Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I Almost Drowned in a Grocery Store

And I would have too, if Lizzie hadn't woken me up. Though I may have been able to escape. I'll never know. (I also won't know why Christine's name was announced at the end, but then, that may have just been some stupid thing my brain threw in.)

Of course, (as you've probably guessed by now) this post is about a dream. And, because I finally remembered (quite vividly) one of my dreams, I'm going to share it with you. In story form! -cheers-

We're in a store; not big enough to be a department store, not a Wal-Mart. It's just a store. We're looking for someone, a big someone. How is he so good at hiding?

We look everywhere, running up and down aisles, until we find him. He looks scared, nervous, but he leads us willingly enough to where we want to go.
It feels like there is a glass between us and them. We know we have to move forward, though. That's what we came here for. So we step over the threshold.

The ghosts are regal; their ladies in fancy, hoop dresses, the men in suit and tie. They cluster around small tables were once they laughed. The most solemn figures sit at their head, the king and his queen.

Slowly, we cross the room, careful not to touch. It's as if we aren't there. No eyes follow us behind the royals' thrones where we dare to venture.
As we stand there, gazing at the ghosts, she does it. My counterpart pops the crowned head before us. It's silly but the man told us that it's the only thing to do, and he knows them best. I take a deep breath, waiting.

The king screams, horrible screams. He calls for blood, and he screams. We run like rabbits but the floor is covered in boiling water. Other screams join the first as the water rises.

We head for an exit but we can't get through. Strange men on the outside hold them tight. The water builds to our waists as we run from exit to exit.
People are pounding on windows, panicking. The ghosts are dooming us to their demise. I spot one last glimmer of hope, a simple staircase. We sprint to it, passing a ghastly hand pouring more water into the growing ocean.
We're almost there. If only it's unlocked! Please, please, be-
And that was how it ended. I will never know how it ends (unless, of course, it's a reoccurring dream -fingers crossed) and unfortunately, neither will you (blame Lizzie). So why did I show it to you? Because I wanted to see if it was exciting, if it was a good story.

You see, it gave me an idea (as I'm sure it was intended to, my brain plots against me). Right now, it is very small. What you just read is about all I have. But it will grow. I know it will, because these things tend to happen to me. And I don't know whether to be grateful for them or not. I already have THE SWITCHERS, THE LAST TEAM, and HEIRS TO ESIO. Plus, I've had this duet rolling around in my head that I've saving for NaNo (I wonder if I could combine this with that, hmmm...). It almost makes me want to scream. So before I even consider writing a much longer piece of writing from that, I want to know, do you think it would be worth it?

Question: What do you think about getting inspiration from dreams (excluding Stephanie Meyer)? Do you ever get ideas from your dreams?

6 comments:

  1. I think any experience we have -- including dreams -- we have the potential to use as inspiration -- whether it's the whole thing or just a snippet.

    Hi from a fellow crusader :)
    Lyn
    W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey

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  2. @Lynda Young That makes total sense. Who knows where inspiration comes from? We have to use what we can.

    WIP = Writer In Progress XD Sorry your blog name made me think of WIP's other meaning (besides Work in Progress).

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  3. Hi Brooke. Thanls for stopping by my blog and reading all my posts (pst...you're my favorite follower. Don't tell anyone else. They'd be jealous).

    I say take your dream idea and run with it. Do it.

    Honestly, I know the whole "Stephanie Meyers Dream-Thing" tends to put some people off, but go for it.

    After I finish writing this zombie book of mine there is one story idea I want to tinker with. The only problem, I tend to write for YA and this idea would be more adult. But it came from a dream. I'll tell you a bit of my dream--my daughter was kidnapped and in the dream I knew exactly who had her. But when I took the police to the house of the couple who had stolen her, they had family pictures, vacation pictures, birth certificats, you name it, that made her look as though she belonged to them. And as dreams go, I had nothing. Not even a wallet size picture to show she belonged to me. I had to walk away and leave her. In the end of the dream, I saw her walking along the road and pulled over with my car and kidnapped her back.

    Now, my idea isn't this entirely, but it did spark a plot idea. I've actually written the first five pages just to get the idea down, but we'll see how it goes from there.

    So if you liked your dream, and the feelings it provoked, go for it. Write it.

    Good luck--Angela

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  4. My dreams are extremely useful, i have very vivid and remember-able dreams. I am also lucky enough to sometimes play out scenarios in my dreams.

    my subconscious is kind to me. I say Use them!!!

    ok so the dream about killer penguins under the ice in the sea that was my old high school gym.... perhaps not the best one :-)

    happy crusading

    Constance

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  5. My dreams are completely useless. I mostly dream about work and recently I keep dreaming about having looking for earrings (so annoying!). I never dream anything I would want to write. Anyway... dropped by to say hello Fellow Crusader!

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  6. @Angela Scott -raises right hand- I promise. I'm thinking I'll use it for the duet mentioned above. I think you posted about that. I remember reading it before.

    @Constance I don't know. I had a dream with killer walrus type things. Then Greg pushed my poor little sister into the water. I still don't know if she made it. I liked Greg before then. He was a nice guy. Lucky for him, he moved. XD

    @Danette You must be stressing too much over everyday things. It affects your dreams you know.

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