Readers are loving getting to know a bunch of authors, known or not, through the Ask an Author feature, launched the fay before Valentine’s Day here on Sahar’s Blog. This new feature, which is published here twice a month on Friday afternoons, is thriving thanks to the dedication of an amazing group of authors who continue to share their answers to a variety of questions, from serious to silly ones. If you are an author who wants to be added to this list or a reader with a question, email me at saharsblog (at) gmail (dot) com!
This Feature’s Question was suggested by one of our featured authors whose writing inspiration mainly comes from their dreams: Do you dream? If yes, do you have a particularly funny/scary/inspiring recurring dream?
I dream very vividly. I often feel like my mind is in “beast-mode” when I dream- colors, sounds, smells, insane characters and situations. I suppose that is why I write, because if I kept all that craziness locked away, I would go mad…..which leads me to wonder on occasion, what if THAT is my awake life and THIS is my dream/sleep life? Ponder that for a bit and see if it doesn’t scare you….just a little.
Do I dream? Yes. They vary a lot but what I often recall are ones that are close to real life ones. Mostly the brain sorting out what it needs to do and running scenarios it seems.
I don’t have many recurring dreams, but I had one when I was younger that was a fantasy epic that ran for 3-4 nights straight. The bad thing was, it was like I missed part of the movie in-between from being awake. I wish my brain would air it again!
To quote the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, of course I dream. ‘All intelligent beings dream. Nobody knows why.’ My dreams, when I have them, are not very restful, tending to collapse into nightmares, which might have something to do with the horror writer in me! Recently, I dreamed that I was looking for my car in a gigantesque parking lot like the ones you see at Disney World. Only my car was white, along with every other car in the lot. I spent the entire ‘night’ wandering from park to park searching for my car. Here’s what an online dream analysis site made of it: “To dream that you are in parking lot suggests that you need to slow down and take time from your daily activities.” Now, why am I not surprised…?
The simple answer is, yes. . . Doesn’t everyone? I have more nightmares than dreams it seems like due to the writing of Wake Up! Based on a true story of abuse and betrayal. AS I write, edit and/or revisit what is written in it, I invariably have nightmares. Lately, the one that has been recurring is a memory, not a dream. Unfortunately, I can’t turn it off when it happens so my feelings of anxiety and depression creep in.
Yes, I dream. In fact, I dream a lot. However, my dreams don’t follow a particular pattern. They come in different forms and with different messages. Sometimes it’s scary and I wake up panting. Some other times, its funny, inspiring or just okay. Still, there are times I feel like remaining in dream land because at those times, I almost feel like I am in heaven. For example, there was a dream I had about winning an award for the best story blog in Africa and I was presented with the award, along with a huge sum of money. I didn’t want to wake up from that dream. Gosh!!! I was so pissed when my brother woke me up.
Dream or daydream, I do both, though the daydreaming is where all the interesting stuff happens. Hook-ups, murders, cover-ups, magic, fight scenes and love scenes(those are fun), all of these play out in detail in my head as if I’m living it. And if they end up on the printed page, all the better.
I dream quite a lot, disturbing dreams mostly, which has always been the case. They provide me with ample fodder for my stories and novels, so I’ll never begrudge them from preventing a peaceful nights sleep. I used to have recurring dreams quite a lot when I was younger, but sadly, not so much these days.
In the young adult novel, Room Made of Windows by Eleanor Cameron, Julia submits a story based on a dream to a magazine. Following her inspiration, I tried recording dreams and then turning them into stories. Alas, my mind is capable of being much more bizarre in dream state than in my awake moments.