Dreaming a plot for a book
I often say to people 'I don't dream'. Generally I go to sleep, wake up some hours later and have no recollection of an over-active mind, or dreams.
No doubt there is some science to say that we all dream all the time, but for some reason I do not retain the overnight chaos in my head.
Now that I have said 'I do not dream', let me just add that very occasionally I do! Last night was one of those nights. I woke around 3am and my mind was whirring with the details of a somewhat mad set of events. I lay there for a moment processing it and suddenly thought what a great idea for the opening chapters of my book! Apparently we all have a book in us, and one day I hope that I will find mine.
Committing it to paper
I pondered the idea of waiting until morning to jot down the story, but I decided it was too big a risk, and there was every possibility I would be blank in the morning.
I sat up and decided to note it down in my 'Murder Book'!
Yes, I have been noting a variety of ideas for a number of years: character traits; plot ideas; opportunities to dispatch someone.
I started to write down what had been running through my head. It all made sense when I initially woke from my slumber. However, as I jotted down the bullet points it started to unravel very quickly. The various scenes, which had made perfect sense moments ago, suddenly seemed disjointed and did not flow together as a story.
I sat for a few minutes tumbling the memory cells in my head. In the end I decided I didn't have a couple of opening chapters but I did have some good story lines to consider in the future. They may or may not link up. Who knows!
I closed the Murder Book, returned it to my desk drawer, and fell back into sleepy land. Interestingly, in the morning my recollection of the dream detail was indeed tarnished -- glad I wrote it down.
The End. A budding author.
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