I had planned to write about Narrative POV this morning, but it’s 6am and I haven’t had my coffee. My head is still foggy with images and plot twists from my dreams.
I remember distinctly, at age 5, thinking dreams were like movies. The nights always sped by too quickly and I wanted to stay in the story. It is still like that for me. My dreams have involved plots with mystery, conflict and at times, a touch of the bizarre. They are my feeding ground for writing. Nightmares give me intense, first-hand knowledge of terror that I can use with my characters. Stress dreams translate as puzzles to be solved and then there are the truly bizarre dreams full of whimsy and fantasy.
The un-censoring mind you have when you first awake knows exactly what to do with this gift. Write. A psychologist would best be able to explain the connection, but I’ve found that the same part of my brain that generates these image-rich dreams also generates fluid prose. For a brief time, the inner critic stays at bay and words spill in an organic motion across my screen.
Great thinkers of our time have credited dreams with problem solving and discovery. The mind really is an incredible place to explore, but it seems we have access to more of its computational prowess at night and mere moments to hold on to it in the morning.
Last night was a murder mystery that took place in a pre-school and for some reason Dr. House was on the case. He was not nice to the children. As a writing prompt, I’m going to go with it and warm up my fingers and brain.
I’ll be back later to talk POV and the role it plays in genre; until then sweet dreams.