Do Dreams Power Your Fiction?
Here is a fascinating article on the role of dreaming.
As a teenager I used to read books and articles about dreaming, and lucid dreaming. I’ve always been fascinated by dreaming, probably because I’m one of those people who has incredibly vivid dreams almost every night.
Sometimes I problem-solve in my dreams, although this is more rare. I’m elated to wake in the morning, when I find that a difficult problem was unraveled overnight. More often though, my dreams are like a fast-paced action movie. It’s no surprise my fiction is action-oriented, as my dreams are riddled with chase sequences, escape from enemies, persecution, and paranoia.
To many people, these might seem like nightmares. Usually I am the one being chased, pursued, persecuted, or attacked. While this is frightening to some, it is such a normal occurrence in my dreams that I treat it as entertainment. My fear is not usually “Oh no, I’m going to die!” It is usually more solution oriented; “How can I escape? Where can I go? What can I do?” This kind of attitude within my dreams lends enormous creative power.
In my dreams, I’ve hopped planes to distant cities, scaled buildings, run double-backs in complicated urban neighborhoods, placed bombs, fired guns… all to escape from my pursuers. There is a constant sense of vigilant paranoia in my dreams. But rather than be a bad thing, it’s a wonderful thing for me. Consequently, it is no suprise I take great delight in the stories of Philip K. Dick as his themes almost always touch on the topics within my dreams, although usually fueled by more interesting ideas.
Dreams are evidence of enormous creative power within the human brain. We create fiction without any effort whatsoever, while we’re asleep. That begs the question, “Why is creativity so hard in waking life then?”
I won’t pretend I have the answer to that question. But I can ask…
Do you harness the power of dreaming?
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July 12th, 2006 at 1:58 am
Well it took me so long to log in i think i forgot my comment. I dream alot too but i read somewhere recently(and again i think i’ve fogotten this exactly also) that people that dream alot are stressed or anxiety ridden and trying to work things out overtime in their dreams. I do know that unresolved business and fears follow me in my dreams.
July 12th, 2006 at 3:57 am
Sorry about the comment thing. I had problems with comment spam. I’ve gotten a few complaints so I’m thinking about backing off the reg requirements. Don’t want it to be too tough.
About dreaming… yeah, I’m an anxious kind of person I guess you could say. But dreaming is also a sign of an overactive mind in general. From what I know of him, Einstein used to dream a lot, and even dream specifically about physics and equations.
I have cracked a few story problems in my dreams. Perhaps it is ’stress’ – but not entirely a bad kind of stress. At least I hope not. ;-)
July 12th, 2006 at 11:25 am
Typically I’d say my dreams never stay with me once I awake…however last night I had a variety of vivid dreams that I actually remember.
What I find so amusing about the dreams I remember is they always involve people I ‘know’ in situations I’m ‘familiar’ with, but people are in situations that they are not familiar with :D
July 12th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
Jennifer,
That’s funny. So I take it these were people you know acting out things you normally do, confused as to why they’re acting like you?
Amusing. :)
July 13th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Eric: It can be amusing :D Sometimes it’s also quite disturbing. Makes me wonder what’s going on in my mind sometimes!
July 14th, 2006 at 1:31 am
Jennifer,
Well, I always dream about killers and conspiracies, so as far as wondering what goes on in the brain–I know the feeling. :)
July 15th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
“Why is creativity so hard in waking life then?â€
That little guy called the censor makes us want to change everything. With writing, I’m finding that the more I do, the better the chances are that I don’t hear a single word he says.
The dream stuff is fascinating, though most of my strange and obtuse dreams are caused more by the spicy salsa and chips I ate rather than what I’ve read.
Great post…
~m
July 15th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Yeah, it’s important to turn the inner critic off, and safe to say there is no critic while dreaming.
July 25th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
I actually have an entire novel planned out in my head that is based off a dream I had as a teenager.