I wonder if writers dream differently. It seems like they should. We’re people immersed in parts of our brains that leave others curious as to why we’re not medicated—hourly. On occasion, readers ask if I dream the plots of my books. To a point, yes. But surely not in the way they think—like a movie with an all access pass. I tend to dream on higher ground, if that makes sense. It means I have to search for the connection between the work in progress and the dream. It’s there. It’s just not always obvious.
That is, of course, not to say many authors don’t dream incredibly loud with astonishingly clear results. There are well-documented incidences of authors conjuring up bestsellers in their sleep. The list includes Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, the biggest, bestselling novel of its genre. The then suburban Arizona homemaker claims to have awakened from a dream that starred two young lovers, lying in a meadow, discussing the obstacles of a bloodthirsty vampire falling in love with an average young woman. Clearly, Meyers was off and running with the lion and the lamb, or perhaps her take on Little Red Riding Hood and “All the better to eat you with, my dear… “
Dreamy plot lines date all the way back to 1816 and an impressionable 18-year old Mary Shelley. One evening, a fireside chat with her future husband and the influences of electrical current on the human body led to a nightmarish dream that ultimately led to the classic Frankenstein. This story always surprises me, as I don’t find the occurrence of the dream nearly as fascinating as a conversation about electrical current. Not in a time where the room was warmed by fire and lit by candlelight. It’s amazing how the imagination can sometimes appear to see into the future.
Stephen King, who says “dreams are like looking at the back of your head with a mirror” has literally dreamt up several of his novels. The most famous dream-story is Misery. While on a flight, King dreamt of a lunatic fan kidnapping her most favorite author and holding him hostage. When he awoke, King was so struck by the dream he plunged directly into the work. He immediately produced the first 50-pages and eventually a best actress Oscar for Kathy Bates, who portrayed they psychotic Annie Wilkes in the screen adaption of the 1988 bestseller.
But not all reverie produces vampires, monsters and psychopaths. The most metaphorical, dream-themed novel is probably Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Author Richard Bach credits a “disembodied voice” whispering the beginnings of the novel in his sleep. Unfortunately, the message fell short, not supplying the middle or end of the allegory. It would take Bach another eight years to complete the fable that elevates a seagull from the basic instinct of scavenging for food, to pursuing flight as the seabird’s higher calling. The unlikely premise also skyrocketed book sales, eventually knocking Gone With the Wind off the all-time bestseller list.
It may be that I sound jaded, but personally I think the soft-rock 70’s era lent itself to some of the book’s success, not unlike the digital age propelling the Fifty-Shades phenomenon. While dreams are important, timing can’t be discounted. It’s probably good to note, now that I’ve brought it up, that Fifty-Shades of Grey was born out of fan-fiction, not a dream—although I wonder if anyone has ever put the question to E. L. James? Surely, that would be a dream sequence like no other.
What an intriguing topic! I get a lot of basic plot ideas from elements of my dreams, but they’re very rarely “fully cooked.” They take a lot of consideration afterward before they ever taken on any sort of substance. I even at one point had a dream journal going in hopes I could grasp onto some of those ideas that tend to disappear only minutes after the dream is gone.
Great post!
Thanks for stopping by, Amalie! It is an intriguing topic. I think my dreams are a lot like yours–never fully cooked! And I admire your dream journal aspirations! I could never been that organized, especially half-asleep! Here’s hoping you dream a bestseller!