“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” – Carl Jung
I would think that most writers are inherently visual people. I am certainly in that category. I have a visual-based memory, and learning new skills comes more quickly through visual techniques. With all the “visuals” stuck in my head, it’s no wonder they leak out in dreams.
Dreams are a vital tool for me…more than just a biological brain dump of discarded images.
For one thing, dreams seem to be a distinct indicator of my psychological well being. In recent years, I’ve discovered a pattern. When my life is overtaken by stress and anxiety, deep restful sleep eludes me…and so do the memorable dreams. The experts say the dreams are always there…but during these times I have no memory of them.
On the flip side, when life is good…my dreams could rival the big summer blockbusters. 
As a writer, I not only depend on my dreams for visual ideas, but I’ve learned how to physically use my dreams to work through problems in the stories I write.
I have no idea if there is an actual term for it, but I call it “directed dreaming”. It is my process of problem solving. If I’m working on a scene that just isn’t coming out right, I construct the scene in my head before I fall asleep. Of course, as dreams (or daydreams) evolve, I tend to end up in the scene myself.
That’s just fine with me. In that dark netherworld, I’ve fought demons with swords, strutted around in tight leather outfits like Kate Beckinsale, and kissed hunky guys like….hey….that’s enough of that. You get the idea.
But that’s the exciting part of “directed dreaming”. A dream might begin with a little bit of conscious control, but as REM sleep approaches…the brain unleashes its arsenal of tricks. The results can be pure, unadulterated, unfiltered, and unedited brilliance. Or pure crap too.
A writer’s bane is our internal editor. That pesky mental tutor that makes us stop at every period and re-evaluate what we just wrote. Hate that guy! He interrupts the creative flow like a huge, concrete dam. Yet in dreams, he is banished forever.
As a writer, how do YOU use dreams?
Today, I give you a senryu on dreams…again, it may be a bit shy of irony, and it’s blended with haiku imagery…but, that’s poetry. Enjoy.
Nature’s Dream Catcher
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a white wispy web
trembles as morning mist
blankets my dream catcher
*
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Eternally,
Lynda Haviland
a.k.a. Immortal Diva
