Hope you had a great 4th of July. It's hot in Los Angeles, but it might be even more uncomfortable where you are from what I hear on the weather reports. By the way, I have a Battle of the Bands post currently up so if you're into music I hope you'll join us and vote on your favorite recording.
And now, on to...
The Insecure Writer's Support Group
Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog.
The co-hosts for the July 5 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, Gwen Gardner, Pat Garcia, and Natalie Aguirre.
July 5 question - 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?
Dreams have always been a major part of my storytelling mind. When I was a child I would often imagine continuations of my dreams or conjure stories inspired by my dreams. Starting in my high school years I began keeping a dream journal where I would record remembered details of what I had dreamed upon awakening and often embellish my memory with more descriptive details of what I imagined that I had seen and experienced. I faithfully recorded my dreams well into my college years and since then I have now and then written down my dreams as potential story ideas.
Other story inspirations have come from news stories that intrigued me, anecdotes heard from other people, or my own personal experiences. However dreams have been a tremendous influence on my imagination life. In fact, my fascination with dreams led me to publish a blog about dreams at A Faraway View. The posts are still available if you're interested in reading my thoughts about dreams though it's been several years since I published anything on that site. Still the information might have relevance to those who are interested.
Have you ever kept a dream journal? Do you find that real life stories are more interesting to write about than dreams or fantasies? Do you have any currently dormant blogs waiting for readers to discover?
I should have kept a dream journal. My dreams are crazy nearly all the time. Most likely, I write down dreams if I remember them, in my daily journal though.
ReplyDeleteTeresa
Teresa, most dreams are crazy I think. It's crazier when I have a completely normal seeming dream.
DeleteLee
I've never kept a dream journal, and that's probably because I don't remember them once I'm awake. Getting ideas for stories is always a mysterious process, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteC.Lee, you kind of have to practice dream recall and spend a few minutes with a dream memory because they disappear so quickly. Real life gets in the way and takes over. Ideas are everywhere. I have too many of them.
DeleteLee
I've dreamt about my characters, which sometimes was a clear sign I needed to finally get back to a project I shelved years ago. Long-forgotten details about these stories and characters also came back to me during some of these dreams.
ReplyDeleteI don't write posts for my names blog nearly as often as I used to, and I keep getting back in the habit and then falling away again. I really do need to make it a priority to publish at least one post a week there.
Carrie-Anne, falling out of useful habits is something I do too often. Silly habits are in abundance.
DeleteLee
My dream journal would be blank as I rarely remember my dreams.
ReplyDeleteAlex, you have to focus on the dream memory immediately because they vanish within minutes or even seconds.
DeleteLee
I do keep a dream journal. I don't remember most dreams but the ones I do are so vivid, yet I don't know what they mean. I hope
ReplyDeleteon the "other side" I can ask the question of why we dream but don't know squat about them.
Em-Musing, there are a lot of theories about dreams but I'm not sure any are applicable to all people or dream events.
DeleteLee
The anonymous is me, Em-Musing.
ReplyDeleteFinally someone else who gets ideas from dreams!
ReplyDeleteI've been tempted to re-write a dream or two. Can't say as they've ever inspired a story though, I'll have to check out your blog about dreams. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteI've come up with story ideas in dreams in the past, more often poems. In the dream I desperately try to write it out, as my "writing pad" becomes smaller and less "writing pad"-y. Or my pen morphs into whatever. Last night, I was Batman beating crap from the Joker. Luckily, I don't make a living writing.
ReplyDelete