This week has brought news that I am runner-up in the Insomnia Short Story Competition with my short story ‘Really Me’. The prize includes its publication in an anthology and I was absolutely thrilled to learn about this.
Congratulations to the winner Anna Mazzola, I can’t wait to read the winning story in the anthology. And congratulations to everyone who was long listed, and thanks to Paul McVeigh who judged the competition.
Although my story included insomnia in the sense of not getting enough sleep, it focused in what Paul described as ‘an unusual story (in terms of character)’. This pleased me greatly because the character in the story, Vanessa, was someone I had wanted to write about for a long time. I’m finding more and more that writing short stories call on the imaginary people who have been rattling around my consciousness, half-formed and often silent until the story begins. Vanessa is such a character, and I’m so happy that she will finally get to dance in public!
Insomnia, although not a severe or addictive as Vanessa’s, has featured in my own life lately. I am a heavy sleeper and asleep almost as soon as my head hits my pillow. Except when I am waiting for something. And the publishing industry involves a lot of waiting!
When I was first waiting for something to be read I was impatient, almost waiting behind the letter box for the feedback envelope to drop on the doormat. Yes, I have been writing long enough for most communications to be by post not email.
Now, with the advent of email, I have to limit my checks for feedback to in the evening, My daughter jokes that I have worn out the send and receive email button!
Joking aside, it can be torturous. Competitions usually have a closing date and sometimes have an indication of when the author will hear news. But feedback on novels can be slow. I’ve known some authors to imagine that an email has become lost, or, in the days of posting manuscripts, contact the post office to make sure it has arrived! This ‘chasing cycle’ leads to more worrying that you may have upset or annoyed the person who is reading your novel by chasing. So what can we do about the torturous wait, apart from lie awake wondering?
My first suggestion would be to start writing something else. It’s difficult to do, and there are a million reasons that can be dredged up from the depths of sleep deprivations as to why you shouldn’t until you know the fate of your current piece of work, but it is essential. It fills the gap in the over-wrought mind which is currently filled with doubt and uncertainty.
If writing something else is impossible, then try to forget about the fact that someone else is reading your work which, to the author, can feel like someone reading the inside of your mind. Not so easy to forget! But it can be done by trying mindfulness. Thinking about the here and now and focusing on whatever else you do, apart from writing, can help to distract from worry.
If you are suffering from critique induced insomnia, there are a few tips to help bring on peaceful sleep.
– Have a bath before bed
– Include a drop of lavender
– or put fresh lavender under your pillow
– Read for fifteen minutes before you try to sleep. Don’t read your own work, read something you have been meaning to for a while
– Don’t drink alcohol before sleep, or tea, coffee or carbonated drinks. All these can act as stimulants
– Drink milk-based drinks before bed
– Don’t have a TV on in your bedroom. Watching TV before trying to go to sleep can stimulate the mind and stop you dropping off.
You will hear from the competition organizers/agent/editor/reader. It may take a long time, but accepting that this is the way of the publishing world will help you to cope better than constant chasing and worrying which, after all will not change the final decision.