Ideas
So I read on another Authors blog recently that one of the most common questions that authors are asked is where they get their ideas.
I have to admit it has never occurred to me to ask this question. The question I would be more likely to ask is how do you decide which idea is worth writing and which ones to pass on.
I have hundreds of ideas. I have stories started in notebooks all over the house. When I run out of notebooks to start ideas in I flip the notebook over and start a new idea at the back.
If I run out of ideas I have a wonderful idea generation technique.
I take a nap.
My dreams are highly vivid. In addition I remember my dreams in detail when I wake up and occasionally I even revisit a dream for several nights in a row. I really like dreaming. For a long time I thought everyone dreamt the way I did – in wonderfully detailed stories that they could continue to tell themselves when they woke up.
When I was young this was sometimes a problem as I would have recurring and vivid nightmares. However at some point I started to sometimes have Lucid dreams. Occasionally I realize I am in a dream and direct the dream and “tell” the story to myself even as I participated in the dream. I make the dream move forward as a story and change details to suite the way I want the story to go.
Many – maybe even most of my story ideas have started as either a very vivid dream or a lucid dream. My subconscious mind never seems to run out of fascinating ideas, at least to me 🙂 . Sometimes these stories draw me in so much that I want to revisit them on paper.
The issue I run into is which of these dozens of ideas to turn into full stories, then staying focused on that story to completion and not getting distracted by another idea when I fall asleep. 🙂
1 Comment
You are very lucky to naturally have the ability to lucid dream. It’s something myself and many other people have to work hard to achieve.
Lucid dreams are a great way to interact with our subconscious without the distractions of our every day lives and the restrictions of our waking reality. I have added a new section to my wiki which was inspired by your blog called CreativeLucidDreaming. Would you like to contribute an article about your experience of lucid dreaming and how you are using them to inspire your stories? Include links to your own website or any other sources you like.
You can find the new section here: http://www.iamluciddreaming.com/docs/CreativeLucidDreaming
I created my website to help people have regular lucid dreams by supplying free web based tools and information. Hearing from someone like yourself who is actively using lucid dreams should encourage and inspire my members.