“There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.”
Celia Thaxter
I’m a little bushed today, because I had a very exciting evening last night. I didn’t go to the theater or to see a film or to a friend’s house. No, actually, the exciting evening I had was spent in my head. Here’s what happened: I was lying in bed trying to sleep when suddenly, I got not one — but two — terrific ideas for my YA novel. I can’t say why, but they just popped into my head.
Suddenly, I started seeing these two scenes unfolding. Both of them solved plot problems that have cropped up recently. I started hearing dialogue in my head and just began going over and over the words to imprint them on my brain, so I wouldn’t forget them.
Usually, when this happens, I run and get a piece of paper and jot everything down, but this time around, I just felt very sure that I’d remember it all. So I just started playing with the scenes and the words, having fun with them: adding, deleting, tinkering.
It was such a delicious feeling! I was almost laughing to myself as I replayed one moment: it added a lighthearted touch to a big event in my story and it just felt so right. I could almost hear one character given center stage whispering in my ear, “At last, you’ve figured out what I should be doing! I’ve known all along and I’ve been waiting for you to get it right. See how much better this scene is now that you’ve given me the part I deserve? Aren’t you glad you brought me here? And aren’t we two clever?”
It was all so much fun and so exciting that I couldn’t sleep! Today, putting all of these floating words on paper, I’ve realized that my nocturnal author adventure was a little gift from the universe. I’ve been working very hard and steadily on my book and I think the muses decided to give me a treat — a mental chocolate bar. And scrumptious it was! Has one of these wonderful moments ever happened to you? I’d love to hear about it. Write on!
Sadly, no, I haven’t had these moments. If I get something similar in a vivid dream it’s either a extraordinary piece of music that I’m trying hard but unsuccessfully to sightread at the piano. So frustrating. Or it’s a word that magically encapsulates the meaning of life, the universe and everything, only to reveal itself, when I do emerge into consciousness, as some prosaic term or, worse, a piece of mumbo-jumbo.
So, congratulations at a breakthrough creative moment! I once read a suggestion that one keep a pad of paper, open of course, along with a pencil at the side of the bed, and that writing down what you’re dreaming while keeping your eyes shut allows you to remain in your dream state without losing the magic which comes from awakening properly. Even though the art of scribbling and subsequently deciphering what you’ve written takes a while to adjust to, it apparently works for many people: it just takes practice.
I did try it for a few nights, but unfortunately no insights came. Maybe I should have had some cheese before sleeping! That usually works…
Hi,
Thanks so much for your kind note — yes, having a breakthrough moment was fun. But I must confess that these are rare — they seem to crop up just often enough to keep me hooked and writing. On the dream front, I’ve had my share of the ones you described, where there’s some magical code floating about or a phrase printed on a wall that would reveal somethng spectacular, only to wake up and have no idea what it was!
In my reading group, we were just talking about dreams. Someone said that if you keep paper and pen at hand and write down your dreams for a month, you get better and better at remembering them. This sounds promising. I did read in Graham Greene’s autobiography that he got story ideas that actually turned into books from his dreams. And Robert Louis Stevenson (actually a distant relative of Greene’s) wrote a whole essay on dreams. I have it somewhere on my computer. Basically, he used to order his subconscious to supply him with story ideas when he was short of cash! I think Jeckyll and Hyde even came to him in a dream. So just keep dreaming — surely that fabulous piece of music will reveal itself to you if you keep at it. Write on, Kari
> Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:12:34 +0000 > To: kmja_w@hotmail.com >