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Journal Prompts for Dreamers

by Melissa Donovan | Jun 16, 2020 | Journal Prompts | 22 comments

Dreamy journal prompts.

Where do dreams come from? Many philosophers, psychiatrists, and other experts, as well as everyday people, have made conjectures about the sources of our night visions. But they remain a mystery.

Some dreams are obvious, of course. We’ve all experienced dreams that are clearly relevant to what’s going on in our lives or dreams that are some reflection of the past. Some people claim they’ve dreamed events before they actually happened — precognitive dreams that allow a dreamer to peer into the future.

Some of us remember every single dream we have. A few of us may even take time to jot down our dreams in a dream journal. Others cannot remember any of their dreams and will claim they don’t dream at all. There are those whose dreams are so vivid that they are induced into sleepwalking, and there are those whose dreams carry the essences of their greatest fears — nightmares.

Dreaming for Inspiration

Dreams may unlock mysteries, answer questions, or give us new insights. They inform artists’ work, help scientists solve complex problems, and give writers plenty of fodder for fiction and poetry.

In fact, many famous works of art and inventions were inspired by dreams. In an article titled “ Dream Art ,” Wikipedia provides a list of artists and their works that came directly from dreams. Some of the most notable artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers who have captured dream material to produce great works of art include William Blake, Salvador Dali, Clive Barker, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Stephen King, Carlos Castaneda, David Lynch, Rush, Paul McCartney, and Roger Waters, to name a few.

Dreams can even provide the answers to complex technical or scientific problems. Sewing machine inventor Elias Howe was having trouble figuring out how the needle on his machine would work, until one night he had a dream in which he was imprisoned by a group of people who were dancing around him and holding spears that had holes near their tips. This image finally gave Howe the idea he needed to make his invention work: a needle with a hole at the tip, which was designed much like those spears.

Journal Prompts and Dreams

If you’ve ever kept a dream journal, then you have some experience with exploring your dreams during waking hours. When you keep a dream journal, you learn to pay more attention to your dreams, and you start remembering your dreams better and in greater detail. Dream journals are ideal for generating raw creative material.

Today’s journal prompts aren’t based around a dream journal, and they don’t ask you to keep one. If you happen to keep a dream journal, then you’ll have an advantage here, because these journal prompts require you to remember a dream or two. Yet the main goal with these journal prompts is to add another tool to your writer’s toolbox, to leverage a little more of your imagination by paying attention to the messages, images, and signals that your subconscious is broadcasting when you’re sound asleep.

To complete these journal prompts, you do need to be a dreamer. If you don’t make a habit out of remembering your dreams, or if you rarely remember them, then you might try keeping a dream journal for about a week. As you fall asleep, remind yourself that in the morning your first task will be to write down your dreams. Promote dreaming and remembering dreams by repeating affirmations such as “I will dream” and “I will remember my dreams” as you’re falling asleep. Then give these journal prompts a try.

Journal Prompts

Write down a full account of a dream you’ve had recently. Try to include as many details as possible.
Think back over some of the dreams you’ve had and try to identify recurring themes. Perhaps you’re often being chased in dreams (or doing the chasing), or maybe a lot of your dreams are set in nature or feature animals.
Identify the people, creatures, and animals in your dreams by describing them. Could they become characters in your next short story?
Do you ever notice minute details in your dreams? Elias Howe noticed that in his dream, the spears had holes in them. Try to pinpoint seemingly minor details that appear in your dreams and write descriptions of them.
Do your dreams ever stick with you throughout the day? Are images from your dreams haunting you as you go about your business? Why do you suppose this happens with some dreams but not others? What are the images that linger?
Have you ever felt like a dream was trying to tell you something or send you an important message? What was the dream? What message did you come away with?
If you could construct a full, vivid dream, which you will have tonight and remember in full tomorrow, what would happen in the dream? Who would be there? Where would it take place?

Interesting Facts About Dreams

The scientific study of dreams is known as oneirology.
Abraham Lincoln dreamed of his assassination.
At one time, some experts believed that dreams only happened in black and white. Most people actually dream in color.
“Famous Dreams” (includes source material) [Note: site is now down]
Wikipedia: “ Dreams “

Good luck with these journal prompts! Now let’s talk about dreaming and how we can use dreams to inspire our writing!

22 Comments

Very cool! That would be very cool to have prescriptive guidance on how to dream. It’d be even cooler to have prescriptive guidance on how to make your dreams come true 😉

There are a lot of books on dreaming and how to control your dreams while you’re having them (lucid dreaming). I’m pretty sure there are also lots of books about making your dreams come true!

This is fascinating , Melissa! I had forgotten that tidbit about Abe Lincoln!

And I love these prompts. 🙂

I’m a pretty vivid dreamer–sometimes it feels like I didn’t even sleep! LOL

*smiles* Michele

It’s funny — sometimes I remember all my dreams in detail. Then weeks (or even months) will go by, and it seems like I haven’t been dreaming at all. Dreams are fascinating, and that’s why they’re great for writing inspiration.

Journaling my dreams has been on my list for quite a while – you’ve given me a jumpstart and the inspiration to get going! Thanks for sharing!

I have kept a dream journal off and on throughout the years. I find that the more you try to remember your dreams so you can write them down, the more you actually do remember. Like anything, practice makes perfect.

Dreams are so fascinating. I often find I work out things that are troubling me via dreams, and that the solutions stay with me when I wake up. Sometimes, the dreams are relevant to something I’m writing — or, last week, to something I’m not writing, but perhaps should write.

I find I get nightmares right before a major life transition –even if I don’t know consciously it’s coming.

Dreams are pretty bizarre. Sometimes they’re so soothing, other times so troubling. Keeping a dream journal has helped me better understand my dreams, and sometimes things show up in my dreams that make it to my writing, and I find that happens mostly when I’m writing them down.

my sister writes from her dreams. I am “inspired” by dreams sometimes, but my final idea is almost never anything what my dream was like.

P.S. I have a theory about dreams: There’s the “Dream Universe” and our Universe. If the Dream Universe was 2.0 and we were 1.0, when we go to sleep and dream, we’re somewhere between those realities, i.e. Level 1.6

There has been much written about dreams existing on another plane, and that in some dreams we actually travel to a different dimension. I don’t know if that’s true, but the idea definitely intrigues me!

Dreams are actually our thoughts that are in the sub-conscious and will manifest in our minds. Often we dream about with problems and wake with new ideas. It seems our inner workings of the mind is something we seldom explore or should think about while awake.

Melissa, thanks for stopping by to comment on my blog. I make my living writing, so of course I check the legitimacy of every anthology to which I even consider a submission. This is a perfectly legitimate anthology from a perfect legitimate publisher; but something felt off as far as being the right fit for me; I’m glad i went with my gut — it was a huge burden lifted from me.

Hi Devon. That’s a relief. I worry too much about those scam sites. Yes, a publication definitely has to be the right fit.

Good stuff.

Maybe I should wait for my G or at least PG rated dreams.

I always enjoy your prompts.

Heheh, don’t let that stop you from writing!

I’ve had many amusing dreams. The most amusing usually takes place in the Chin (Qin) Dynasty of China. The dynasty ended in 1911, and I always thought they are goofy looking, because this is a period of transition where you can see people wearing traditional clothes, but using some relatively modern gadgets (such as eye glasses). Of course, in my dreams it’s taken up a notch. I would see horses and carriages pulling into a parking lot, turn into a space, and just stand there until the drives come back. There are also valet guys standing in front of an inn to park these horses and carriages for patrons. And then they also have problems parallel parking these things. These are the kind of dreams that I wake up laughing from because they just look so ridiculous to me. Juxtaposition of the modern and ancient is a common theme for my amusing dreams.

And then there’s the one that I have many times of missing a big final exam. I would just be wondering around the campus and then when I look up at the clock, I think, “Hey, isn’t there a test going on? Hm, I am missing it.” Maybe that should be making me nervous, but I really don’t feel any of that. It’s like, meh, I don’t really care.

Wow, you have historical dreams? That’s wild. I don’t think I’ve experienced that before, but it would be very cool, albeit bizarre. I think I used to dream about tests and due dates when I was in school and I’ve definitely had jobs that leaked into my dreams. Sounds to me like you take your schooling very seriously, and that’s not so bad.

What a great way to ride on the magical worlds you find in your dreams. It’s neat to take the concept of the dreams further and reflect upon how they change you during your daily going ons. Adds another layer to the dreams.

I just found out about yet another author whose work derived from a dream she had: Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series. The key, of course, is listening to your dreams, writing them down, and letting the story unfold. And it definitely adds another layer to your dreams.

writing creatively

Whats funny is that my dreams are really slow paced; as if it’s just waiting for me to make a move. there are some times where I got to actually play a part in that dream, but like it rarely happens! To top things off, I only remember about 2 of the dreams I have each night, and then those dreams get continued the next! It does help me remember what dreams and ideas I do have for stories though, because its just sitting in my mind almost half of the night. It’s honestly really weird..

It’s interesting that your dreams continue the next night. That’s pretty cool.

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Dreams come true: How to use dreaming as a writing tool

24 Writing Prompts About Dreams

Let’s talk dreams!

