These past few days found me being under medication. I had vivid dreams about stories with incredible plots, original conflicts, and heroines whose exploits riveled the best in fantasyland, history, and the urban streets. Of course it’s well known that many writers create their greatests manuscripts based on a dream or a nightmare they have. The first short story that I can remember writing from my green salad days was when I was in third grade and involved a horrendous nightmare.
This time, however, when I woke up, I remember NOT A ONE! I had my pen and paper by my bed. When I’d wake up and finally get my eyes straightened back out, I’d reach for the paper and just find water marks on it from where I sat wet bottomed paper cups.
Did you ever finally retrieve that story idea from dream and turn it into an accomplished manuscript? If not, maybe that means that it’s just time to take another nap, and try again. OK, try again!
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Eleanora, I've never been disciplined enough to work with my dreams, to even keep a notebook or pen and paper at hand. But maybe it would be a good shake-up, as lately I've been thinking I need to be more fanciful. Not fancy, mind you.
I am totally down with napping all the time. I wish they'd let me nap at work. That would be beyond righteous.
I occasionally have really cool narrative dreams that are long and involved and lots of fun but I never remember them when I wake up. Too bad, too.
What about the pre-dream state, y'all? That is when a character often whispers in my ear… Also, I've experienced a recurring dream (since high school) that someone is chasing me in a rickety abandoned house. It's never crept into a story, though…literally, anyway.