Creative Writing Exercise

This week I talked about document structure and got into detail on chronology and point of view, and now it’s time to stop talking and start doing.

Your assignment this week is to write out a dream sequence. Of your own. This should be as close to non-fiction as you can manage.

If at all possible, write out the story of a dream you had last night (or recently). If not, to the best of your ability, recreate a particularly interesting dream you’ve had in the past. If you can’t even manage that, I’ll settle for a dream that seems like the kind of dream you would have (see how generous I am?).

What I want you to do, though, is try to retell the dream exactly as you experienced it. Remember what I said about telling a story in order, start to finish? You’ll learn just how hard that is to do when you start trying to tell the story of a dream. Why? Because our subconscious minds don’t obey that rule, and our subconscious minds play a big part in the development of our works in progress.

So this is an experiment in control. I want you to really grapple with the uncontrollable crazy behind your eyes that’s trying to tell you how to tell your story…and at the same time,  I want you to practice telling a story. Give me 200 to 500 words, and if you’re brave enough, post it up as a new topic on the discussion board.

I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been dreaming about!

Photo credit Julie V. Photography.