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Chapter 12 was giving me fits. Something was wrong with it, but what? I couldn’t figure it out while sitting at my computer, staring at the stubborn words on the screen. I knew the answer lay hidden in my head somewhere, if only I could persuade my subconscious to cough it up. So I did what I’ve often done: I asked my brain to solve the problem while the rest of me slept.
I’m a great believer in the power of both dreams and the unconscious. My first published novel, The Heat of the Moon, originated with a dream in which I saw, as if I were standing nearby and watching, two little girls clinging to each other during a storm. (I gave the same dream to my protagonist, Rachel Goddard, to help her find the truth about her family.)
Most of the time, though, my unconscious mind cuts a clear path through the tangled thicket of plot I’ve created. Before I fall asleep, I think about what I need to figure out, and when I wake the answer is usually waiting. Sometimes I will remember a fragment of a dream involving my characters. If nothing helpful comes to me, I start asking whether that chapter or scene should be removed from the book altogether. The answer is usually yes.
Because I’ve done this successfully for so long, I was especially intrigued by an article in Scientific American Mind about how to train your brain to solve problems through dreams. The author, psychologist Dierdre Barrett, describes decades of research proving that our brains are hard at work while our bodies sleep. Scans of the brain areas that are active during dreaming (or REM–rapid eye movement–sleep) show we have many more dreams than we will ever remember. Parts of the brain associated with visual imagery and emotion become more active in REM sleep than when we’re awake, while the part of the cortex that censors our thoughts and actions takes a rest. We consolidate new learning and memories during REM sleep. And we can solve problems and come up with new ideas while asleep.
In her research, Barrett found that many professionals, including artists and writers, credit dreams with improving their work. Nobel Prizes in science have resulted from dreams. Friedrich August Kekule discovered the structure of benzene through a dream. Dmitry Mendeleyev’s layout of the periodic table of the elements was inspired by a dream. Architect Solange Fabiao’s design for the Museum of Ocean and Surf in Biarritz came from a dream. So don’t scoff at the idea that your mind might solve problems and generate creative new ideas while you’re asleep.
Barrett suggests taking these steps to train your brain to work on specific problems at night:
1. Write down the problem, briefly and concisely.
2. Think about the problem for a few minutes before going to bed.
3. In bed, visualize the problem as a concrete image if you can (not always possible, but this often yields the best results).
4. Tell yourself to dream about the problem.
5. When you wake, lie in bed quietly and allow your dreams to come back to you.
Soon the phrase “sleep on it” will have a whole new meaning for you.
26 comments:
I think if there is a specific problem in the plot, sleeping on it could work, and I hope the scientists are right. But, I've found that I must consciously mull over the problem over a few days before I make a decision. And that's the reason why I often don't write my manuscript everyday, which some writers claim is the key to success. I may write, but not on my manuscript. Having short story ideas to work on while mulling over plot problems in a WIP keeps me writing without adding garbage to my WIP.
I read some time ago that Singer (inventor of the sewing machine) was having great trouble because he tried to use a needle shaped like a sewing needle, with the hole in the top end. Then he dreamed about a warrior carrying a spear that had a hole in the pointed end.
I had my own "pointed end moment" when I went to sleep once telling myself that if I wanted to write one particular story, I was going to have to dream the plot. And I did. Woke the next morning with my children's book fully laid out.
Fascinating, Sandra. I SO want to try this. How do you keep your before-bed plan from energizing you too much to get to sleep?
While I accept that we often dream about people, places or events in our daily lives or our past, I'm a little skeptical about dreaming to order (but it's worth a try).
But I did once wake up with an entire plot from a dream, which (after several major overhauls) will actually be published in 2013.
I definitely trust my subsconcious, even though I rarely know what it (she?) is doing until the solution shoves its way into my consciousness.
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=answers-in-your-dreams
Sheila, if you trust your subconscious, you should trust it all the time, because it never sleeps. Read the magazine article by a psychologist who works in this field. I don't always remember whole dreams relating to the problem I'm trying to solve, but I remember fragments -- and I come up with the answer, which is the important thing. I mull plot problems over when I'm awake, of course, but I think "mulling" is just a way of priming the subconscious to produce a solution.