Those crazy stories our minds cook up while we’re snoozing. They can be awesome, weird, or even downright scary, but they’re always interesting.

This post is all about writing prompts focusing on our dreams – the little ideas that spark a story within our minds.

So, if you’re a writer who needs a fresh idea or you’re just curious about dreams, buckle up!

We are about to dive into the wild world of your subconscious and see what weird and wonderful stories we can find.

A Dream That Comes True: Imagine a world where your dreams accurately predict the future . Your protagonist begins having a series of extraordinarily vivid dreams, each one becoming reality in a couple of days. However, one night , they dream of a catastrophic event. How will they handle the knowledge of this impending disaster , and how will they use their unique ability to alter the course of events?
The Interpreter of Dreams: Your main character is a therapist with an uncanny ability to interpret dreams with stunning accuracy. They’re well-known in their community , and people often seek them out for advice. One day, a client recounts a disturbing dream that seems to predict a major tragedy. How does your character deal with the ethical implications of this discovery, and what actions do they take?
A Lost Dream: In this story, the protagonist can no longer dream. They used to have the most vibrant and inspiring dreams which they turned into successful book plots. But one day, they just stopped. Explore how they cope with this loss and what lengths they are willing to go to retrieve their dreams.
A Shared Dream: Consider a world where two people can share the same dream. Your main characters have been best friends since childhood , experiencing shared dreams every night. One night, one of them dreams alone, discovering a secret the other had been keeping. How does this revelation affect their relationship in their waking lives, and what happens to their shared dream space ?
The Forgotten Dream: Your character wakes up from a dream that gave them an incredible idea or solution to a problem they’ve been struggling with. But they can’t remember it. They’re desperate to recall the dream because they know it holds the key to their troubles. Dive into the lengths they will go to uncover their forgotten dream and the effect this obsession has on their life .
Dreams as Escape: In this world, dreaming is a form of escapism, a vacation from reality. Your protagonist, a tired office worker , dreams of a magical world each night, full of adventures and exciting stories. One day, they find a hint in the real world pointing towards their dream world. How does this discovery blur the lines between their dreams and reality, and how do they reconcile their daily life with their dream escapades?
A Dream within a Dream: Your protagonist has a recurring dream where they meet a stranger who offers them life-altering advice. Each time they follow the advice, their life improves significantly. However, the stranger warns that the last advice they give will be the most critical but also the most dangerous. Explore the dilemma your character faces when they receive this final piece of advice, and whether they choose to implement it.
The Dream Healer: Imagine a world where healing and therapy take place in dreams. Your main character is a renowned ‘Dream Healer’ who enters patients’ dreams to help them overcome trauma. However, they must face their most challenging case yet, a patient whose dreamworld is so nightmarish, it threatens the healer’s sanity. Explore how the healer navigates this perilous dreamscape and the impact it has on them personally and professionally.
Dreams of the Past : Your protagonist has a peculiar ability to see their ancestors’ lives in their dreams. They’ve been using this as a means to understand their family history and roots better. However, one night, they witness a dark secret from the past that could disrupt their family’s harmony. How do they grapple with this newfound knowledge, and what decisions do they make moving forward?
The Dream Shop: In this world, dreams can be bought and sold. Your protagonist is an owner of a shop that sells these dreams. But when a dangerous criminal buys a dream that could potentially cause harm, the protagonist is faced with a moral dilemma. How does your character handle this situation, and what are the ramifications of selling dreams?
Dream Weaver: Your main character is a ‘Dream Weaver’, an individual who can manipulate dreams to change a person’s perspective or thinking. However, they become conflicted when asked to change someone’s dream for reasons that conflict with their ethical beliefs. What is the internal struggle they face, and what decision do they make?
A Dreamer’s Gift: In your story, people have lost the ability to dream except for your protagonist. Their dreams are vivid and meaningful, inspiring them to create beautiful works of art . Explore the protagonist’s journey of sharing their dreams through their art and how the world reacts to these ‘forgotten visions.’
In the Dream Realm: Consider a world where a parallel universe exists within dreams, an exact replica of our world but with different rules. Your character accidentally discovers a way to bring objects from the dream realm into reality. What consequences does this discovery bring, and how does this ability change their life?
The Dreamless Child: In a world where every child is born with a unique dream symbolizing their destiny, your protagonist is the only child born without a dream. Explore the challenges they face being ‘dreamless’, and how they strive to create their own destiny despite the societal norms.
The Night Terror: Your main character starts experiencing a night terror that seems too real to be just a dream. As the line between their dreams and reality begins to blur, they are forced to question their sanity. How does the character deal with this psychological horror , and what is the real truth behind these night terrors?
Dream Time Capsule: Your protagonist has a unique ability – whatever they dream of, they can send it back in time to their younger self. But when they dream of an upcoming disaster, they have to deal with the complexities of time manipulation and the potential paradoxes. How does your character navigate through these complexities, and what impact does this have on their timeline?
The Dream Portal : Your protagonist has a unique gift: every dream they have serves as a portal to a different time or place. However, they find themselves trapped in a dangerous era in history after a particularly vivid dream. What measures do they take to navigate this time and find their way back to their own reality?
Dream Detective: In this narrative , dreams can serve as crucial evidence in criminal investigations. Your protagonist is a detective who specializes in interpreting these dreams to solve otherwise baffling cases. How does your protagonist navigate through the complexities of such dream evidence to uncover the truth behind a high-profile crime?
The Recurring Nightmare : Your main character is haunted by a recurring nightmare involving the loss of a loved one. This dream is causing significant distress and begins affecting their personal and professional life. How does your character attempt to understand and overcome this nightmare and its emotional consequences?
Dystopian Dreamers: In a dystopian society where dreams are controlled by the state, your protagonist has an illegal dream, a vision of a free world. How do they react to this forbidden dream, and how do they use this vision to spark a rebellion against the controlling regime?
The Dream Architect: In this world, there are professionals known as Dream Architects who can design and implant dreams in people’s minds. Your main character is one such architect. When they’re commissioned to create a harmful dream, they’re faced with an ethical dilemma. What decision do they make, and what are the consequences of their actions?
Dreams and Reality Swap: In a strange twist of events, your protagonist wakes up to find that their dreams and reality have swapped places. Their dream world, full of magical creatures and extraordinary adventures, has become their new reality, while their mundane life is now only experienced in dreams. How does your character adapt to this new reality, and what challenges do they face?
The Last Dream: Your character lives in a world where everyone knows the dream they have on their 18th birthday will be their last dream ever. These dreams often carry significant meaning. On the eve of their 18th birthday, your protagonist is nervous and excited. Describe their last dream and how it influences their life choices and direction.
The Infectious Dream: A dream virus is spreading across the world, causing everyone to have the same disturbing dream. Your protagonist, a renowned dream scientist , is tasked with finding the cause and the cure. How do they approach this unprecedented situation, and how does this shared dream experience change society?

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Creative Writing Prompts

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Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

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Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

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Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Go Set A Watchman – Her Choice?
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Do you use your dreams as inspiration?

I don’t usually have inspiring dreams – at least nothing I could write about but a few days ago I woke up after a long event-filled dream.

I had gone to bed early as I was feeling under the weather.

Instead of the sleepless night, I feared I might have had, I actually slept for almost ten full hours.

This is not like me as I usually get about six – to seven hours and any occasional early night is usually spent wide awake reading, or listening to audio-books.

This night was different and I woke up with my earphones still in my ears and my kindle under the covers with me.

The book I had been listening to was a non-fiction book and not particularly exciting as it was something I was reading for educational purposes rather than entertainment.

The book had simply played on until the end.

FULL-LENGTH DREAMS

I frequently have quite long drawn out dreams, but the dream I remembered after this night was like a full-length movie.

What was a bit strange was that I personally was in the dream.

What was even stranger was that I was watching the dream at the same time.

But, what was really, really strange was that the ‘full-length movie’ I was watching in the dream was a dystopian one.

I DREAM OF DYSTOPIA

The people in my dream society were divided into two distinct types with a large majority of one very particular type of person (in appearance and personality) and a tiny minority of others.

I was part of the minority of people and was trying to get to a place that I personally have never visited in my life unless you count television and movies, in which case I have visited this particular location quite often.

The dream was a lot more detailed than I am describing here, but I won’t get into those details because since that dream I have been experiencing a very strong urge to write a book based on the dream.

PLAYING TO MY STRENGTHS

Except for a film treatment which never actually got made I have never before written in the dystopian genre, having decided long ago to play to my creative strengths.

I don’t feel as experienced, or confident in this genre as I do in others, despite the fact that it is one of my favourite genres – to read.

Yet my dystopian dream story is turning into one of those ideas that never quite goes away.

My thoughts keep turning to this dream, even during swimming, which is one of the activities I use to ’empty’ my mind and relax.

In fact, I am thinking that another few hundred lengths down the swimming pool just might finish this story…

So what should I do? Take a chance and write something completely different? or not?

While considering the idea I googled ‘ books based on dreams’ and found this site which lists Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight , Stephen King’s Misery, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein among other books which were inspired by their author’s dream.

These authors seem to have been very inspired and highly motivated by their dreams and I must say following their dreams has certainly paid off for them.

