Create A Dream Diary
How many times have you forced yourself to sit in front of a computer and waited for inspiration to strike?Most of us at some point, whether just starting out or even an experienced published writer, have suffered from the proverbial writers block or have struggled to kick-start their creativity.
Sometimes ideas just flow and writing our article or story is easy. Inspiration flows over us like waves and the subsequent finished piece is almost word perfect and requires very little editing. But for those times when inspiration is on holiday or worse, on strike, help yourself to master those off days by creating a dream diary.
If you are one of those unfortunate people who believe that they rarely dream or at least have trouble remembering them, a dream diary is obviously going to be a problem.But you can train yourself to remember your dreams in the mornings, but this may take time and practise.
Try leaving a notepad by your bed or invest in a Dictaphone, at least if you do wake up during or after your dream, you can leave instant notes for yourself. Just in case on falling asleep, you eliminate all memory of this wonderful plot.
Even nightmares can be a useful aid to creating a masterpiece, so next time you experience one, look to the positive, and tell yourself that this is going to help you get work published. For those interested in the meaning of dreams, invest in a good book, and not only can you create a great story but you can also work out what made you dream this particular scenario in the first place. It may well provide answers to questions in your everyday life.
As a child, I had the same recurring dream where I was in my back garden and a dinosaur type large red bird, chased me from one length of the garden right up to my back door, which I managed to slam shut and lock with only seconds to spare. Scary? Of course?but the experience helped me to be able to pace my stories and to link tension into the right places of my plot.
I have often wondered what psychologists would make of my numerous and often odd, dream sequences and it is probably just as well that they have never been analysed by anyone other than myself.Although your dream may be vivid and almost overwhelming in its clarity, in the cold reality of daylight, many flaws can be present with that creative enlightenment. But remember, your dream is there to prompt you with a possible story line, it is not set in stone and you do not have to copy it, stage by stage.
Use it to express yourself in a new and different way. It may also be useful to close your eyes and try to re-live your dream in your minds eye. Remember what you felt, sights, sounds, familiar scents, allow yourself to forget the present and immerse yourself back in your dream.
You will be amazed at how much you find you can remember and new scenarios may well fall into place as you practise this gentle meditation.I once dreamed a whole episode of Star Trek, complete with regular cast, a few new characters thrown in and of course, I took the lead role in the drama. I have never attempted to write an episode for television and one for a program, which relies on much technical input, would probably not be for my first attempt, however, the plot (if I say so myself) was exceptional and it is recorded in my dream diary for future use.
Whilst there would be very few changes to the initial plot, I was very surprised by the amount of technical knowledge sustained which proved to me just how much information our subconscious thought process retains and then subsequently uses in the course of our nightly shenanigans.If you are lucky and your creative tact needs no prompting, you will not need to refer to your dream diary all that often, however, it can be interesting to read back over your entries over a period of time and ascertain just how far your imagination has taken you.
Just remember, in your dreams you are not restricted by earthly ties and you can let your imagination loose in the knowledge that inspiration is guiding you.Using a dream diary allows you to access your creative zone deep in the dark recesses of your mind and to harness that creative power. Do not waste this opportunity to provide original thought provoking ideas, just remember to record them carefully.
Ideas are gold dust and could, one day earn you a great deal of money as well as providing an insight into a side of your personality very rarely seen.
About The Author
Annette Beveridge-Young is the Editor of the International Writers Competition Website www.thetwistinthetale.com.
Annette has had a variety of articles and stories published, both in magazines and on the Internet and won various poetry and fiction competitions.
MORE RESOURCES:
 Film School Rejects (blog) | 'Underworld 4' on the Way With 'Shield' Scribe Writing Moviefone According to the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog, the task of writing the fourth film falls upon John Hlavin, best known as a writer and story editor ... Underworld 4 being scripted by John Hlavin |
Parting Shot: Writing In Alexander for Biletnikoff Award Kansas City Star By Mike dearmond - Posted on 20 November 2009 Danario Alexander is not a finalist for the award given annual to college football's best receiver. ... |
Analysis: Darwin vs. Genesis, a literary smackdown Toronto Star Genesis, it has to be said, is tough to beat as a piece of writing. It contains both the best of the wilderness, emerging over several generations from the ... |
 Film School Rejects (blog) | Mike White Writing New Christmas Comedy Called Santa Wars Fused Film Paramount and Scott Rudin are teaming together for a new Christmas comedy that will feature battling Santas. ... School of Rock's Mike White Writing Holiday Comedy Santa Wars |
 New York Daily News | Martha Stewart pans Rachael Ray's cooking - and cooking writing New York Daily News Stewart told ABC News' Cynthia McFadden that Ray's approach to cooking - and cookbook writing - is "not good enough for me." In her first TV interview since ... |
Late mail on writing The Age He credits his mother for his love of reading and writing. She bore three sons in three years, and as her belly grew so did a line of Russian novels on her ... |
 MTV.com | Lauren Conrad Is Writing A Book On Style MTV.com And when Conrad isn't busy writing books or working on the "LA Candy" movie, she is spending her time designing her clothing line, LC Lauren Conrad, ... Ex-'Hills' star Lauren Conrad is writing a style tips book. Chapter 1: Hire a ... Lauren Conrad is writing a style book Morning Round Up: Lauren Conrad to write a style book PLUS Leighton's latest ... |
Mpls. Teams Needs Help Writing Cinderella Story KSTP.com An inner-city youth football team that helped revitalize a Minneapolis park now needs the help of the community to write the ending to a true Cinderella ... |
Writing project gives Rainier students some new perspectives Longview Daily News Kirkpatrick's class, along with the other classes at Hudson Park Elementary School, have been working on a special writing project, learning to see stories ... |
 New York Times | Madison Ave. Sees the Writing on the Wall New York Times Jim Wilson/The New York Times The British advertising agency Mother will sponsor an exhibit next month in New York of the work of the ... |
How to Use Textpad to Write Articles Faster
It's a good idea to use TextPad because all opt-in ezine publishers want your articles without any formatting. Also, for any email exchange, you need to put your article in the body of the email, not an attachment.
