Some authors dream their books. Has that ever happened to you?
Whether that’s happened to you or not, tell us about how your best story ideas came to you and how they evolved into a book.
12 thoughts on “Reader Friday: Have you ever “dreamed” a book?”
My very first published book came to me in a dream. I was working as a clinical nurse specialist at the time, and I had a private office in the hospital. I dreamed that a strange man strolled in one morning and said my boss needed me for a meeting. I went with the guy into the elevator. We soared upward, and when the door opened, we were in a spaceship. I woke up. Oh, no. I had to finish this dream! And so I wrote the story that became CIRCLE OF LIGHT and won the HOLT Medallion Award. Attorney Sarina Bretton is kidnapped from Earth by Captain Teir Reylock of the Coalition Defense League. As the legendary Great Healer, Sarina is destined to marry Lord Cam’brii, a stiff politician, but she falls in love with the rakishly handsome captain instead.
Wow. Amazing. The power of the mind, Nancy. Thanks for sharing your award winning experience. I’ve only known one author who dreamed books, rather frequently. A very successful one. And now you. Very cool.
So far, I’ve never dreamed a book, but the idea for my series about a conspiracy of women who kill pedophiles came from a friend, and since that idea actually started me writing fiction, I’ll share some details.
A group of women friends I run away from home with for a long weekend every year were at a cottage on a lake. My friend says, “Hey, I want to tell you about an idea for a novel I know I’ll never get around to writing.”
And so she shared the idea (which may be the last in my series), and we decided to write it together, a la NAKED CAME A STRANGER, which apparently was a group project (and not recommended!). We each had assignments for the intervening year: to develop one character, and, in my case, to research guns (I was shooting skeet competitively at the time.) Another had to research possible settings in Vancouver, BC. Another, a vet, had to research poisons. You get the idea.
When we met the following year, I was the only one who had done my homework, so the project became mine alone…and has resulted in tons of ideas for stories based on the main concept, not to mention (but I will) that I love writing and learning how to be a better writer.
That weekend changed my life.
Great experience, Sheryl. I love collaborative ideas. You made it payoff. Good for you.
I dreamed an entire short story about a spaceship captain whose ship has been infected with an alien plague. Sitting in quarantine, watching his crew die, the captain takes up knitting to pass the time, and knits a scarf for each man who dies. It was too good not to write, so now it’s on Amazon, titled A Stitch of Honor.
I had a dream that set off my WIP. It was nothing special, just my characters from book 1 hanging out together and things being sweetly romantic. It sent me galloping into book 2 as fast as possible.
How fun, Kessie. Good that you’re attuned to your mind. I’m sensing a theme this morning of space and aliens.
One of my heroes woke me at one a.m. telling me the ending of his story. I keep note pads all over my house so I grabbed the nearest one and scribed his story. It’s an amazing experience, for sure. Good to know when we’re sleeping, we are still working.
A number of my dreams have become the basis for short stories, although never a whole novel. However, the novel that I am just finishing started life as a series of those dreamed stories woven together against a common background. Of course, I had to work in some conscious linking elements that weren’t in the initial dreams.
Very cool, Roland. You’re a natural storyteller whether you’re awake or not. Never give up on a good idea. Make it work.
Thanks for the encouraging comment, Jordan. Will keep dreaming.
I had a dream awhile ago that was so vivid that I woke and immediately wrote it down. It is the bones for a short story at present about the evolution of members of the human species into a higher form of life. It starts with the serial disappearances of people reported in the media. The protagonist reads about a woman he knows who disappeared when jogging with her husband. The protag lives the perfect healthy life, but he is noticing some changes with his hearing and vision, but when tested, he is healthier than ever. He is involved in an explosion when overseeing an alternate energy project and wakes in the hospital completely covered in bandages. The medical personnel are very worried about him when he wakes. He learns that he is burned over nearly 100% of his body and whispers are shocked that he is still alive. They comfort him and tell him that they’ll keep him comfortable until the end. But he doesn’t die, he evolves into a higher form, frightening the medical staff in his transformation. In his new form, he discovers all the missing people, also transformed.
I wish that I could dream this vividly all the time! And why not about my current WIP?