I am still not sure – my gut is telling me I should write it but my brain is telling me not to waste my time on a project I may not be able to finish. I usually go with my gut, but…

Given my current indecisiveness what I will probably do is write a short outline and see how far that gets me. In the meantime, I will dream on…

Best wishes

If your dreams don’t inspire you, click here for some other ways to be inspired.

For some quick and easy creative writing exercises to help you get new ideas click here.

If you are feeling a bit blocked click here to learn how to beat the block.

PRACTICAL CREATIVE WRITING EXERCISES

Suffering from writer’s block? Stuck for ideas?

You won’t be able to stop writing because these beautiful and inspiring exercises will banish your writing block right now.

Never Be Stuck Again!

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dream - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

a perfect wish
a shared dream
dream horse
falling asleep
Fantasy Land
imagination
reality breaking
Your worst nightmare

In the twilight yawn of heaven's black rose two tall trees of sombre peeking green, their tops a round as if drawn in mathematical precision. And as I gazed at them for a blessed moment, the kind that could be any length at all in the twinkle of eternity, I saw the eyes of an owl, great and wise. Before I could breathe another, before my brain was capable of any other notion, I was behind those green owl eyes in the sky looking down upon the black-cradled ground. For these were the eyes that watched all the galaxies in the dominion of love, the ones that belong to our guardian, our God. And to them I was a speck, safe and happy, so at home there in the sky, there in a place that touches our reality and yet belongs to another.

From the beauty of the dreamscape, in the place between the thoughts and the movies of the nighttime, came striding an elephant with butterfly ears. Each ear was as a great wing in pinks and baby blue, shimmering, and moving in the way butterfly wings do. When the great elephant had passed, there came a snake into view whom morphed into an eel, then grew fins down the length of its body and soon became a fish. And so the dream spoke of victory, of beauty always remembered and how the selfish snake self became beautiful too.

In the dream I am standing in a puddle, I am normal. Yet my reflection in the puddle, in the world of the upside-down, is a zombie. It is as if all this while I have been trying to achieve this very thing, to separate the good parts of me from the rotten.

To dream so snug within a cottage-cocoon, to feel the sunlight that comes in welcome soon-ness to the budding day, births dreams of Iron Man made butterflies.

Every wise hero realises that dreams come with price tags that have nothing to do with money. If heroic dreams were easy, if capes were free, everyone would have one and this world would be better already.

There are dreams that feel as nightmares yet are the way to a heavenly victory, and it feels as if this lifetime could be one of those. For the dream of the warrior is to fight the good fight, to take on any necessary suffering so that others have a greater chance at good health and wellness.

If I die in battle yet the ones I love are safe, then it is a greater dream than ever-safe while others suffer.

In my dream we were soldiers, you and I. We were dressed as soldiers are, in combat camouflage, guns at the ready. It was nighttime and we stared up a mighty cliff face, yet as we tried to climb the bullets came from all around. Together we fought them, shot dead each one, then resumed our task of reaching the higher ground.

I dreamt of a coin, old and covered in dirt, the engravings worn and the head of the king so tarnished as to be stolen from view. I held it in my left hand, watching the mud dirty my skin. So close to my face the coin had the aroma of stale blood. I turned to my right hand and in the palm was a new spring leaf, crowned by a perfect sphere of dew, reflecting an image of my face, softened and relaxed. When I turned back to the coin, the image of the king had freed himself and journeyed over to the leaf, igniting the growth of strong roots and new foliage that reached for the sunlight, robust, virescent.

The stain had vanished like it was never there in the first place, like the whole thing had been a visual joke. Tyler ran his hands over the fabric before holding it up to the brilliant early morning sun. There was no trace of red, black or any other colour. It was as clean as the day it was created and just as supple, just as beautiful. What had been there yesterday was already fading from his memory, as if it wasn't just erased from the silk, but from history all together. It had been words he was sure, but now that they were gone he felt himself begin to relax. Casting his eyes around him at the trees, listening to the birds, he quite forgot the fabric for a moment. Then when recalled he was holding something he looked down to find only white petals, which he instinctively released into the breeze and watched them float away.

After so long in the maze Shelly was confused as to which path to take. She'd sat there all day, lost, figuring she'd never get out, when Jess just walked right through the walls. She sat and stared as he passed through the maize stems into the still sunlit path. He smiles and beaconed her to come. "Follow me," he said with one of his sheepish grins. Shelly wrapped her fingers into his loose cotton shirt, her heart flooded with relief. She could have walked through them herself she supposed, but it was wonderful to have a guide.

I had thought my jail cell as real for so long that I never even checked to see if the walls were solid. I heard screams from other cells and they paralyzed me from even pushing on the door. Then one spring day when the brilliant light of dawn shone in, I stood and put my hand on the bars. With a prayer I pushed with all my might and a after a brief flash of pain the prison cell itself was left behind me on a hill. From the outside it was tiny, pathetic. After so long crouched in the dark I stood up and let the light warm my skin, my black hair flowing in a heavenly wind. Upon the walls written in stone were the words "fear" and "guilt." I threw my head toward the sky with relief, all I had to do was conquer those bullies all along, conquer them and be free.

In the dream I am sitting in a field of green wheat, the stalks bend lazily in the wind and I marvel at the grains. Each one is distinct and though different from the others, still perfectly formed. I run my hand along the edge to feel the combination of rough and smooth and then hold my face upward to feel the warm light of the mid summer day. The air smells just right and the birds fly in an almost cloudless sky. I start walking, the filed goes on forever and after a while my feet become roots, digging into the soil. My hands become green, soon I am also wheat, and I wave happily in the wind.

In the dream the sky is blue, the birds sing and there is a bee on clover nearby. The streams run clear and there are fish in the river. Next to me is a small boy and he tells me how he sees the world. His answers to my questions are so precious. I ask him if we should care for the world. He says "Yes" like he's surprised I should even have to ask. I ask him if we should be nice to animals, his response is the same. I ask him if we should kill or harm animals and his eyes fill with tears. I ask him if humans should kill one another and he runs, runs like he just saw a monster. I call after him but he won't return. He's a child, and like all children he's still able to see through the light of the creator - he was never taught the answers, he feels them within.

Have you ever had a dream so real you were confused when you woke up? Once when I was a little girl I dreamt that the grass in our backyard was blue. The blue grass rose up into the sky leaving perfect green grass underneath and painted the sky the same perfect shade those soft blades had been. That morning I didn't wake up sleepily, but instead like a switch had been flicked. I ran from my bed to the back yard. And you know what? The grass was green and the sky was blue. I told everyone where the blue grass had gone, but since I was five there was no suggestion I was crazy, just knowing smiles and nods. No-one could tell me it wasn’t real, I’d “seen it” happen and outside was the proof. Seeing is believing right? I guess that’s why I’m so comfortable talking to you. I can see you here with me. You aren’t quite solid yet, I don’t think you can be for a while, don't ask me why yet because you won't like the answer.

Authored by daisy , here .

The dream comes often and only the ending changes. Sometimes I win and sometimes I loose. If I loose it's because I betrayed of love and trust of someone I love more than myself. So long as I do what I know is right, the dream turns out well. I have woken up from the dream many times feeling wretched for my mistakes, only for the blessed relief to come that I didn't really do those things, it was just a dream. Then though my heart feels wretched at least I can face the day. When the dream turns out well I'm never elated, just cosy, happy to stay at home and potter. I don't fear the dream, even when it's bad I welcome the message it brings. Stay true to the ones who love you and the ones you love back.

In my dream there are lights, too many to count, dancing on an ocean too vast to envisage. Each one is brilliant, each one unique. I want to look at each one for the marvel it is, for no matter how many there are no two colours are the same. The light that comes from within is more pure than gold, more light than air - each one a small piece of heaven. I try to reach out to them, who wouldn't want to touch something so pure. But the lights recoil in fright, they don't even know who they are. They chant that they feel ugly on the outside and worse on the inside. I can't understand until I take a look at the water, it looks fine but smells like something I wouldn't want to drink. But they're swimming in it, bobbing in it like it's a fine day at the beach. I want to tell them it's poison but they'll never listen. They laugh and carry on just as before, each one just as beautiful as the last but disconnected even from their inner light and beauty.

In my dream I saw a building grow into the sky, many strands of steel and glass like the stems of a wild plant, organic in shape, coming together and parting. It was a vertical city. Standing underneath and looking left and right, with only soil beneath my feet, it was at least three football stadiums wide and went up as far as the eye could see. All around was nature, just nature... and it was beautiful.

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Free Creative Writing Prompts #74: Dreams

Here are 10 free creative writing prompts about your awesome and scary slumbering dreams. When most people have a dream of interest, they do their best to try to figure out what it might mean. Why was I with this person from my past in such a random location? Why was I upset to be doing this activity when I usually love doing it? There are dream interpretation guides, dream classes and there even those who teach lucid dreaming so that you can craft your dreams at will. This much about dreams is true, when you have an extremely wacked out or seemingly prescient dream, it can stick with you for a lifetime. Free Creative Writing Prompts: Dreams

1. You've just witnessed it. The end of the world. These kind of dreams are the ones you like to push out of your mind, but there's only one problem. Everything that happened in the beginning of your dream, from your trip to work to your conversations with co-workers, are word for word in line with the apocalyptic dream you just had. What happens next and what do you do about it?

