Just a Dream

First, to all my friends out there doing NaNo, good luck. I hope everything is going great so far and that you're all off to a magical start.

You guys are totally awesome :)

Now...on to business.

I've got a love-hate relationship with dream in writing. I enjoy writing them, and some of my favorite books/comics are based around dreaming. But I've also run across more than one dream sequence I've just hated.

One dream sequence I read recently that was actually well written, but still kind of disappointed me, was in book five of Darren Shan's Demonata series. (I bring that series up a lot, don't I?) It was a pretty gripping scene, so when I found out it was all a dream...I wanted to kick something. I wanted to see where that action was leading me, but it wasn't actually going anywhere. And that's a little disappointing.

But maybe that's because the amazing Mr. Shan had me believing that was the actual story. When I go into a dream sequence knowing it's a dream, I can usually enjoy it. But making me think this action-packed scene filled with awesome and glitter is the story, only to have it turn out to be the MC's subconscious mind running wild...ugh. That disappoints me.

UNLESS!

You jump into something just as action-y and compelling. If you have an amazing dream sequence, don't wake up into something extremely boring. I suppose that might work for something very specific like...your MC has an incredibly boring life, so s/he tries to escape into his/her super-interesting dreams or something along those lines. But that's one of the only times I'd be okay with that. Seriously.

Also, I'm sure you should know this...but I'm going to say it anyway. Dreams, like ever other scene you include in your finished product, need to have a POINT. Don't just decide, "Okay. I need to fill some space. Oh! I know! Dream sequence!" *grand hand gesture*

So, I'm sure you're all going, "Heeey...you said you liked dreams. What's going on?"

I do. Dreams can be such a great way to reveal your MC's deepest fears and desires. You can foreshadow danger and allude to things yet to come. Dreams are an amazing tool that, when used correctly, can really enrich your story. 

My second favorite web comic of all time is YU+ME: dream. I won't say too much about that--I'd hate to spoil it if you haven't already read it--but the amazing world Megan Gedris created, based around dreams, will always stick with me. I mean, I loved the characters to pieces and the story was fantastic (and the art is gorgeous in the later issues), but that whimsical world of win and awesome will always be my favorite thing about YU+ME.

Some of the most interesting books I've read in a long time are the ones that build whole worlds around dreams. But more often than not, I see dreams used as crutches. Instead of using them to their full potential, the writer just busts out a scene so boring and pointless it could be cut from the book all together without anyone really missing it.

How do you feel about dream sequences--love 'em or hate 'em?

Do you use them in your writing?

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!