DREAMING A PERFECT STORY

By Connie S. Hall

I recently read some advice. “Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.”

For a writer it’s all about dreams. Most of them occur while we are awake. We all take journeys wherever our mind wanders. I do disagree with the advice because as a writer I get many chances. They come every time I write about another adventure. In every story, I want to be someone different, do original things, and reach new heights. I’m not content to do the same thing all the time.

The human mind has the ability to generate and conjure up many images. Most of us share common fears. We worry about the same things, have similar hopes, and everyone has conflicts in their lives. Having someone chase you during a dream is a common occurrence. Nightmares are frequent, and recurring dreams happen to all of us.

I did a little research about dreams and was surprised to learn that an average person spends a total of six years of their life (at least two hours a night) dreaming. Your senses are the basis of many dreams. Five minutes after your dream is complete, you forget half the content. Ten minutes after you wake up you have lost 90% of what you dreamed.

Have you ever had a vivid dream that seemed to take most the night, but you refused to wake up to write it down, and by morning, the entire episode was gone? Erasing it forever from your memory is sad. The chance of a recurring dream might happen, but probably not.

This happened to me recently when I was studying how to write a good mystery. As I dreamed, I knew it would be a good story, but I didn’t want to stop dreaming. Now all I know is I dreamed a good mystery, and it will never enter my head again. I hope I will never again refuse to wake up. I, like all writers, know that when you think it, you have to write it immediately. Next time I dream a perfect story I’m going to wake up.