Turn Your Dreams into Fiction

How many times have you found yourself jerking awake in the dead of night or opening your eyes in the morning with plaguing memories of your dreams or nightmares? To a writer, one of the greatest inspirations perhaps is that which comes in the form of a dream. When you are suddenly hit with said inspirational dream, turning that dream into a work of fiction is entirely possible... if you act quickly.

The thing with dreams is that they have a tendency to fade from our minds shortly after waking, which is why it is important to capture it while you're still able to remember your dreams from the previous night. Keeping a small journal or notebook on your bedside table at night can be highly beneficial to helping you capture the essence of your dreams.

When your dreams and nightmares are still freshly beating in your mind, take the opportunity to jot them down before they fade completely. If you're unable to remember all of your dream, but rather can only recall small scenes, that's okay. Writing down something is much better than writing down nothing and while those scattered scenes may not make much sense now, they have an endless amount of potential to be developed into something much larger.

After a few days or weeks, take the time to look back over the recordings that you have made in your journal or notebook and scan the phrases for inspiration for stories. Your mind in the dreaming state works differently from when you are awake, so taking full advantage of those differences can be a great way to open your mind and perspective to ideas that you may not have previously considered before.