I don’t intend to write about the technical aspect of what dreams are and how they’re caused. What I do wish to discuss is dreams themselves – the visuals, sounds and beauty they portray.
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Some people say they never remember their dreams, whilst others claim to always remember theirs. I dwell in the middle. When I wake up, the dream is still vivid in my mind. Details fade throughout the day and in the end I’m left with only a snippet. On rare occasions, I have a dream so vivid, so real that it sticks. It doesn’t waver and instead burns itself into my mind, permanently marking itself.
This happened the other night.
In the dream, I saw through one of my character’s eyes, felt what she felt. I haven’t yet introduced Nurya in writing, but she will make her appearance in the second novel, Mercy of The Forbidden. The dream portrayed a scene between her and Damien, as well as some other minor characters. It almost drowned me, by how real it felt – how it didn’t feel like a dream. All thoughts of my life vanished and only it remained.
By the time I woke up, the scene forced my mind to give in. Yes, the beauty of that scene did not surpass me. It will have its place in the second novel of my series. After living through that and seeing its significance to the story, I can’t not include it. It fits and makes the novel whole. It carries key plot points within it and expresses them in a wonderful way.
I’ve had dreams that inspired stories before, but this was different. This gave me no choice, nor would I deny it even if it had. This dream created inspiration I could only dream about.
Now I can’t wait to make it to that scene.
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Are dreams a source of inspiration for you? What do they do for you? Let me know!
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August 3, 2011 at 1:33 pm
I think creative people of all types dream more than most. When we sleep we are the most relaxed and therefore, the most creative. Great post, because I have dreamed of my characters and stories before 🙂
August 3, 2011 at 2:38 pm
That makes sense! Sleeping is one of the few times we can truly relax. And I’m glad you like the post. 🙂
August 3, 2011 at 1:57 pm
I love dreaming. I feel like it’s the only time in the day I allow my mind to wander wherever it chooses without any environmental cues or what I was previously doing to affect it. I’ve had some of the most inspirational ideas and some of the most disturbing scenes come through in my dreams. I don’t know which determines what I get, but I appreciate them equally the same.
August 3, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Dreaming is such an amazing sensation and the one time you aren’t influenced by the things around you. It’s a great feeling when dreams inspire scenes, no matter what type of scenes they are. It helps the creative process.
August 4, 2011 at 1:16 pm
I was writing from dream ideas before it was cool. XD But seriously, there have been some major stories, scenes, and characters who have been first birthed in my sleeping mind. There’s a lot to be said for the sideways approach dreaming sometimes has, and how well that can really work.
One thing I’ve dreamed and still haven’t had a chance to use was this amazing location. It was a castle/city looming above a garden with a lake, and it’s just so awe-inspiring to me, even now, but I haven’t found a place for it in any of my stories yet.
~Ashlee
http://ashleesch.com
http://theDragonsHoard.bigcartel.com
August 5, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Haha. XD Yeah, exactly. There are so many inspirational things that come from dreams. I have at least one entire novel that’s waiting on its turn to be written; it was inspired by a dream.
I hope you’ll manage to use that location something! It’s sounds like something for a fantasy novel. 🙂
August 6, 2011 at 3:20 am
I pretty much dream every night and I can usually remember them when I wake up 🙂 some of my dreams are pretty dramatic and scary, others are just everyday stuff. I think dreams are a source of my inspiration, it kinda let my imagination go wild and i often see my dreams as a reflection of what I’m thinking/worried/fantasising about 🙂
August 7, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Dreams are so amazing, because they can be whatever they want to be. They’re always different and as such, give a lot of ideas. 🙂