Writing Tips

Dreams: A source of ideas

We all have dreams when we sleep, correct?

They don't always happen (actual reason why, but that doesn't belong in a tip book unless you guys want it covered lol) but they can be quite crazy when they do!

Some dreams actually have a little story while some dreams make no damn sense.

But why should they really matter?

Well, some psychologists say they help explain your desires, an unresolved conflict, or are a representation of everything you experienced that day.

But here, on Wattpad, there's something else these dreams we have can be used for:

Ideas.

Now, maybe a woman who grows big like a balloon that also is chasing you with a fish doesn't work as an idea, but some dreams do make interesting plots.

Personally for me, I've come up with three stories based on dreams so far. They're not written out completely, but everything from my dreams that worked for a book were written down immediately so I don't forget the details.

Just how do we go about making a story with a dream we have?

Well, I'll show you how with a reoccurring dream of mine I had from age 7 to age 13.

A little summary of what this dream held: A spider-like alien ship towering over my neighborhood and attacking everyone. It had lasers going every which way and small ships also chasing people in my neighborhood. There were neighbors sunning all around, some business man in Mrs Smith's home running off (miss the sweet lady, she moved to Florida for retirement), the jock bitch that I live next to trapped outside her house, and so much more chaos. And I'm all observing this by standing in the middle of the road between the jock girl and Mrs Smith's homes.

I'd love to illustrate what I've seen in this dream, but I sadly don't have time to go into the massive detail this ship had (mainly shading I just don't have time for).

But from this dream I can find an interesting plot for a story. And for me personally, I like taking the perspective I see in my dream and make that the main character.

So with that, I'll craft a character to take my place to what was me in the dream. Craft a jock type female rival, a sweet old lady, and other neighborhood personalities I'd want in the story.

With the idea of characters down, where can I also alternate what's happened?

Well, I don't get along with my neighbor girl (we're much of the popular blonde antagonist and the typical girl-next-door/artist cliche from a teen fic) so how about using a concept of a rivalry between the main character and the typical popular girl?

We're going with a cliche plot point with that, but those are okay to use in some instances, just don't overdo them.

So we have two girls who don't like one another, on completely different aspects of popularity in school, and they live next door to one another.

This can now go into some different aspects depending on how you want the alien invasion to go.

Say the invasion starts in the neighborhood and spreads out. It's all about survival and working with your neighborhood. The main and the blonde could be fighting a lot and cause issues for the group.

Maybe they live their lives normally and still go to school despite the invasion. Bring the conflicts through school and have the aliens terrorize everyone. But with it, the two girls have to work together as they know most about defeating the aliens.

Maybe you want to make it a romance. Taking the idea from that second one but make it where the two girls fall in love with one another. Make it more intense as their feelings fuel their attacks and other aspects of fighting the aliens.

Those are just a few ideas, but so more could be thought of.

Dreams can bring many ideas, so don't just think you had a weirdo dream. Write down what you dream of (except traumatizing stuff, learned in psychology that can screw you up more if you reread them) and you can find some things you could make into a fun story idea and plot!

Remember, if this chapter has been useful, make sure to vote please! :)