I’m one of those writers who see scenes from the book I’m working on as film in my head. I can watch it over and over, tweaking and tinkering, until I get it right, and then it’s a matter of finding the time and the right words with which to write it down. For quite a while now I’ve been having some trouble finding that film in my head and I think I’ve finally figured out why.

As long-time visitors will know, I’m a recovering Dunkin Donuts coffee addict. But late last summer I went from four large iced coffees per day to two. Then I managed to hook myself on Polar Springs cranberry-lime seltzer water and gave up the Dunkin Donuts altogether. My primary caffeine intake now consists of one and a half cups of brewed coffee at home in the morning and a 12 ounce can of Coke with supper.

Coincidentally enough, about that same time, my insomnia went away. I know! Weird timing, huh?

So very recently I had one of those days. I ran my butt off and none of it was for me, so I decided, when I started dragging in the afternoon, I deserved an iced coffee. That night I caught myself lying awake until all hours, “watching” different scenes from my current manuscript.

Apparently I used to go to bed at eleven, then spend several hours watching my book unfold. Now I go to bed at eleven and…go to sleep. Huh.

I guess I need to convince my brain to go to the movies, so to speak, during daylight hours. It would be easier, of course, to simply pick up three or four iced coffees each day, but they’ve gotten a little pricey. And I love my cranberry-lime seltzer, an entire twelve-pack of which equals the cost of one and half large Dunkin Donuts iced coffees. Another added bonus—I no longer feel like my stomach lining’s trying to burn its way out of my body in an Alien-esque way.

Just an interesting change in my process I should have been aware of and compensated for much sooner.

But now I know…and knowing is half the battle. (I haven’t seen any trailers for G.I. Joe yet, but I was hooked on the cartoon when I was young. If they do half as awesome a job as Transformers did, I’ll be a happy girl.)