I had an intriguing dream last night that I was part of a theatrical group, and it appeared the woman in charge of makeup was a serial killer. The
night before opening night, she offed us one by one. She did so with an interesting psychological motive that centered around the reveal that she had a glass eye she lost in a traumatic childhood injury that resulted in a psychotic hatred of people with normal vision.
Note to self: No more pizza before bed.
Many of the works I have published have been inspired by dreams, but they are not retellings of the dreams themselves.
A note to aspiring writers: dream symbolism is, regardless of the copious books written on the subject, not necessarily universal, but highly subjective. What moved you so strongly in your nocturnal wanderings could be quite boring to others, and writers often lack the words to convey the emotional power of potent dream imagery.
However, you can use the dream as inspiration for a story. Coventry House and Yew Manor are two novellas inspired by my dreams, but the plots and characters are deliberate additions to make the story more interesting to my readers; I still retained an echo of the emotional power of the inspiration that gave me the ideas. The third novella in my "magic house" trilogy has the working title Tyson Mansion and continues the inspiration I found in that one powerful dream, and it's probably closest to it in its plot line.
H. P. Lovecraft and others used their dreams as fertile ground for story ideas. Just remember that the resulting story has to be revised so its power is available to all, not just to you as the writer.
And above all, keep writing.
Note to self: No more pizza before bed.
Many of the works I have published have been inspired by dreams, but they are not retellings of the dreams themselves.
A note to aspiring writers: dream symbolism is, regardless of the copious books written on the subject, not necessarily universal, but highly subjective. What moved you so strongly in your nocturnal wanderings could be quite boring to others, and writers often lack the words to convey the emotional power of potent dream imagery.
However, you can use the dream as inspiration for a story. Coventry House and Yew Manor are two novellas inspired by my dreams, but the plots and characters are deliberate additions to make the story more interesting to my readers; I still retained an echo of the emotional power of the inspiration that gave me the ideas. The third novella in my "magic house" trilogy has the working title Tyson Mansion and continues the inspiration I found in that one powerful dream, and it's probably closest to it in its plot line.
H. P. Lovecraft and others used their dreams as fertile ground for story ideas. Just remember that the resulting story has to be revised so its power is available to all, not just to you as the writer.
And above all, keep writing.
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