When I dream, my subconscious mind is creating stories from various random things, people and events that have been thrown my way in my waking life. The stories are sometimes funny and sometimes scary and always weird and nonsensical. My dreams inspire me and often give me great ideas for various elements of my stories from plot twists to character development. Sometimes, inspiration comes from dreams that I can’t understand, despite my best efforts. For example, I’ve had a recurrent dream about visiting a haunted house. It’s in the woods and only the top third level of the house is haunted. I avoid the haunted section despite my curiosity. I’ve decided to write a story about about this dream so that I may discover what lives on the third floor.
Sometimes my dreams are too surreal and nonsensical and I’m unable to derive any coherent meaning from them. But many times when I wake in the middle of the night, a great idea for an element of one of my novels or stories comes to me. Sometimes, it’s an element of characterization and sometimes it’s an intriguing twist. I usually attribute these flashes of ideas to a dream I just had and forgot the second I woke.
This post is from my blog series, “Tips for Writing Fiction.” Be sure to check out my Greco Family Trilogy books, which include Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Discovery of an Eagle, and The Bird that Sang in Color. These books are available from all major online book sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