2. Imagine that you had the chance to get your "dream" everything. Your dream job. Your dream partner. Your dream house. What would it be like if everything and person in your life was dreamily ideal? How would your typical day change?

3. Think back to all of your most memorable dreams and single out the scariest recurring dream you ever had. What do you think it symbolized? If you had complete control over the dream, how do you think you would have conquered such a fearful night of slumber?

4. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that all people, regardless of race and creed, could come together as one. If you were placed behind a podium in front of thousands of people with the entire world watching, what do you think your dream would be for a better tomorrow and why?

5. Upon working for a mad scientist, you realize that you've been helping him to create a device that lets you go into other people's dreams! You take the technology out for a test drive one night. Whose dreams do you go into and what do you do while you're in there?

6. We've all had them and whether or not we talk about them, we probably enjoy our naughty dreams thoroughly. Describe your first risqué dream, why you think you had it and what your reaction was afterward. Did it cause you to feel happy, ashamed or a completely different emotion?

7. The world has been plunged into one large collective dream, with every person having the ability to control everything that affects his own skills, appearance and persona, but with no control over other people. How would this new order of things change your life in particular?

8. Have you ever had a dream that felt so completely real, you even convinced yourself that it was reality? What felt so genuine about the dream and what do you remember the most about it? What would it take for such an event to happen in real life?

9. Joseph, famous for his Technicolor dream coat, was also a killer dream interpreter. List five of your most confusing dreams and do your best to write an explanation of what they might mean. Which of these dream interpretations is the most important to your life and why?

10. Imagine that in your dream you could have a one-on-one meeting with the true inner-you: your subconscious. You can ask this inner-you any questions you want to find out about your identity, your desires and your destiny. What questions do you ask and how does your subconscious respond? Done with Free Creative Writing Prompts about Dreams? Go back to Creative Writing Prompts.

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What, to the Writer, Are Dreams?

Lauren acampora on the mythic links between dream life and creativity.

“Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream.” –Joseph Campbell

One morning, when I was younger, I gave a detailed description of my previous night’s dream to my mother. When I finished, she said, “I’m going to tell you something. Don’t ever share your dreams with anyone except your spouse. It’s boring to listen to other people’s dreams.”

I was offended at first. How could anyone, not to mention my own mother, fail to find my dreams as fascinating as I did? But of course she was right; it’s almost always deadly to hear other people talk about their dreams. As a rule, dreams die in the glare of the waking world, their shimmering aura evaporating in the harsh air outside the psyche. And yet, paradoxically, it’s the emotional aura of dreams that makes them feel so urgently worth sharing in the first place.

Needless to say, I didn’t listen to my mother. That is, I still share my dreams promiscuously—just not verbally.

Like so many other writers and artists, I employ dreams in my creative work. They’re an engine, a lending library. It’s a thrill to awake with a strange, arresting image in mind, or still grasping the thread of an allegorical dream story. Sometimes, a vision or scenario arrives as a package deal: the story is encased within the vision, packed up tight with a certain mood. For me, entire short stories have sprung from such vision: a woman alone in a pool, a finger touching a brain, a blindfolded child. A haunting dream of orange curtains in a hotel room has rolled into an entire novel (in which orange hotel curtains do not ever appear). And the power and mystery of dreams themselves inspired my novel The Paper Wasp , in which the narrator illustrates—and ultimately enters—her vivid, seemingly premonitory dreams.

There’s no shortage of literature and art that we know to have sprung from dreams. As legend has it, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge transcribed the first lines of “Kubla Khan” from a dream; the idea for Frankenstein came to Mary Shelley in her sleep; Robert Louis Stevenson conceived of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a consumptive fever dream; Stephen King came up with the idea for Misery while napping on a plane ; William Styron had a dream that inspired Sophie’s Choice . One of the most prolific dream miners of all was Edgar Allen Poe, who used his frequent nightmares in much of his work. And famously, Paul McCartney dreamed the tune for the song “Yesterday.” Upon waking, he asked his friends if they knew it. “It’s a good little tune,” he said, “but I couldn’t have written it because I dreamt it.”

Dreams can feel like messages from another place, so it’s no surprise that many ancient cultures believed dreams to be transmissions of divine knowledge. The Ancient Egyptians considered dreams to be oracular and held vivid dreamers in high regard. They practiced dream incubation and lucid dreaming, and employed dream guides called the “Masters of Secret Things” who lived in dream temples. The Greeks, too, incubated dreams, and thought that gods came to dreamers through a keyhole to deliver messages. The Aboriginal Australians and the Iroquois started their day by sharing dreams, which were considered a source of guidance for both the individual and the community. The Hindu religion, too, believes that in dreams one is given a glimpse of Vishnu, whose own dreaming mind creates our reality. It isn’t difficult to understand where such beliefs come from if you’ve ever dreamed of reading a book, sentence after lucid, elaborate sentence. “I couldn’t have written it,” you might think, “because I dreamt it.”

Brain science validates this phenomenon. Dreaming occurs during REM sleep, when the frontal lobe, the executive area of the brain, is shut down. Dreams are the mysterious activity of another part of the brain, beneath the scrutiny of the frontal lobe. Neurologically speaking, we really are receiving transmissions from a foreign entity; the unconscious, unobserved self slips through the keyhole when the guard is off duty.

Even during waking hours, the human brain is divided: the executive-desk frontal lobe and the inscrutable, intuitive limbic system are strangers to each other. In sleep, they are incommunicado. Because of this deep rift, the great majority of our dreams go unremembered, except on a buried emotional level. It’s difficult, even paradoxical, to try to bear total witness to them, akin to pinning down the present moment, halting the slippage of time. Just as the present can only be considered in retrospect, the unconscious mind can only be discerned via the remembered scraps of dreams. Any glimmers of awareness that may come during sleep, when a dream is fleetingly apprehended, are instances of the conscious half of the brain briefly observing and translating the activity of the submerged half: interpreting the enigmatic message of a stranger. These glimmers are rare and fleeting, occurring only during the hypnogogic and hypnopompic states, the liminal states between wakefulness and sleep.

In siphoning dreams for their work, writers and artists are tapping a valuable well. Dream logic and imagery carries an uncanny, allegorical quality that resonates deeply with readers and audiences. And it’s possible that dream recall actually enhances artistic output during waking hours. Scientific studies have confirmed a correlation between dream recall and creativity; those who recall dreams actually perform better on creativity evaluations. This may be because creative people are naturally better at recalling their dreams. It’s a chicken or egg situation: do creative people have more vivid and memorable dreams because they are innately creative, or can a brain become more creative through strengthening dream recall? Whatever the case, making use of dreams in art is a powerful way to reflect our foreign selves back to ourselves, while projecting that mystery self out to the world as archetypal image and story—dream as personalized myth, myth as depersonalized dream.

For writers, plugging into the unconscious provides a direct line to the human imagination in all its splendor and darkness. Indeed, in the midst of composing, it’s often unclear where the words are coming from. Sentences and imagery sometimes bubble up from a hidden well that surprises the conscious, transcribing mind. Some writers will tell you that they write in order to exorcise their demons, cleanse their psyches, to bring their fears and darkness into the light. Some will tell you that it’s better than therapy.

Writing at full tilt can be a euphoric state, tantamount to lucid dreaming. It’s half-awareness—one foot in, one foot out—a balance on the brink of consciousness. It’s not just in dreams that we can experience the ecstasy of flight and the exhilaration of omnipotence, but also when writing, when the words are flowing, the images appearing. Just as in a lucid dream, this exhilaration is paired with the knowledge that it can’t last, that it’s a temporary spell. Soon, we’ll become too aware of flying, and the spell will break and drop us to the ground. Still, we endeavor to capture and recapture this ecstasy of creative freedom, the ability to travel lightly anywhere at will, the bliss of floating to the treetops.

If writing fiction is analogous to dreaming, the experience of reading fiction can be, too. When we’re reading, another person is able to intrude into our psyches through the use of words alone, remotely projecting imagery onto the screens of our minds, suffusing them with atmosphere and mood. We are, in a way, sharing a dream with a stranger. And fiction, at its best, places a mirror before us, evoking terror and wonder. It affects us on an emotional level beyond language, and brings a frisson of recognition. There’s a momentary astonishment to encounter the familiar within the strange, something of our own inner lives on the page. There’s the eerie sense that the author has somehow entered and seen into us. The best art carries this sense of inevitability, of allegory, myth, dream—a truth that has always been there, that we already know in some deep part of ourselves.

This flare of astonishment is arguably the purpose of art. It’s the sudden thinning of the distance between us, the erosion of barriers that have been built and propped up by our conscious, waking lives. Like a flash of lightning, great art illuminates the human landscape in its breathtaking entirety and shows that the barriers are flimsy, false, only temporarily there. All at once, we are taken outside ourselves and given a glimpse of the Jungian collective unconscious, the subliminal wholeness of life, the enveloping dream of Vishnu. What is the purpose of all art, if not to puncture the illusion of fragmentation, to reveal the commonality of human experience, to return us—if briefly—to those collective waters?

