On writing from dreams

Sometimes I have a dream so striking, one that lingers long after I’ve woken from it, that I feel I have to not only write it down, but create a story from it. However, I’ve never been able to create a successful story from a dream, or if I do, the end story bears so little resemblance to the original dream that it may as well not be based on that dream at all.

There are plenty of examples on the web of writers who similarly struggle with turning dreams into stories as well as those who have been successful or have had a dream that has helped them solve a writing-related problem, so while it is challenging to turn a dream into a good story, it's not impossible.

Why turning dreams into stories is challenging

Turning dreams into stories is challenging because they often don’t have a coherent narrative and seem to resist any attempts to create one. Because dreams aren’t restricted by the same boundaries as reality, it can be hard to recreate the strong feelings you experience in a dream in a written work. Often, it just ends up looking and sounding dumb on the page.

I’ve read a few press releases on dream research as part of my day job and even sleep experts are divided as to why we dream. Some say it’s the brain’s way of unconsciously working through problems, while other research has shown that dreams may be important to our health. Others theorize that dreams help ensure we have something interesting in our lives so we don't become too well-adapted to our usual environment, but are ready for change at all times, which is why they can be so strange.

Because dreams may just be the brain’s way of working through problems or getting rid of “brain waste,” maybe they are hard to base a story on because they are just the garbage you need to get rid of before you write something good. Maybe they are simply part of the writing process but aren't necessarily great story material most of the time.

Why write from dreams?

Since it’s been such a failure for me so far, I don’t know why I continue trying to write stories from dreams. The key attraction is usually one scene or feeling from the dream that I need to capture. But the end result usually seems forced and empty of emotion, probably because I’m trying to add logic to something that resists any kind of logical explanation and it's hard to recreate emotions you had in a dream.

I was working on a story based on a recent dream I had, but I’ve abandoned it for now because the characters don’t have any life and I can’t capture the images and emotions from the dream. However, I read an article by a writer who had similar struggles with his stories based on dreams not working out, but was finally able to write a scene he originally dreamt that exactly captured the feeling and visuals of the dream, so maybe it’s not entirely hopeless for me.

Perhaps the key to success is focusing on one powerful scene, feeling or detail from a dream and basing a story on that, instead of trying to recreate the dream entirely. Even when I’m writing fiction from reality, I find I’m usually most successful when basing it only on a few striking details from my own experiences. Maybe that strategy is necessary when it comes to dreams too. Or maybe it won’t work because dreams are just reality that’s been too diluted and scrambled up to be a strong enough foundation for a story.

I still want to keep going with my latest dream story, even though I’m in a lull at the moment, because it’s been a good challenge and fun when it’s not driving me crazy and making me doubt whether I can ever make it as a writer. I’ll probably end up rewriting the whole thing, but the important part is to just get something down first because it’s easier to rewrite something than it is to write something. Even if I delete most of it, as long as I have enough strong bits to start over from, it usually goes much easier the second time around.