Sunday, January 24, 2010

Plotting through dreams

Have you ever had one of those dreams that you just don't want to wake up from? I'm talking the type that involve chocolate, caramel and maybe some nuts :) You try to hold onto the dream and the feeling it gives you long after you wake up. Something about being in that place and time winds you up yet gives you a feeling of safety and belonging at the same time.
That's what writing's all about. I want to open up new doors, broaden your mind and introduce new worlds and possibilities to readers. What better way to do this than through a love story? It's working out okay for Stephanie Meyer. She wrote a little series you may or may not have heard of The Twilight series? Yep, her. She only wrote the story because she dreamed about the characters and woke up before she could find out what happened to them. Thanks to her persistence we all know Edward, Bella and Jacob's story.
Now some of my dreams will go nowhere near the light of day. They are bad, really really bad, not nightmares or porn, but just flat out don't make any sense no matter which way you flip them. If I get braver I may share the three lines I wrote as I woke from a dream a couple of years ago.
Dreams are the place are imagination takes us when the real world seeks to traps us. In non-reality we are capable of being anything and conquering all beast and dangers. We can magically turn and arrow into a dove or turn mud into an ice cold glass of Diet Coke. Don't laugh I did that once in a dream. What can I say I'm a caffeine addict even when I'm asleep.
Most of the books I write come from snippets of dreams, a random conversation or a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. Then again I'm a person with a very fertile imagination. I love thinking of new plots and characters. Guess it's a good thing I'm a writer otherwise I'd of ended up in the alphabet agency.
So next time you pick up your favorite author's new book, remember she just might be sharing a dream with you.
Until next month

Kudos to all & to all a good night,
Allie Standifer

1 comment:

jean hart stewart said...

Good post. I love to know how other writers plot....