Nocturnal inspiration and writing

The power of night ideas and an inspirational writing exercise

Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

Hello everyone,

Do you ever wake up at night and know that sleep won’t be returning immediately? I certainly do. At these times I get up, go down to the kitchen and make a brew, something meant to induce sleep, a cup of Camomile, a decaffeinated tea. I stand in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil, listening to its insistent burble and hiss, and let my mind wander.

Sometimes I imagine walking out of the door into the night, down towards the fields beyond my house and down the high-hedged lanes towards the Severn estuary, a huge almost-sea that pulls the moon over it each month, the restless water tidal and black.  I imagine myself sitting in contemplation by the river bank, wondering what might stir from the endless flow.

Other times, to be honest, I just go back upstairs, climb into bed and spend half an hour scrolling through Instagram reels. It’s a good antidote to the doom-scrolling in my own mind about life, love, and the meaning of existence. I go with the AI induced flow, from daring animal rescues and people carrying out random acts of kindness to daredevil Frenchmen climbing the outside of skyscrapers without ropes and blooper reels from comedy shows. I have no idea what AI thinks my mind is all about, but I just let it take its course.

What’s the point of all of this? Well, it is about inspiration. Those night-time ideas that bubble up. This nocturnal activity is not a new thing created by blue screens and the angst of modern living. Writers and artists throughout history have all said they’ve been most inspired in the night. I think of that quote from Vincent Van Gogh: “I often think that the night is more alive and richly coloured than the day.”

I know from doing a bit of research that the night can be productive for the creative mind. Something interesting happens in the brain at those times when we are sleeping, or at least should be sleeping. Sleep scientists believe the creative area of the brain is in the right hemisphere, and at night this area can become more active as less emphasis is put on the other areas that control decision making and survival.