I heard in a workshop that you should never begin a story with a dream without first investing your readers in the character having the dream. I am not so sure. Would be interested in everyone's thoughts? 

Views: 13

Comment

You need to be a member of She Writes to add comments!

Join She Writes

Comment by Helen W. Mallon on September 29, 2012 at 6:36am

I agree, Bwandungi.  & think that sometimes teachers toss out rules so students will find creative ways of breaking them. But I understand the impulse. Nothing is more boring than someone else's random dream--if you begin with a dream, you'd better make sure it really has a built in reader hook.  I think that's the point the teacher was making?

Comment by Bwandungi Mugarura on September 28, 2012 at 12:48pm

Oi! I dislike rules. Some of them are just asking to be broken!

What if the dream does a great job of introducing the character? What if the dream is used as the hook? What if the dream provides the setting or the theme of the book? What if it is a short dream?

What about epistolary novels? Would that same person say that the first letter would be sufficient in investing the readers in the characters writing the letters?

I think it always depends on the situation and try not to follow rules.

Latest Activity

Lynelle Clark posted a blog post

Book Sale 'A Pirate's Wife' Plus Character Interview

My book is on sale from today May 25 - 31. To learn more about the book visit my blog and follow the link to Smashwords. Available in all electronic formats. Today I did something different as well. I have a character Interview with the villain of…See More
2 hours ago
Sonja Larsen liked Betsy Graziani Fasbinder's blog post Help Your Friends to Help Your Book Go Viral
5 hours ago
Sonja Larsen liked Brooke Warner's blog post Kindle Singles and Why You Want One
5 hours ago
Mary Mageau commented on the group 'Nature Writing'
"Hi Amanda, Naturewriting.com is an online magazine only, but one that allows you to read essays and poetry about its general topic. I always enjoy reading about what others are perceiving and what aspects of nature writing interest them.…"
6 hours ago

Members

Badge

Loading…

© 2013   Created by Kamy Wicoff.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service