On Dreaming and Writing

Last Thursday, I participated in a WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association) webinar with writer, educator, and certified dreamwork professional Tzivia Gover. She is the author of Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing, The Mindful Way to a Good Night’s Sleep, and Joy in Every Moment.

Tzivia began by reminding us that we are all storytelling beings who dream several times each night, whether we remember the dreams or not. Many of those dreams are filled with vivid imagery and strong emotions that can provide a gold mine of metaphors, memorable characters, plot twists, and out-of-body experiences. By tapping into these dreams, we can unlock a wealth of creative material that is unique to our own subconscious, empowering us to transform our writing in ways we never thought possible.

In dream states, our limbic systems light up while neurochemicals that act as sensors sleep. This combination of high emotions and a depressed frontal cortex creates the ideal environment for what Tzivia refers to as ‘spiritual epiphanies’ – profound insights or realizations – to occur. But those epiphanies do not magically appear in our writing and our lives.

Tzivia provided us with practical tools to harness the power of our dreams in our writing. These are not mere suggestions, but tried-and-tested methods that can help us tap into our dreams for creative inspiration.

• Have a notebook or journal next to your bed. As soon as you awaken, jot down as many details you can recall. Give your dream a title and summarize it in one to two sentences. Or write a poem incorporating the details.
• Set an intention to dream about a particular topic. It could be personal (how to deal with a stressor) or related to your current writing project (how to motivate the protagonist).
• Create a writing prompt using details from the dream.
• Insert an image from the dream into your daily writing. While it may or may not work, it can be deleted during editing.
• Spend time with each dream and allow insights to reveal themselves naturally. Don’t try to analyze or interpret the dream.

Tzivia stressed the importance of the early morning when we float between waking and sleeping. In this liminal state, images from our dreams can merge with the reality of our day-to-day lives. This is the fertile ground where several well-known authors, including Sue Monk Kidd and Stephenie Meyer, have transformed dream images into best-selling novels.

While writing the first draft of The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd experienced a frustrating block. In the wee hours of one morning, she awakened and sat on the floor. She cut out images and started collaging. While engaged in that process, Sue found a resolution.

One morning, Stephenie Meyer awakened from a vivid dream. In that dream, two people—an average girl and a beautiful vampire—were having a conversation in the woods. Both were falling in love with each other and trying to deal with the vampire’s challenge: How to restrain himself from killing her immediately.

Intrigued by the nameless couple’s story, Stephenie stayed in bed thinking about the dream, trying not to lose any mental images. Afterward, she did the immediate necessities (making breakfast, changing diapers, etc.) and then sat at the computer to type more details of what would evolve into the first draft of Twilight.

Where to find Joanne Guidoccio…

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