__________________________________

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora is out now via Grove Atlantic.

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11 Writing Prompts about Dreams

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had some pretty imaginative and weird dreams over my lifetime.

Naturally dreams can get pretty creative, so let’s see how they might inspire some creative thinking, and writing!

If anything can help get the neurons firing and have us wondering what the answers are to questions which we don’t normally ask, the topic of dreams can.

So without further ado, it’s into our writing about dreams and dreaming…

How to use these:

Pick one at random, and write 500 words on it right now!

Try picking a random number each day for a week, and write about the corresponding prompt each day in your journal.

Sit down with the entire list, and write a concise response to each prompt.

Or maybe you have a way that to use these in your own writing, or students writing that feels like a better fit – go for it!

The Prompts:

Why do you think we dream when we sleep?
Do you often recall what your dreams were about when you wake? What could help with remembering our dreams?
Do you think dreams can help us in any way? How?
Do your pets ever dream? What do you think they might dream about?
Have you ever come up with a creative solution to a problem using an idea you had in a dream?
What foods or activities result in you having the strangest dreams?
Why do you think sometimes when you try and describe a very vivid amazing dream to someone, it can just sound weird and not that meaningful?
Does dreaming help you get a good night’s sleep? Why?
Have you ever played a sport or had an adventure, and then dreamed about it that night?
Is it possible to dream in the style of a videogame, like minecraft for example?
Lucid dreaming is a rare situation where someone realizes they are dreaming and takes control over what is happening in their dream. Describe what that might be like.

Found these helpful? Lots of you do!

That is just awesome, and we’re so happy we’re helping thousands of you in our positive and thriving community.

And in case you’re weren’t aware already, we have HEAPS of other free writing prompts, picture prompts, and other resources and printables for you to use. Take a look around, and don’t forget to bookmark right now!

If you can share this page with someone who would find it useful, that would be fantastic. Thank you to those of you who do! We really appreciate it.

Stay tuned for more!

Yours, Matt & Hayley

The Storymind Writer's Library

Creative writing, story development, story structure, narrative science.

Writing Stories About Hopes and Dreams

A lot of people, writers included, use the words “hope” and “dream” pretty much interchangeably. Fact is, each describes a completely different way of imagining the future. Being clear not only of their definitions but of the different states of mind each invokes will not only help you better communicate with your readers or audience, but may also open a deeper level of sophistication in the message you are trying to convey.

Hope is a desired future to which at least one definitive pathway exists. It doesn’t have to be a sure thing or even a likely outcome that the hope will be achieved – just that there is at least one causal path that, if completed, will arrive at the desired future.

For example, if one hopes to graduate, it is a matter of following a laid out series of steps that, when completed, will result in a diploma.

In contrast, Dream is a desired future for which no definitive pathway exists. Dreams may be likely to be realized or may be nearly impossible, but there must be at least some possibility of being achieved or it is not a Dream but a Fantasy.

For example, if one dreams of becoming a movie star and sits around a popular restaurant for studio executives every day, there literally is no Hope, but the dream can remain alive forever.

It is important to note that the pathway to achieving a hope is not necessarily only linear. While getting a degree may require taking some course in given order (101 before 201, for example), other course are electives and the only requirement to achieve the hope is that a certain number are fulfilled, regardless of the order.

Similarly, one can try to realize a dream by taking steps, such as singling out a studio exec and stalking them, or by creating a favorable environment, such as showing up not only at a restaurant, but also at a gym and a charity fundraiser, believing that by being more visible, the odds are increased for being “noticed.”

To be a true hope, there must be a certain cause and effect relationship between the steps or conditions in which one engages and the achievement of the hope state. But a dream, by definition, is built on indirect relationships and influence, rather than certain connections.

Keep in mind that there are two kinds of causal relationships – if/then and when/also . If/then is standard temporal causality, as in One bad apple spoils the bunch. When/also is the spatial version of causality, as in Where there’s smoke, there’s fire . In each case, there is a direct connection between condition one, and condition two: If condition one is met, condition two is certain.

It is this absolute association that is not present in dreams. But from an emotional standpoint, there is no difference between hoping and dreaming. Each is a future state that is highly desired, but in hoping, one expects that future if all the conditions are met, while in dreaming, meeting the conditions provides no guarantee.

In Dramatica theory, Hope vs. Dream is a thematic conflict. It describes stories in which the message revolves around proving that in the given situation of that particular story, it is either better to hope or to dream.

Is one deluded by an intense dream into thinking there is real hope? Or, is one missing out on life experience and the rare but real advent of a lucky chance by confining oneself to only those things for which hope exists?

We’ve all seen these kinds of stories in books, movies, television and stage plays. As an author, it can improve both your work and your life to explore the difference between the two.

Here are the specific definitions of Hope and Dream from the Dramatica Dictionary:

Variation – dynamic pair: Dream ↔ Hope

a desired future if things go as expected

Hope is based on a projection of the way things are going. When one looks at the present situation and notes the direction of change, Hope lies somewhere along that line. As an example, if one is preparing for a picnic and the weather has been sunny, one Hopes for a sunny day. If it was raining for days, one could not Hope but only Dream. Still, Hope acknowledges that things can change in unexpected ways. That means that Hoping for something is not the same as expecting something. Hope is just the expectation that something will occur unless something interferes. How accurately a character evaluates the potential for change determines whether he is Hoping or dreaming. When a character is dreaming and thinks he is Hoping, he prepares for things where there is no indication they will come true.

syn. desired expectation, optimistic anticipation, confident aspiration, promise, encouraging outlook.

Variation – dynamic pair: Hope ↔ Dream

a desired future that requires unexpected developments

Dream describes a character who speculates on a future that has not been ruled out, however unlikely. Dreaming is full of “what ifs.” Cinderella dreamed of her prince because it wasn’t quite unimaginable. One Dreams of winning the lottery even though one “hasn’t got a hope.” Hope requires the expectation that something will happen if nothing goes wrong. Dreaming has no such limitation. Nothing has to indicate that a Dream will come true, only that it’s not impossible. Dreaming can offer a positive future in the midst of disaster. It can also motivate one to try for things others scoff at. Many revolutionary inventors have been labeled as Dreamers. Still and all, to Dream takes away time from doing, and unless one strikes a balance and does the groundwork, one can Dream while hopes go out the window for lack of effort.

syn. aspire, desiring the unlikely, pulling for the doubtful, airy hope, glimmer, far fetched desire

Learn more about Theme in my book:

A Few Words About Theme

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Writing About Dreams and Nightmares

Dreams and nightmares can play a large part in people’s lives, but because of their unstructured and confusing nature, it can be difficult to include them in a story. To make it even more difficult, the majority of a dream is forgotten within the first few minutes after waking up! How are you supposed to write about something when your own experience with it is only ever a fleeting memory?

There are many ways to write about dreams in fiction, but they generally must serve a different purpose than dreams in real life. Some people could argue that real dreams have deeper meanings, but in a story, they really have to have a clear purpose. You shouldn’t just use a dream to break up a story or create comic relief. Keep that in mind before you decide to include a dream in your story.

Is Writing About Dreams a Bad Idea?

Of course not. Writing about dreams is not an inherently bad idea. A good writer can make anything interesting to read, so if your story needs a dream sequence for some particular reason, you absolutely should write it.

However, the people that vehemently stand by the assertion that it should never be done do have good reason to be grumpy about it. It is extremely easy to mess up a dream sequence, in an absolutely infinite number of ways. In fact, a good majority of attempted dream sequences are poorly executed.

Dreams are confusing by nature, so when you try to write about them, you risk confusing your readers. No one wants to read a story when they have no idea what’s even going on. No amount of fantastical imagery can keep a confused or frustrated reader holding on for too long—they’re bound to skip ahead, or stop reading altogether. Acknowledging that is the first step towards crafting a memorable dream sequence that won’t drive your readers mad.

What Makes a Dream Sequence Good or Bad?

A poorly executed dream sequence can take many different forms. They can be frustratingly vague or too overwhelming, or they can just be downright boring. Although dreams should be confusing, bad dream sequences usually take that too far and construct a narrative that is so confusing that it is rendered completely pointless. And if something in your story doesn’t serve a purpose, it shouldn’t be included.

Another thing that really bothers readers is trickery regarding dreams. It’s just a really really bad idea to disguise a dream as being part of the true narrative. When something significant happens and the character later wakes up to reveal that it was all just a dream, that can be upsetting for a reader. If you need to use a dream to trick the character, make the fact that it’s a dream obvious to the reader—or at least vaguely hinted at.

A good dream sequence is one that serves a legitimate purpose in the context of the story. Dreams can be a powerful tool for giving insight into a character’s personality and struggles, creating meaning from a scene, or emphasizing something else in the narrative. A shocking situation could leave a character fixated on an event, in which case it can be a great technique to use dreams to show how they were affected. In other words, the dream has to mean something. It must be symbolic, haunting, or revealing, and it should contribute to the plot or character in some way.

There are many other ways to make or break a dream sequence, but I’ll get to more specific examples later on.

Is There a Better Way?

