I finally listened to my grandma about writing down dreams first thing

My grandma always told me to keep a notebook by my bed and write down dreams the second I wake up. For years I thought it was just an old person thing, not real writing advice. Then last month at a creative writing meetup in Portland, someone mentioned they got their best short story ideas from dream fragments. I decided to try it for three weeks straight. The first few days I got nothing useful, just random stuff about work. But on day eight, I wrote down this weird image of a woman with keys for fingers and it turned into a whole flash fiction piece. Now I'm kicking myself for ignoring her for like fifteen years. Has anyone else had a simple habit from family actually help their writing? I'm curious what else I might have missed.

2 comments

2 Comments

cole_mitchell816d ago

Hell yeah, my dad was the same way with dream journals. He used to tell me to keep a scrap of paper on my nightstand and write down anything weird before my brain could forget it. I brushed him off for like a decade. Then two years ago I tried it and got this half baked image of a cat that could talk but only in riddles. Turned it into a weird little story that actually got published in a small zine. Now I do it every morning even if it's just gibberish. Old people really do know what they're talking about sometimes.

beth_hunt16d ago

Seventy three dreams about flying in a green station wagon.