Dreams of Inspiration

“Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare.” -H.F. Hedge

A dream was the inspiration for The Ride. However, when I began writing the story, it took a very different direction from my nighttime vision. About the only thing my dream and the finished book had in common was a backyard rollercoaster. (I know, an amusement park ride in the backyard sounds strange but it isn’t. Google backyard roller coasters if you don’t believe me!)

Anyway, back to the topic—dreams. Evidently dreaming and writing goes hand in hand as I discovered in a couple of posts by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, How Dreaming at Night Inspires Famous Writers and Published Authors on the Dreaming and Writing Process.
The information for the blogs came from the book called Writers Dreaming: William Styron, Anne Rice, Stephen King, and 23 Other Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process by Naomi Epel. I haven’t read this book, but I plan to look for it next time I visit the library.

According the posts, Stephen King added one of his own dreams to his book It, without changing anything about the dream.

Sue Grafton and Maurice Sendak say that dreams only affect their work in the emotional sense.

Several writers including Stephen King, Anne Rice and Amy Tan mention a dream-like state while writing.

Be sure to visit both posts if you’d like to read the direct quotes from these authors and others. I found them quite interesting.

From Twelve Famous Dreams, I learned that Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Misery by Stephen King were all inspired by dreams.

I really recommend the article for details about the dreams mentioned above as well as for other interesting information, such as a dream that led to a Nobel Prize in medicine; how Paul McCartney dreamed the tune to Yesterday; and, how Lincoln dreamed of his assassination.

Do you remember your dreams? Do dreams ever inspire your writing? If you’re not a writer, do dreams affect your actions in any way?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: H.F. Hedge, dreams, The Ride, Shakespeare, Dante, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Anne Rice, Shelley,R.L. Stevenson,