There are times when it is more appropriate to use a dream than other times. If dreams play a large storytelling role in the narrative, it’s fine to go a bit overboard with them. However, in most normal situations, there’s almost always a better way to present information than with dreams.

Try to think about what you want to achieve. If you’re using it to reveal backstory for a character, then you might want to hold off. Using dreams as flashbacks can make it unclear what parts of the dream are real, and what parts are just the usual dream nonsense. Dreams can be memories, especially if they’re recurring nightmares from a traumatic experience, but you should establish that outside of the dreamscape beforehand.

As a general rule, using dreams in your story should be a last resort. If you’re considering using a dream in your story, try to think about other ways the same information could be given to the readers. If you can’t come up with anything, then go ahead and move forward with using the dream.

Common Mistakes Writers Make When Writing About Dreams

The biggest way that writers can mess up a dream sequence is by leaning too far into the extremes.

Sometimes, a written dream sequence comes across as indistinguishable from reality. Sure, some dreams can feel sort of real while you’re experiencing, but it’s generally a bad idea to write it like that without some sort of indication that it’s a dream. Making a dream feel too much like a character’s waking life doesn’t make for a very convincing dream. Worse yet, readers could misunderstand and assume it isn’t a dream at all.

Other times, writers really crank up the craziness of dreams, to a degree that is too difficult to understand to be meaningful. Writers try to cram as many weird and conflicting details into a dream as possible, rendering it confusing, uncomfortable, and just downright unpleasant for readers to try to decipher. If a dream doesn’t make sense, then it does not help your story at all. And if something isn’t necessary, it needs to be taken out.

Writing the Transition from Awake to Dreaming

Falling asleep can be a difficult thing to write, but it’s probably best not to overthink it in most cases. Avoid the cliches, and don’t overcomplicate it. Unless you have a good reason to focus on the process of falling asleep, you could just have the character lay down and then skip right to being asleep.

For the first few minutes of being asleep, the character will be in stage one of the sleep cycle, which means they will be mildly alert and easy to wake up. Sometimes dreams occur in this stage, but they more closely resemble passing thoughts or daydreams. If other sounds are happening around the character as they are in this stage, they may incorporate into the character’s dreams.

As the character descends further into unconsciousness, that alertness begins to fade, and they enter the second stage of the sleep cycle. Brain waves begin to slow down in preparation for deep sleep. No dreams occur in this stage of sleep, and it is still relatively easy to wake someone up at this stage.

For a deeper explanation of how to write about a character falling asleep, take a moment to look at my other article: How to Write a Character Falling Asleep in First-Person .

How People Dream

When someone falls asleep, they don’t just dream the entire time . A sleeper cycles between Non-REM, or deep sleep, and REM sleep, which is the dream sleep. Those are the third and fourth stages of the sleep cycle. The average person cycles in and out of REM sleep about six times per night, but that varies from person to person, as well as how long the individual is asleep. In addition to producing dreams, the brain uses REM sleep to organize the experiences of the day and store them in long-term memory.

This cycle of deep and dream sleep often results in dreams having a sort of fragmented quality, where the scene seems to shift suddenly or change altogether. A dream with a more linear narrative is common, but some elements still tend to change between REM cycles. Another consequence of the dream cycle is that the entire dream, or sections of it, could simply repeat itself. Some things may change in the repetitions, the character could become aware that they are dreaming, or they may forget that the repetitions even occurred.

Another thing to keep in mind with dreams is the passage of time. When a person is asleep, their perception of time is altered, and they may experience a dream that feels quite brief or drawn out. The length of the dream has very little to do with the amount of time actually spent asleep.

Now, this of course only applies to natural sleep. There are many other ways dreams can be induced, like with drugs, psychosis, hypnosis, and a multitude of other options. The dreams experienced in these altered states are going to operate differently from regular REM sleep, and you may need to do some additional research on those topics to be able to craft a dream that fits the situation.

The Dream’s Purpose in Your Story

Once you have decided to move forward with writing a dream, you need to consider what you want it to achieve. What do you want it to do for the story? What impact should it have on the character? How do you want the readers to feel about it? How is it going to complicate the narrative?

There are several different kinds of dreams you can utilize for different purposes, but each one can be tailor-fit to the vibe you want to convey. Any of these categories can also apply to nightmares, or they can evolve from or into a nightmare. A dream can also serve more than one purpose at a time, so don’t feel as though any of these categories are limiting you and the things your writing can achieve.

Foreshadowing

Dreams are often utilized to foreshadow an event taking place later on in the story. This can take the form of a premonition, a telekinetic message, or heavy symbolism, but no matter how you choose to convey it, you should be cautious about how explicit the message is. Being too obvious about the foreshadowing ruins the effect and makes the dream feel more magical—which can be problematic if you’re writing realistic fiction.

If the dream is a result of some magical element, then the character could receive a more explicit warning about something, but that is usually for the effect of avoiding something and is not necessarily foreshadowing.

This type of dream can easily apply to nightmares as well. In fact, it lends itself better to being a bad dream than otherwise. A character could have a dream that symbolizes their impending doom. Which, you know, probably isn’t a fun dream to have.

Realization

REM sleep is a time when the brain synthesizes all the information it gathered throughout the day. If a character has been mulling over a problem, things may fall into place after they begin to dream. For storytelling’s sake, you could illustrate them solving a problem in their dreams that is representative of the problem they have to deal with in their waking life. Then, they could jerk awake with the sudden realization, having finally discovered a solution to their problem.

This also applies to anything that could be confusing for the character. If they are a researcher trying to translate an ancient tome, they could have some revelation about cross-referencing the tome with a different artifact when the artifact comes to them in their dream. If the character is debating what birthday gift to get for a friend, the idea could come to them in their sleep because of a memory of the friend. If the character is trying to write a scene for their book, they could potentially dream a scene that perfectly fits into their story.

To turn this dream into a nightmare, the realization could be something more horrifying, instead of a convenient solution. The character may realize after they fall asleep that their new roommate fits the description of a wanted criminal. Or, they might dream of a house fire and wake up with the realization that they left the oven on.

Internal Conflict

This kind of dream also results from the character experiencing a problem, like with the realization dream, except they aren’t quite lucky enough to get a convenient solution presented to them in a neatly packaged dream. Instead, the internal conflict dream usually occurs when there is a difficult decision that the character has to make, or if they have to do something that they are not looking forward to.

Usually, this dream is a nightmare. Characters will dream about the event or decision, and the dream will play out all the ways the situation could possibly (or impossibly) go wrong. If the character is dreading making a decision, the dreams are bound to reflect all the reasons why each choice is bad. This could be the case if a character is considering breaking up with their significant other. On the one hand, they could continue to be miserable in their relationship and life, but on the other hand, they could end up dying alone.

If, however, the character is dreading a particular event, like having to make a speech, then they will likely dream of all the worst things that could happen during that speech. The audience may laugh, they could trip on their way to the podium, or maybe they’ll even get shot! Regardless of how unlikely a situation is to actually happen, it could still be a source of anxiety for the character.

Recurring

Recurring dreams are dreams that repeat at any interval. A character could experience a recurring dream every single night, every week, or even years apart. These dreams are also often used in conjunction with the foreshadowing type since a recurring dream can have serious narrative implications.

There are a few reasonable explanations for recurring dreams. The first is an obsession of some kind. People develop fixations on items, events, people, or locations, and then those fixations can reinforce (and be reinforced by) a specific recurring dream. This is great if you want to show a character’s slow descent into madness since constantly being bombarded with the same dream could make an obsession even harder to manage. Consider a character that is obsessed with another person, and continues to have the same dream of them getting married every single night. That’s a great recipe for driving the character to kidnapping.

Another reason for recurring dreams is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) . A character that experienced or witnessed something traumatic or dangerous may have recurring nightmares about the traumatic event. This layers with the flashback type of dream, even if the dream deviates a bit from actual history.

Flashbacks should generally not be presented in the form of dreams, but if you want a way to present them more naturally than simply cutting to the past, you could give it try. Flashbacks are a way of giving the readers some backstory to support the main narrative, but they can also be a way of exploring the psyche of the dreaming character.

When a character experiences a flashback dream, it is commonly something traumatic, or involving memories that they would rather not acknowledge. If you wanted to put an interesting spin on the flashbacks, you could make the memories something the character had effectively repressed, either as a coping mechanism or with some sort of magical intervention. The character would therefore not think of the dream as representing a real memory, which could be an interesting plot point.

Sleep Paralysis

When a person falls asleep, the brain essentially paralyzes the sleeper so their body doesn’t move as a reaction to whatever they are dreaming. This is called “ atonia ,” and it is an evolutionary reaction that prevents the person from hurting themself while they are asleep. However, some people experience this paralysis in the minutes before or after being asleep as well, which is part of the reason they might experience a phenomenon known as “sleep paralysis.”

During an episode of sleep paralysis, the character would be unable to move or speak. This is accompanied by a terrifying hallucination, often described as a demon approaching the immobile person. The hallucination can also take the form of another person that the character fears or some other thing that they are afraid of, like a swarm of spiders.

Although sleep paralysis is a hallucination and not a dream, it is still closely related to the topic of nightmares.