Every Result is an Asset
Not long ago, I went to an Internet Marketing Seminar. One of the speakers was John Reese, a man who set the Internet world abuzz in August 2004 by achieving the amazing result of just over a million dollars worth of sales in 18 hours.
Write With Passion: 4 Steps To Emotionally Charge A Nonfiction Article
You have just completed a draft of an article. It seemsflat, even to you.
7 Ways to Turn Readers Into Friends
Back in my school days, if the teacher demanded a term paper I knew just what to do. I quickly researched the report, and wrote it as fast as I could.
6 Ways to Leverage Technical Articles
Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The articles are great exposure for these companies but they don't come cheap - the trades rarely pay for these articles but the vendors spend time and resources to assign pieces, write them, approve them and submit them.
Does Each Element of Your Story Further The Theme?
Creative Writing Tips -Whichever theme you choose, all the elements, which make up your story, dialogue, conflict, scenes, etc should be written with the theme in mind.Your theme should progress the story.
Becoming the Total Package
Being a great writer is no longer enough if you plan to score a big publishing deal, especially as a nonfiction author.Particularly if your book idea falls into the how-to or self-help categories, you not only have to sell your terrific writing, but you also have to sell yourself as the books conduit to the world.
Writing Helpful Help - A Minimalism Checklist
User documentation is all too often written by programmers for programmers. It tends to focus on the product's features, rather than the user's tasks.
8 Quick Tips on Creating Vivid, Memorable Characters
These 8 tips on using characters in your stories will help you make sure that readers are involved with your story people right from the start.Tip 1: Make sure that the reader knows as early as possible who the viewpoint character is in any scene.
The Struggle
Sometime one must coax the words out.Each day is a struggle to sit before the computer and produce-produce words that are appropriate, produce sentences that are logical, produce paragraphs that are focused, and produce a page that is relevant to the project-whether it is a poem, a short story, an article, an essay, or part of a novel.
Getting Past The Shoulds To Write
During the past few months I have received many questions asto how I have gone from an unknown writer to over comingsociety's adversarial thoughts on what writing should be andbecome a well known writer. So, today, I was inspired towrite on this.
If The Viewpoint Character Is A Secondary Character, Have You Established Who He is?
Creative Writing Tips -I have said above that if a secondary character tells the story of the main character, then the spotlight should be kept on the main character.This shouldn't be taken to the extreme though.
Freelancing Doesnt Mean Writing For Free. Does it?
Writer's forums are bustling with debate over whether or not a writer should send something out for free. Some people feel that writing for free weakens the market for other writers, while some people feel that writing is an art that should be shared freely.
Power Writing 101: Tips and Tricks to Get You Taken Seriously!
In my ten years as an advertiser, I've encountered plenty of folks with a flair for writing. They were born having some idea of where to put the words within the sentence, and the sentences within the paragraph.
Mind Mapping Your Journal Entries
Clustering, also called Mind Mapping, is a great way to savespace and time when you journal. For those of you thataren't familiar with Mind Mapping, you can search in Googleon the words or reading one of Tony Buzan's (the creator)books.
Starting a Freelance Writing Career (or How I Sifted Through the Muck and Found My Way)
So, the decision is final. I am a writer.
A Series of Articles on Autobiography
ESSAYS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY: NUMBER 1Preamble:Nearly seven years ago I wrote my first essay on the nature of autobiography. It was some two years after completing my initial draft, the first edition of my own autobiography.
How to Have an Effective Writing Group
The works you've written are numerous, ranging from short stories to even the novel, hidden in a storage bin (under the bed) collecting dust. But there comes a time when you must wipe away that dust, regain your pride, and prepare your babies for publication! But, how do you get such a critical, unbiased eye to analyze your works, offering both praise and criticism?It's simple-start a writing group!Creating a writing group is the easy part, but creating a functioning and beneficial writing group can be quite a task.
What You May Not Learn In College... (Part Two)
If you become a writer for any publication, private business, public entity, non-profit organization and/or large corporation that employs more than one editor, you may find that your job description, expected contributions, desired writing style and similar "guidelines" for your position - are subject to change daily/weekly/unpredictably - according to each editor's mood and/or personal preferences. It takes time, but eventually you will learn how to satisfy everyone to the best of your ability.
Building Character
Names are important. Names give clues about us, where we live, who we are.
