 |
| Image by Leandro De Carvalho from Pixabay |
There are some things to keep in mind when adding a dream sequence to your story though.
Does the dream sequence benefit the story in some way? Is your character having this dream important to the story? Does it advance the story at all? If you removed the dream sequence, would it harm the story in any way? Does the dream sequence inform the reader of something that can't imparted in a better way?
Does a dream sequence fit into the overall theme of events within the story? Dream sequences can work really well in fantasy stories. Dreams can be given to a character through magic, or through an elder "wizard" figure. Dreams can be had by a character who can see glimpses of the future through them or sees omens. Dreams can be had as prophecies. For non-supernatural stories, dreams can be had as a way for your character to work something out in their mind.
Dream sequences do not have to be rational or follow the normal laws of nature. Just as people in real life have different types of dreams, your characters can have different types of dreams too. Some dreams are very realistic, and other dreams do fantastical, magical things, some dreams make sense when remembered in the light of day, and other dreams are disjointed and jumbled, full of imagery from a mish-mash of storylines in one's head. In some dreams, you might follow a normal time-line and in other dreams you might jump from one place and time to another with no explanation of how and why.
Dream sequences do not have to be fully remembered by your character. Just as we sometimes wake up and don't remember what we were dreaming about, your character might have the same thing happen. If your character can only remember pieces of the dream, and the dream imparted some important information to them, this can set the stage for the reader to be hoping and waiting for your character to remember. thus the dream can either be a way of foreshadowing a future event in the story or as a way to create suspense because the reader knows what is coming and the character does not.
Dream sequences should not be in place to trick or cheat the reader. If your story goes along the lines of the dream without the reader knowing it is a dream until several events occur, and you leave them with the idea that "it was all just a dream," your reader is going to feel cheated. If your dream sequence misleads your reader into believing something that isn't true, your reader is going to feel betrayed by the story. Be careful how you use your dream sequence. Don't use it just for an easy out. If you want to change your story from a certain point but don't want to lose the word count, setting everything back to that point by claiming it was a;; dreamed from there is lazy and disingenuous and your readers will not thank you for it.
I'd like to avoid revealing too much about the plot, but I have a question for you, so bare with me.
ReplyDeleteIn a fiction novel I'm developing, my main character is unaware that he possesses magic for a good portion of the story (which is intentional) and one of the aspects of his magic involves "seeing things" in various contexts, including as what could be called "dreams". There are times that the character is aware he's been dreaming, and other times he isn't.
The dreams do benefit the story and they fit with the theme. None of it is intended as an "it was all a dream" situation, though there may be times when the reader might interpret it that way, and I'm pretty certain that you could classify some of the dreams as "misleading" in terms of "believing something that isn't true".
I can't say much more without delving into and spoiling key plot points, but I will say that my direction for the plot is a supernatural mystery/thriller.
With all of that said, in my case, would you say it'd be alright if "dream sequences" might feel misleading or "off"?