A lucid dream is a dream in which the person experiencing it is aware that they are dreaming. Sometimes, as a result of that, the dreamer gains some sort of control over the way the dream plays out. Sometimes that means only controlling their own reactions in the dream, and other times it means exercising control over the main narrative and setting.

A lucid dream can become a nightmare if the character has control over their own body, but not the setting around them. Even if the character is aware of the fact that it is a dream, they may see grotesque or haunting images, or situations that force them to face things they are afraid of. At times, a lucid nightmare can be worse than a regular nightmare, since the character would know that the nightmare would end if they could only wake up.

Telepathic dreams are when magical influence allows one character to send dreams to another, or to experience the same dream at the same time. Since this type of dream purely exists within the realm of magic, there are no hard and fast rules. Traditional understandings of dreams do not apply, so… go nuts.

How to Make Dreams Stand Out in Your Story

When writing a dream, it is important to format the text differently from how you ordinarily would write the rest of the story. This is especially important if dreams are going to play a large part in the story, or if you have more than one.

Having a recognizable format for writing dreams can be helpful for a few reasons. For one thing, it allows you to include multiple dreams in a story without having to explain that it’s a dream every time, and makes it obvious that the dream is removed from the character’s reality. More importantly, however, it allows you to manipulate the way the dream feels.

There are several ways to manipulate the format of the text to make a dream stand out. If the dream is supposed to be fuzzy and sort of numb, try adding… ellipses… to give readers the sense that the dream… lags. This can emphasize that… dreamy feeling… and it… makes it obvious that the character isn’t… really… fully aware.

A simpler way of setting dreams apart is to put them in italics. This works better if the tone of the dream isn’t meant to be slow or dreamy, making it great for nightmares or premonitions. However, using italics is a popular method of showing thoughts or writings, so if you’ve already decided to use italics to format something else, don’t use it for dreams.

You could also set dreams apart by using a noticeably different font. This can also be a helpful tool for setting the tone of the dreams, since some fonts can appear rigid, playful, or timid. However, you should be aware that deviating from traditional fonts might make your text more difficult for some people to read.

You could also try bolded text, or bolded and italicized text, to try to set the dream apart. This could work well if nightmares are the focus, but it doesn’t work as well for most other dreams, since it’s a little too bold to properly represent the subconscious. Also, like with italicization, be aware that this is often used to format other things.

Another option is to change the point of view. If the POV is typically in first-person, try jumping into third person for the duration of the dream. If the POV is in closed third-person, try shifting to an omniscient perspective, or vice versa. This can dramatically change the way a scene is perceived.

How to Write a Character Waking Up from a Dream

In real life, people begin to forget their dreams within minutes of waking up. However, most characters in fiction don’t forget their dreams, otherwise it wouldn’t serve much of a purpose. They can forget bits and pieces of the dream over time, though, which can be helpful for building tension. That can be a great way of having the character blunder through something they don’t remember when the readers know they were warned about the situation in their dream.

If the character does remember the majority of their dream, spend some time to write about their reaction to it as they are waking up. Do they jolt awake, and is it because of a nightmare or revelation? Are they used to having strange or frightening dreams? How do they interpret it? Do they tell someone else about their dream after the fact? If the dream is going to be an important part of the story (which it should be, if you chose to include it), then give the character some space to try to interpret it outside of the dream itself.

For a more comprehensive explanation of writing about waking up in various cases, check out my article When and How to Write a Character Waking Up .

Dreams as Recollections

If writing the dreams themselves are causing you too much trouble, don’t let that get in the way of you finishing your story. Skipping over the dream sequence and interpreting it only from what the character remembers is just as viable of an option, if not more so. You cut out the risk of boring or confusing your readers, and you can reveal things about the dream over time as it is convenient or relevant.

Presenting only a character’s recollections of the dream can also be useful if the character has recurring dreams. There’s no need to show the dreams themselves over and over if they are the same every time. And often, showing what effect the dreams or nightmares have on the character can be a more interesting plot point than the actual content of the dream.

One Final Suggestion

It is important to keep in mind that people dream primarily in images, so make sure there is a lot of descriptive language and many visual details in the dreams you write. Play with the setting, and use the visual details to hint at the kind of dream the character is about to experience. Characters may also have a difficult time remembering what anyone in the dream says, so focus less on dialogue and more on what the character sees.

Good luck, and remember to keep dreaming, writers!

Essays About Dreams In Life: 14 Examples And Topic Ideas

Dreams in life are necessary; if you are writing essays about dreams in life, you can read these essay examples and topic ideas to get started.

Everyone has a dream – a big one or even a small one. Even the most successful people had dreams before becoming who they are today. Having a dream is like having a purpose in life; you will start working hard to reach your dream and never lose interest in life.

Without hard work, you can never turn a dream into a reality; it will only remain a desire. Level up your essay writing skills by reading our essays about dreams in life examples and prompts and start writing an inspiring essay today!

Writing About Dreams: A Guide

Essays about dreams in life: example essays, 1. chase your dreams: the best advice i ever got by michelle colon-johnson, 2. my dream, my future by deborah massey, 3. the pursuit of dreams by christine nishiyama, 4. my dreams and ambitions by kathy benson, 5. turning big dreams into reality by shyam gokarn, 6. my hopes and dreams by celia robinson, 7. always pursue your dreams – no matter what happens by steve bloom, 8. why do we dream by james roland, 9. bad dreams by eli goldstone, 10. why your brain needs to dream by matthew walker, 11. dreams by hedy marks, 12. do dreams really mean anything by david b. feldman, 13. how to control your dreams by serena alagappan, 14. the sunday essay: my dreams on antidepressants by ashleigh young, essays about dreams in life essay topics, 1. what is a dream, 2. what are your dreams in life, 3. why are dreams important in life, 4. what are the reasons for a person to dream big, 5. what do you think about dreams in life vs. short-term sacrifice, 6. what is the purpose of dreaming, 7. why are dreams so strange and vivid, 8. why do dreams feel so real, 9. why are dreams so hard to remember, 10. do dreams mean anything, what is a dream short essay, how can i write my dream in life.

Writing about dreams is an excellent topic for essays, brainstorming new topic ideas for fiction stories, or just as a creative outlet. We all have dreams, whether in our sleep, during the day, or even while walking on a sunny day. Some of the best ways to begin writing about a topic are by reading examples and using a helpful prompt to get started. Check out our guide to writing about dreams and begin mastering the art of writing today!

“Everyone has the ability to dream, but not everyone has the willingness to truly chase their dreams. When people aren’t living their dreams they often have limited belief systems. They believe that their current circumstances and/or surroundings are keeping them from achieving the things they want to do in life.”

In her essay, author Michelle Colon-Johnson encourages her readers to develop a mindset that will let them chase their dreams. So, you have to visualize your dream, manifest it, and start your journey towards it! Check out these essays about dreams and sleep .

“At the time when I have my job and something to make them feel so proud of me, I would like to give them the best life. I would like to make them feel comfortable and see sweet smiles on their faces. This is really the one I like to achieve in my life; mountains of words can’t explain how much I love and appreciate them.”

Author Deborah Massey’s essay talks about her dreams and everything she wanted to achieve and accomplish in her life. She also tells us that we must live our values, pursue our dreams, and follow our passions for the best future.

“Fast-forward 5+ years, and my first published book is coming out this May with Scholastic. And now, let me tell you the truth: I don’t feel any different. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity, proud of the work I’ve done, and excited for the book’s release. But on a fundamental level, I feel the same.”

In her essay, author Christine Nishiyama shares what she felt when she first achieved one of her goals in life. She says that with this mindset, you will never feel the satisfaction of achieving your goal or the fulfillment of reaching your dream. Instead, she believes that what fulfills people is the pursuit of their dreams in life.

“My dream is to become a good plastic surgeon and day after day it has transformed into an ambition which I want to move towards. I do not want to be famous, but just good enough to have my own clinic and work for a very successful hospital. Many people think that becoming a doctor is difficult, and I know that takes many years of preparation, but anyone can achieve it if they have determination.”

Author Kathy Benson’s essay narrates her life – all the things and struggles she has been through in pursuing her dreams in life. Yet, no matter how hard the situation gets, she always convinces herself not to give up, hoping her dreams will come true one day. She believes that with determination and commitment, anyone can achieve their dreams and goals in life.

“I have always been a big dreamer and involved in acting upon it. Though, many times I failed, I continued to dream big and act. As long as I recollect, I always had such wild visions and fantasies of thinking, planning, and acting to achieve great things in life. But, as anyone can observe, there are many people, who think and work in that aspect.”

In his essay, author Shyam Gokarn explains why having a big dream is very important in a person’s life. However, he believes that the problem with some people is that they never hold tight to their dreams, even if they can turn them into reality. As a result, they tend to easily give up on their dreams and even stop trying instead of persevering through the pain and anguish of another failure.

“When I was younger, I’ve always had a fairytale-like dream about my future. To marry my prince, have a Fairy Godmother, be a princess… But now, all of that has changed. I’ve realized how hard life is now; that life cannot be like a fairy tale. What you want can’t happen just like that.”

Celia Robinson’s essay talks about her dream since she was a child. Unfortunately, as we grow old, there’s no “Fairy Godmother” that would help us when things get tough. Everyone wants to succeed in the future, but we have to work hard to achieve our dreams and goals.

