How Pulling An All-Nighter Helped Me Write My Novel

Do any of you remember being in college or high school and waiting until the last minute to study for a midterm or final exam?  Well if you ever found yourself in that dilemma, you may have tried to pull an all-nighter.  That simply meant that you didn’t go to sleep.  The intention was to stay up all night and complete your studies or project with a few crammed hours that should have taken  multiple hours over the course of the semester.

Well that type of cramming just never worked for me.  Planning study time worked much better with my fragile system.  I must have sleep.  It paid off. This discipline helped me write my book.  it also helped years ago since  I graduated cum laude from Colorado State University.  Instead they called it with distinction.  Those who attained summa cum laude were labeled high distinction and those that were the smartest, highest distinction.  Either way, I was darn proud of myself.

In my college career, I only tried it once.  It made me sick and did not work out well at all. But there were jewels in that night of constant yawns and insatiable fatigue. That night helped me write my novel by teaching me some very important lessons in having a plan.

The most important lesson that I learned from trying to pull an all-nighter was that  the material I crammed into my archives left more quickly than if it were allowed to seep slowly into my brain.   The material from the classes and my education stayed with  me for much longer when it was absorbed over time.  Consistent, measured study time paid off. Just like about anything in life

The second lesson I learned from trying to pull an all-nighter was that my best work emerged when I was rested and was consistent in my efforts.  Many times these classes felt overwhelming or too esoteric for my adolescent brain.  If I was rested and took the time to read and reflect a few hours each night, the materials was less muddled; the process less arduous.  In applying this principal to my novel,   it worked since writing takes discipline, planning, and consistency.  The key was to spend time every day writing no matter how I felt.  Pushing anything off until the next day only made it that much more difficult to get started again.  Stephen King in his book on writing sits down every day of the week even on Christmas. The advice was priceless.  He writes his books in three months.  It took me two years.

The last lesson I learned about all-nighters was about the importance of sleep.  It was absolutely necessary to have some; preferably at least seven hours.  So many ideas and scenes in my book came to me during my dreams or at night before I fell asleep.  Getting at least eight hours helped my mind to be much less foggy and dead.  Not only that, my mood was better and I was less likely to bite someone’s  head off  and chew on it for more time than any sane person could stand.