Pretty much everyone has heard the story of Stephenie Meyer having a very vivid dream that sparked the idea for TWILIGHT. I have very vivid dreams, too, so surely there's a good idea for a best-selling novel in them. Right?
Over the last week, here are some of the options I've gathered:
1. I get attacked by a bear and then wake up.
2. I get attacked by a cougar and then wake up.
(I decided to go jogging one morning and set my alarm. Dreams #1 and #2 were the result. Over and over. Perhaps I should explain that we live in a somewhat rural neighborhood with no streetlights and bears and cougars occasionally show up. I still went jogging. And no, I didn't scream when the deer jumped out of the bush at me. And, yes, it was very hard to pace myself after since my brain wouldn't stop screaming, "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die.")
3. I go to see a play with my extended family. A family member sits next to my daughter and won't move. So I slap them and gather up the kids and leave.
(No, I don't have anger issues. WHY DO YOU THINK I HAVE ANGER ISSUES???)
4. I go to visit someone. They keep hangers in their dishwasher. The end.
Personally, I think #4 has best selling novel written all over it. Or perhaps I should just keep dreaming.
What about you? Have you ever gotten a story idea from a dream before? Does anyone else wonder where their subconscious is coming up with these things?
I have awesome dreams. One was set underground in this area sort of like the vaults of Gringotts. Anyother involved my dad being part of a conspiracy to assassinate the president, and I had to foil the plot with a gum wrapper. (That was actually one of the best dreams ever.)
ReplyDeleteA week ago, I had a dream with a full plot arc.
Last night, I dreamt of my writer-friend Maggie's family. Full conversations, motivations, everything.
It's starting to get weird.
Usually I have waaaay too many ideas, soooooo I don't put much stock in dreams.
My dreams are too ridiculous to be narrative. Then again, maybe not (haha). I get my ideas from daydreams, not night dreams.
ReplyDeleteTaryn--I love that you foiled the plot with a gum wrapper! That's so much better than hangers in the dishwasher.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten about it, but I did have a very bizarre dream come true once. Not exactly, but it was close enough to be really, really weird. Maybe I should write that for my best seller. :)
Melanie--I'm with you on the ridiculous dreams (as you might have noticed). I like daydreams, though. I think I'll start telling everyone my ideas come from daydreams, too.
Thanks for commenting.
Bahahaha, your first two dreams cracked me up. I don't think I've ever had a dream that I could turn into a book... but I have 'lucid dreamt' one time in the past. (I don't even know if I said that right...) it's where you know you're in the dream, and because you know, you have total control over pretty much whatever you want to do.
ReplyDeleteThat was basically the best dream ever. If you ever realize you're in a dream, but you don't wake up, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. Shoot laserbeams from your eyes and fly around like a superhero. That's what I did.
I love it! I can't remember any recent dreams but I used to have a recurring nightmare as a child:
ReplyDeleteWonder Woman would kidnap me and lock me in a cage in a cave. A giant spider would come crawling toward me and right before it would attack me, I'd wake up.
I think that definitely has story potential.
Just last night I dreamt that aliens invaded Earth. My family and I jumped in the pool and were safe because the aliens hated water. (Don't ask me how we breathed). We discovered the secret to saving humanity, and people built sustainable cities under the oceans. The aliens and people lived as two completely separate species without contact on Earth.
ReplyDeleteI added this to my dream idea list. Yes, I have a list specifically from my dreams. Maybe I'm delusional thinking I'll be the next Stephenie Meyer, maybe I have issues my subconscious is trying to resolve. Either way I figure it can't hurt.
BTW, my super secret horror story that I'm excited to write--it was totally a dream (nightmare).
Francesca--That's really good advice! I often realize I'm dreaming, but can't seem to turn change things so they're cool. I'll have to work on that.
ReplyDeleteLiesl--That does have some story potential! Did you like Wonder Woman as a child?
Ilima--That's so cool that you get ideas from your dreams! I, for obvious reasons, don't. I can't wait to see your SSHS!
Number four will be the next big thing!! :)
ReplyDeleteI rarely have dreams that I can write about. Either they're too weird (aliens disguised as pug dogs that force me to race cars in the basement of their mountain cabin) or I just can't pull anything cohesive out of them.
But they can still be fun, even if I can't write about them.
Shallee--I don't know. Aliens disguised as dogs forcing humans to race cars does have some potential. It would certainly be interesting to see what you did with that concept!
ReplyDeleteI like Ilima's dream. I would totally read that book. Not sure about the hangers in the dishwasher though. Not quite as exciting.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any writable dreams that I know of. Maybe I should keep a dream journal...
Emily--Ilima's does sound cool, doesn't it? But I'm surprised you don't see the heart-wrenching emotional appeal of the hangers in the dishwasher. It's just so...so...full of hangers!
ReplyDeleteI've gotten ideas from snatches of dreams before. The dreams I have most often are about being back in high school or college and having a math final (always math) in a class I haven't gone to all year. :)
ReplyDeleteHa Ha! Those are great story ideas. I think you should combine them ALL into a masterpiece. My dreams are usually too off the wall to use. My subconscious is seriously wacky.
ReplyDeleteStacy--Those dreams sound awful! Math finals were bad enough when I actually attended the class. I guess that would help if you were writing some sort of stressed-out YA novel, but other than that, I can't think how those would help write a novel.
ReplyDeleteJaime--If I could combine all those ideas and have it make sense, it very well might be a masterpiece. Alas, I'm not sure I'm that talented. :)
Thanks for commenting!