional-grade creativity demands.
- You haven’t yet been creatively “contaminated.”
Everything you read, hear, and see impacts your creative capacity. This can be the lifeblood of a professional creative. But there needs to be room for your voice amongst all the others. The morning can be a time to receive your own thoughts too, not just everyone else’s.
- You’re physically still.
A lack of body motion enables mental motion. Even simply walking, your mind-body machine is performing numerous small tasks. Take it from a guy who walks around the world daydreaming, your brain is always afraid at some level that you’re going to fall into an open manhole cover or get bitten by a snake. Lying still lets your mind focus on the imagination.
- You’re not yet multitasking.
Man, we are all spreading ourselves so thin these days. Watching Netflix and doomscrolling at the same time, taking a work meeting while looking after the kids, driving to work while making phone calls, etc. When you’re just lying there you’re at least only doing one thing.
And then there’s the state of your brain during this magic time, which scientists call hypnopompia.
This is the transitional state between sleep and wakefulness when the brain is still partly in dream mode. The prefrontal cortex, your inner editor in many ways, is less active. And at the same time, your imaginative networks remain engaged. This allows freer associations, vivid imagery, and unusual connections—making it easier to generate creative ideas before logic and critical thinking fully return to dominate your conscious mind.
If you want to make the most of this time, here are a few tips I’ve tried over the years:
- Keep your eyes closed longer than usual, so images and thoughts can appear in your mind’s eye. Rather than looking up at the ceiling fan and wondering about the last time you dusted it.
- Seed your mind with a thought such as what happens next in your story or what’s something you yourself would love to read today?
- Don’t overthink things; sometimes just a feeling or person or memory is worth taking away.
- Don’t put guardrails on your thinking—free associate even if it’s nonsensical
- Leave a notebook right by the bed so you can write your thoughts down quickly. I’ve had more than a few evaporate as I was looking for a pen. Some people also write down dreams in search of grist for the storytelling mill.
Last year I read Rick Rubin’s awesome book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. It’s one of about six or seven books out of hundreds I’ve read that I actually feel made me a better writer. Do yourself a favor and go read that book. Though it’s not exclusively about this premise, Rubin suggests that ideas already exist out in the universe. And it’s the artists’ job to become sensitive enough to see the signals and receive them (upon which other types of work begin).
I never really believed that in my early days of writing, but after dozens and dozens of story ideas “received” in my pajamas with dogs snoring on top of me I’m starting to come around. Many people have espoused that view ranging from Albert Einstein to David Lynch. So whether or not you feel like the idea is starting or ending with you, try working a lazy morning into your writing process from time to time. After all, this is a dream job.
William Dylan Powell is an award-winning author who writes crime stories, mystery fiction and books about Texas. He lives on the westside of Houston with his wife, Stephanie, his dogs, Bertie and Ollie, and a cat who really doesn’t like him all that much if we’re being honest. More at TexasMischief.com