“Take writing for example. I’ve wanted to be a professional writer since I was a little boy, but I was too scared that I wouldn’t be any good at it. But several years ago I started pursuing this dream despite knowing how difficult it might be. I fully realize I may not make it, but I’m completely fine with that. At least I tried which is more than most people can say.”

In his essay, author Steve Bloom encourages his readers always to pursue their dreams no matter what happens. He asks, “Would you rather pursue them and fail or never try?”. He believes that it’s always better to try and fail than look back and wonder what might have been. Stop thinking that failure or success is the only end goal for pursuing your dreams. Instead, think of it as a long journey where all the experiences you get along the way are just as important as reaching the end goal.

“Dreams are hallucinations that occur during certain stages of sleep. They’re strongest during REM sleep, or the rapid eye movement stage, when you may be less likely to recall your dream. Much is known about the role of sleep in regulating our metabolism, blood pressure, brain function, and other aspects of health. But it’s been harder for researchers to explain the role of dreams. When you’re awake, your thoughts have a certain logic to them. When you sleep, your brain is still active, but your thoughts or dreams often make little or no sense.”

Author James Roland’s essay explains the purpose of having dreams and the factors that can influence our dreams. He also mentioned some of the reasons that cause nightmares. Debra Sullivan, a nurse educator, medically reviews his essay. Sullivan’s expertise includes cardiology, psoriasis/dermatology, pediatrics, and alternative medicine. For more, you can also see these articles about sleep .

“The first time I experienced sleep paralysis and recognised it for what it was I was a student. I had been taking MDMA and listening to Django Reinhardt. My memories of that time are mainly of taking drugs and listening to Django Reinhardt. When I woke up I was in my paralysed body. I was there, inside it. I was inside my leaden wrists, my ribcage, the thick dead roots of my hair, the bandages of skin. This time the hallucinations were auditory. I could hear someone being beaten outside my door. They were screaming for help. And I could do nothing but lie there, locked inside my body . . . whatever bit of me is not my body. That is the bit that exists, by itself, at night.”

In her essay, Author Eli Goldstone talks about her suffering from bad dreams ever since childhood. She also talks about what she feels every time she has sleep paralysis – a feeling of being conscious but unable to move.

“We often hear stories of people who’ve learned from their dreams or been inspired by them. Think of Paul McCartney’s story of how his hit song “Yesterday” came to him in a dream or of Mendeleev’s dream-inspired construction of the periodic table of elements. But, while many of us may feel that our dreams have special meaning or a useful purpose, science has been more skeptical of that claim. Instead of being harbingers of creativity or some kind of message from our unconscious, some scientists have considered dreaming to being an unintended consequence of sleep—a byproduct of evolution without benefit.”

Author Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, shares some interesting facts about dreams in his essay. According to research, dreaming is more than just a byproduct of sleep; it also serves essential functions in our well-being.

“Dreams are basically stories and images that our mind creates while we sleep. They can be vivid. They can make you feel happy, sad, or scared. And they may seem confusing or perfectly rational. Dreams can happen at any time during sleep. But you have your most vivid dreams during a phase called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when your brain is most active. Some experts say we dream at least four to six times a night.”

In his essay, Author Hedy Marks discusses everything we need to know about dreams in detail – from defining a dream to tips that may help us remember our dreams. Hedy Marks is an Assistant Managing Editor at WebMD , and Carol DerSarkissian, a board-certified emergency physician, medically reviews his essay.

“Regardless of whether dreams foretell the future, allow us to commune with the divine, or simply provide a better understanding of ourselves, the process of analyzing them has always been highly symbolic. To understand the meaning of dreams, we must interpret them as if they were written in a secret code. A quick search of an online dream dictionary will tell you that haunted houses symbolize “unfinished emotional business,” dimly lit lamps mean you’re “feeling overwhelmed by emotional issues,” a feast indicates “a lack of balance in your life,” and garages symbolize a feeling of “lacking direction or guidance in achieving your goals.”

Author David B. Feldman, an author, speaker, and professor of counseling psychology, believes that dreams may not mean anything, but they tell us something about our emotions. In other words, if you’ve been suffering from a series of bad dreams, it could be worth checking in with yourself to see how you’ve been feeling and perhaps consider whether there’s anything you can do to improve your mood.

“Ever wish you could ice skate across a winter sky, catching crumbs of gingerbread, like flakes of snow, on your tongue? How about conquering a monster in a nightmare, bouncing between mountain peaks, walking through walls, or reading minds? Have you ever longed to hold the hand of someone you loved and lost? If you want to fulfill your fantasies, or even face your fears, you might want to try taking some control of your dreams (try being the operative). People practiced in lucid dreaming—the phenomenon of being aware that you are dreaming while you are asleep—claim that the experience allows adventure, self-discovery, and euphoric joy.”

In her essay, Author Serena Alagappan talks about lucid dreams – a type of dream where a person becomes conscious during a dream. She also talked about ways to control our dreams, such as keeping a journal, reciting mantras before bed, and believing we can. However, not everyone will be able to control their dreams because the levels of lucidity and control differ significantly between individuals.

“There was a period of six months when I tried to go off my medication – a slowly unfolding disaster – and I’d thought my dreams might settle down. Instead, they grew more deranged. Even now I think of the dream in which I was using a cigarette lighter to melt my own father, who had assumed the form of a large candle. I’ve since learned that, apart from more research being needed, this was probably a case of “REM rebound”. When you stop taking the medication, you’ll likely get a lot more REM sleep than you were getting before. In simple terms, your brain goes on a dreaming frenzy, amping up the detail.”

Author Ashleigh Young’s essay informs us how some medications, such as antidepressants, affect our dreams based on her own life experience. She said, “I’ve tried not to dwell too much on my dreams. Yes, they are vivid and sometimes truly gruesome, full of chaotic, unfathomable violence, but weird nights seemed a reasonable price to pay for the bearable days that SSRIs have helped me to have.”

In simple terms, a dream is a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal; is it the same as your goal in life? In your essay, explore this topic and state your opinion about what the word “dream” means to you.

This is an excellent topic for your statement or “about me” essay. Where do you see yourself in the next ten years? Do you have a career plan? If you still haven’t thought about it, maybe it’s time to start thinking about your future.

Having dreams is very important in a person’s life; it motivates, inspires, and helps you achieve any goal that you have in mind. Without dreams, we would feel lost – having no purpose in life. Therefore, in your essay, you should be able to explain to your readers how important it is to have a dream or ambition in life.

What are the reasons for a person to dream big?

Dreaming big sounds great; however, it’s easier said than done. First, you’ve got to have reasons to dream big, which will motivate you to achieve your goals in life. If you’re writing an essay about dreams in life, mention why most people dare to dream big and achieve more in life. Is it about freedom, money, praise from other people, satisfaction, or something else entirely?

For example, you could watch movies, play video games, relax every night, or give up all of them to learn a complex skill – what would you choose, and why? In your essay about dreams in life, answer the question and include other examples about this topic so your readers can relate.

There are many answers to this question – one is that dreams may have an evolutionary function, testing us in scenarios crucial to our survival. Dreams may also reduce the severity of emotional trauma. On the other hand, some researchers say dreams have no purpose or meaning, while some say we need dreams for physical and mental health. Take a closer look at this topic, and include what you find in your essay.

Weird dreams could result from anxiety, stress, or sleep deprivation. So, manage your stress levels, and stick to a sleep routine to stop having weird dreams. If you wake up from a weird dream, you can fall back asleep using deep breaths or any relaxing activity. You can research other causes of weird dreams and ways to stop yourself from having them for your essay about dreams and sleep.

The same areas of the brain that are active when we learn and process information in the actual world are active when we dream, and they replay the information as we sleep. Many things we see, hear, and feel in our everyday lives appear in our dreams. If you want to write an informative essay about dreams and sleep, look into more details about this topic.

Tip: When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting it.

People may not remember what happened in their dreams. Studies show that people tend to forget their dreams due to the changing levels of acetylcholine and norepinephrine during sleep. This will be quite an exciting topic for your readers because many people can relate. That being said, research more information about this topic, and discuss it in detail in your essay.

Although some people believe that dreams don’t mean anything, many psychologists and other experts have theorized about the deeper meaning of dreams. Therefore, your essay about dreams and sleep should delve deeper into this topic. If you’re stuck picking your next essay topic, check out our round-up of essay topics about education .

FAQS on Essays About Dreams in Life

There are many great short essays about dreams; you can write your own too! Some great examples include Do Dreams Really Mean Anything? by David B. Feldman and Dreams by Hedy Marks.

Writing about your dreams in life is a fantastic creative outlet and can even help you plan your future. Use a prompt to get started, like “What are your dreams in life?” or “What do you aspire to be in ten years?” and begin writing without thinking too much about it. See where the pen takes you and start mapping out your future with this writing exercise.

Meet Rachael, the editor at Become a Writer Today. With years of experience in the field, she is passionate about language and dedicated to producing high-quality content that engages and informs readers. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her exploring the great outdoors, finding inspiration for her next project.

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Category : Vereya urban settlement

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About Us
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