WOW! Women On Writing Blog: dream journal

Saturday, May 30, 2015

What stories do you think they're writing in their dreams?

I hope you find the title as amusing as I do. Maybe it’s my sleep deprived self or the countless Dr. Seuss books I am asked to read each day, but I wanted to talk about where inspiration comes from, and this title just seemed too cute to pass up.

I am blessed with a job allowing me to interview, chat with, and get to know many talented writers. One of those writers is Mari McCarthy of Create Write Now. Mari recently asked me how my own writing is going. I was ashamed to tell her I haven’t been making time. With four young children and a business, I am just thankful to sleep most days. After responding to Mari, I told my husband “I need to make more time to write” and he pointed out I haven’t been journaling either. Some of my best short story ideas came as a result of journaling. When diligent about it, I would write in my journal before even hopping out of bed in the morning. I would try to recall my dreams and get them down on paper before they slipped away and I got busy with the day.

As my current husband and I chatted about time management and how busy things have been, he turned to me with a smirk and said “you haven’t killed your ex-husband lately either, I’m sure he misses reading those stories”. So, before I ask you to share your best dream inspired stories, or tell us where your story lines come from, I’ll share a cute story about how my dreams killed my ex.

I woke up quite disturbed and before drinking my coffee, I had to text Ben (my ex who is still a friend). I had a dream he had died and I was summoned by customs to leave the country and identify his body. The dream was so incredibly real I just had to know if he was okay. He responded to my text with a phone call; we laughed and I told him the entirety of the dream. He encouraged me to turn it into a short story on my blog…which I did…readers loved it, and we still get a good laugh about the situation.

This leads me to ask the question:

Where does your inspiration come from?

Photo Courtesy of Olivia Brey of Oh! Photography

Crystal is a church musician, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 8, Andre 7, Breccan 20 months, and Delphine 12 weeks), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, and over 200 Holsteins. You can find Crystal blogging and reviewing books and all sorts of other stuff at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

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Dream Your Way to a Better Story

Sunday, March 17, 2013

by Crystal J. Otto

I’ve enjoyed sleeping for as long as I can remember. My mom may tell a different story about childhood naps and early bedtimes, but as far as I am concerned, sleep is a very necessary and enjoyable activity. I sleep, therefore I dream, and in recent years I’ve incorporated my dreams into my journal. Journaling my dreams has provided me with fabulous material for short stories and blog posts and has also given me ideas on how to enhance my writing to make it more vivid and exciting for the reader.

I’ve suggested dream journaling to those who have diagnosed themselves with ‘writers block.’ I personally have found that dream journaling is a great way to stop those recurring dreams or those that end too soon. Recurring dreams and those that end in the middle seem to have one thing in common—something needs attention or closure. I’ve found that by writing down what I remember about the dream and then adding the unfinished details I can find the closure my sleeping self was looking for. This may not come naturally at first, but the more you journal the easier it gets.

My most recent example was a dream where I was visiting the doctor and he was about to give me some important news, and my alarm starting blaring and I woke up. I had that unsettled feeling, and I grabbed my journal later in the day and wrote a happy ending in which the doctor explained that I was expecting a child. I went on to write about a textbook pregnancy, quick delivery, and gorgeous baby girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. Those unsettled feelings were quickly replaced with joy, pride, and excitement!