Maybe you DO dream all the time, but just don’t remember. Think about THAT????
My very first published book came to me in a dream. I was working as a clinical nurse specialist at the time, and I had a private office in the hospital. I dreamed that a strange man strolled in one morning and said my boss needed me for a meeting. I went with the guy into the elevator. We soared upward, and when the door opened, we were in a spaceship. I woke up. Oh, no. I had to finish this dream! And so I wrote the story that became CIRCLE OF LIGHT and won the HOLT Medallion Award. Attorney Sarina Bretton is kidnapped from Earth by Captain Teir Reylock of the Coalition Defense League. As the legendary Great Healer, Sarina is destined to marry Lord Cam’brii, a stiff politician, but she falls in love with the rakishly handsome captain instead.
Wow. Amazing. The power of the mind, Nancy. Thanks for sharing your award winning experience. I’ve only known one author who dreamed books, rather frequently. A very successful one. And now you. Very cool.
So far, I’ve never dreamed a book, but the idea for my series about a conspiracy of women who kill pedophiles came from a friend, and since that idea actually started me writing fiction, I’ll share some details.
A group of women friends I run away from home with for a long weekend every year were at a cottage on a lake. My friend says, “Hey, I want to tell you about an idea for a novel I know I’ll never get around to writing.”
And so she shared the idea (which may be the last in my series), and we decided to write it together, a la NAKED CAME A STRANGER, which apparently was a group project (and not recommended!). We each had assignments for the intervening year: to develop one character, and, in my case, to research guns (I was shooting skeet competitively at the time.) Another had to research possible settings in Vancouver, BC. Another, a vet, had to research poisons. You get the idea.
When we met the following year, I was the only one who had done my homework, so the project became mine alone…and has resulted in tons of ideas for stories based on the main concept, not to mention (but I will) that I love writing and learning how to be a better writer.
That weekend changed my life.
Great experience, Sheryl. I love collaborative ideas. You made it payoff. Good for you.
I dreamed an entire short story about a spaceship captain whose ship has been infected with an alien plague. Sitting in quarantine, watching his crew die, the captain takes up knitting to pass the time, and knits a scarf for each man who dies. It was too good not to write, so now it’s on Amazon, titled A Stitch of Honor.
I had a dream that set off my WIP. It was nothing special, just my characters from book 1 hanging out together and things being sweetly romantic. It sent me galloping into book 2 as fast as possible.
How fun, Kessie. Good that you’re attuned to your mind. I’m sensing a theme this morning of space and aliens.
One of my heroes woke me at one a.m. telling me the ending of his story. I keep note pads all over my house so I grabbed the nearest one and scribed his story. It’s an amazing experience, for sure. Good to know when we’re sleeping, we are still working.
A number of my dreams have become the basis for short stories, although never a whole novel. However, the novel that I am just finishing started life as a series of those dreamed stories woven together against a common background. Of course, I had to work in some conscious linking elements that weren’t in the initial dreams.
Very cool, Roland. You’re a natural storyteller whether you’re awake or not. Never give up on a good idea. Make it work.
Thanks for the encouraging comment, Jordan. Will keep dreaming.
I had a dream awhile ago that was so vivid that I woke and immediately wrote it down. It is the bones for a short story at present about the evolution of members of the human species into a higher form of life. It starts with the serial disappearances of people reported in the media. The protagonist reads about a woman he knows who disappeared when jogging with her husband. The protag lives the perfect healthy life, but he is noticing some changes with his hearing and vision, but when tested, he is healthier than ever. He is involved in an explosion when overseeing an alternate energy project and wakes in the hospital completely covered in bandages. The medical personnel are very worried about him when he wakes. He learns that he is burned over nearly 100% of his body and whispers are shocked that he is still alive. They comfort him and tell him that they’ll keep him comfortable until the end. But he doesn’t die, he evolves into a higher form, frightening the medical staff in his transformation. In his new form, he discovers all the missing people, also transformed.
I wish that I could dream this vividly all the time! And why not about my current WIP?
Maybe you DO dream all the time, but just don’t remember. Think about THAT????
Or sleep on it.