Dream Big

Forming new book ideas isn’t always the easiest thing in the world, after all it seems like everyone and their mother has written a book at some point in their lives and it can be ridiculously challenging to come up with a fresh and original idea that can wow audiences and leave each and every reader clamoring for more. The problem with creating an original book idea is that just about every thought that has ever popped into your head was influenced by something that you’ve seen before. Especially with how strongly public schools preach against plagiarism, many authors think it’s a negative thing to have your works influenced by the books that have come before when in fact it’s quite the opposite.

Finding inspiration written within the pages of another author’s work not only has the potential to allow you to fashion your own masterpiece, but it also helps bring about a deeper appreciation of the novel being emulated. There is, however, another method to formulate your own ideas, and it is my preferred technique for inventing new stories to write. Every morning when you wake, grab your preferred writing method, whether that be a computer, a pen and paper, or even on your phone, and write down your dreams from the previous night.

Writing down your dreams not only helps to cement them in your memory, but in the process of discovering the right words to describe the sleeping thoughts of your mind, you will sharpen your skills as a writer. Many researchers believe that dreams are formed when your brain attempts to decipher all the information that it has accumulated throughout the course of the previous day. While I understand that, from a practical standpoint, this is a solid theory with a good amount of evidence to back it up, I also believe that there is another layer to the mystery of why we dream. As an avid dreamer, I often believe the stories that dance around within the confines of our minds while we sleep away the nights, oblivious to the world around us, have an almost otherworldly feel to them. It is my opinion that dreams are a manifestation of what makes humans different from every other creature on this planet. With a seemingly endless supply of new and innovative ideas stemming from our own minds, it’s astounding that more people don’t take advantage of it.

A dream on its own will, more often than not, be unable to form an entire manuscript; most dreams would hardly be enough to fill a few chapters. This is where the writer’s own imagination comes into play. The dream is just the foundation; it provides a stable building block for an incredible story, but unless the author is capable of expanding and improving upon it, that’s all it will ever be. This is where inspiration from external sources makes an impact. By using themes and underlying ideas from your favorite books, movies, plays, etc. it’s possible to create an entire world full of new ideas from something as simple as a few-minute long dream.

Even if this method of creating new ideas doesn’t quite work for you, it will still be a great help in improving your writing skill, especially when it comes to descriptions. Forcing yourself to sit down and describe your dream in great detail can bring out a new side of your writing that you didn’t even know existed before. Where does your main source of inspiration come from? Let me know if you have a favorite dream that you plan to turn into a novel one day, and as always happy writing out there.