*Weekend 3- Dream*
Write a dream sequence. This gives you an opportunity to dig into the mind of your character. You do this for 3 reasons:
- It’s a shortcut. A window inside your character’s soul. A peek into their motivations.
- Dreams allow you to work with imagery and symbolism. These are powerful in creating. Use vibrant, expressive words. Draw your readers in with symbolism and coherent prose.
- “Let it go. Let it go.” – Fly free and write what comes. In dreams there are no restrictions. This is the time to have a little fun with your writing. It can be ugly and vicious or have dancing lollipops. If it works in your story- go.
- Dreams can be a freaky look into your own head. I have had some that woke me up saying, “WTFluff?!” I have had dreams waking me with tears of joy while other offered nothing more than cold chills running down my spine. Some made sense and offered clarity into my world while others…nope. What about you? What do you dream of? I dream of a magical diet that helps me lose weight just by thinking about it. “Oh, look! I’m thin again. How nice.” But no. My world is surrounded by yummy things while I sit here munching on celery with a bit of peanut butter. The only saving grace is the peanut butter. This quarantine crap is not helping my diet. The Hubs has stuffed the house with sweeties and my butt is expanding just thinking of them. Not fair.
Enough of my grumbling, let’s hit the day running and refill those cuppas. Find a nibble and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH ME. I will meet you on the reading rug with my copy of The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray. Bring your copy if you have one. We will be on page 48 for those reading from home.
Guidelines for Writing the Dream
This is where you roll back the hairline and peek inside the mind of your characters. You can drift along time and space and see what happens. Find their hidden fantasy or desires. Their dream can be a trip down memory lane which could be wonderful or traumatic. If you narrow your focus in on a certain scene in the life, you can play it out in different ways. They can be the winner in a traumatic dream. They can beat the Boogieman and not play victim to it. Well, at least in the dream.
Take 10 – 15 minutes to free write your dream sequence. Let go and go with the flow. Allow all your pent-up creative juices to pour out of your pen onto the page. Start with the line, “In the dream, she/he/they…”
It can become a simple shift in location, “In the desert…”, “In the spaceship…”, or “In Grandma’s kitchen…” The dream should progress like a story. You will need a three-part structure- beginning, middle, and end.
Repetition
Think about the movie, Labyrinth, how Sarah is constantly repeating a piece of a storyline that she just can’t remember. It isn’t until the movie wraps to a point where that specific line becomes paramount to her survival that she remembers. “You have no power over me.” Let your repetitive words have meaning and allow them to drift throughout the dream. When you do this, you are tagging these words and phrases as important as the story moves forward beyond the dream.
Logical Sequence
Even in a dream, things need to follow proper sequencing. Example in book: Insert key; the lock opens. This is logical order. You feel a chill and pull your jacket tighter. Logical.
Letting Go
While free writing your dream use connecting words to keep your scene moving- and, then, and then, when, so, but. As your momentum picks up allow images to change into other things along the way. Tree branches become hands. Cats become lions and tigers.
Your teddy bear becomes a real bear chasing you through the branches that have now become hands. Eeeeeeeeeeek
Exercise Time!
- Close your eyes, take a deep breath. Let your mind go. Concentrate on your breathing. How you inhale and fill your lungs like balloons. Feel your chest as it rises and falls with each breath. Note your nose and follow the path of a breath from intake to release. When you feel relaxed, open your eyes and start writing all the symbolism that comes to mind about breathing. Write the, “In the dream…” line and fill it with breathing symbolism. Write a dream scene about breathing.
- Pick it apart. Go back into your dream story and pick out the key words. Words that repeat. List them on a separate sheet as “Symbols” and “Images.”
- Write a dream for each of your main characters. Practice the deep breathing technique and free writing. If you need more direction, then create that symbolism and imagery list for those characters as well.
** Lungs: balloons, bags, pop, wet, suffocation, wheeze, empty
How are we doing? Is this book helping? We are all on quarantine, hopefully we are taking advantage of some of this time to focus on our dreams.
Polish your sparkle and keep twirling.
Find joy. Be joy. Enjoy.
I’m always looking for new friends!
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