My husband has awakened some mornings and told me stories of his dreams.
Without even trying, he dreams in plot structure complete with an Inciting Incident and a major reversal Turning Point.
He never does get to an Ending. I reckon that's my job. I just sit here at the keyboard and take dictation until he runs out of steam.
One of those, especially, will be a book, too, eventually. I'm super jealous that I didn't think of it first.
Thanks for posting this. My brain has mostly been working on what would be good to eat when I wake up. Now I'm going to see if I can change the focus of that mental energy. And losing a few pounds might be a beneficial side effect.
I'm definitely going to try this! I do take some medication (for restless leg snydrome) that affects my dreams--I wonder if that will make a difference? I do have incredibly complicated and vivid dreams while on the meds.
I kind of do this, but not in such an organized manner. I'm sure writing down the plot knot is an important step,and one I've never done. I'm trying it! I just solved one, but wish I hadn't. Now I'm actually looking forward to the next one. Thanks for this extremely helpful post, Sandy!
Great post, Sandy! I've sometimes awakened in the night with plot ideas, usually these are either really good or really awful. And recently I had a dream with some interesting elements that I was able to use in the paranormal mystery I'm writing.
But I've never actually dreamed about a WIP. I definitely want to try this!
Thanks for the info.
Sandy,
I believe this works, though it didn't work for me last night when I told myself to figure out a kink in my plot while I was sleeping. I'll try it again tonight, using your steps.
Sandra, I've heard this can work. I've even tried it, but I get hung up on the part off thinking about the problem before falling asleep. My mind ends up wandering to what I need to accomplish the next day. I'm sure with a little practice, I could train my mind.
Jodie
I was surprised by the answer to the problem with chapter 12 that I mentioned at the beginning of the blog. (I'm in the last stages of the book, btw.) After sleeping on it, I woke up knowing that I needed to move two later scenes forward and move a chunk of the original ch 12 farther into the book. I was doing things in the wrong order and it was affecting the pacing of both the action and the emotional arc, but I couldn't see that until I let my brain work on it during sleep.
Sandra, I'm a HUGE believer in the power of dreams. For my Southern Cousins Mysteries, I not only dreamed Elvis was a dog, but I woke up with him dictating the first chapter. In The Tender Mercy of Roses, the catalyst character, Pony Jones, also came to me in a dream.
I believe it was the U. S. Navy who did research and discovered that one function of dreams is to keep us from going crazy. Some of our most outrageous dreams are fueled by the unconscious mind organizing our day's expereiences into manageable form. And, of course, prophetic dreams as well as problem-solving dreams are well documented.
When I want to solve a problem, I program my unconcious mind by stating the problem aloud three times before I sleep. Sometimes it takes several nights for the dream solution to appear. Or perhaps it appears right away, but I'm so busy with the things my egotistical conscious mind tells me, I fail to listen for that still, small whisper.
Fascinating! I'll have to be more assiduous in trying this. I'm rather haphazard about communicating with my dream self. :)
I figured out 'way back in grade school that the subconscious keeps working on things. My always "waiting until the last moment" with papers drove my parents crazy, but when I do sit down and write, the whole thing pours out and just needs proofreading and a bit of tweaking. The subconscious had been writing the paper for days while I got on with other things.--Mario
I've done this a lot, too, Sandy, without even realizing it was a 'real thing'. In fact, I remembering doing this in college, trying to learn something new. Thanks for putting some of the science behind it out there! And best of luck with that plot wrinkle--who knew that a good night's sleep could be tax deductible ;)
I wasn't actively looking for a story idea when I had the dream that led to The Heat of the Moon, but I'll always be grateful for that nocturnal vision of two little sisters crying in the rain. Of everything I've written, THOTM is still my favorite book and probably always will be.
The September issue of Discover Magazine had an excerpt from a new book titled Incognito: The Secret Lives of Brains by neuroscientist David M. Eagleman. He writes that our conscious thoughts make up only a tiny part of our brain activity -- and the brain has a vast store of knowledge that we can't consciously access, yet that knowledge is what helps us function in the world. Read the article if you can find the magazine -- or read the book.
Great post, Sandy. My current WIP is based on a dream I had a year or so ago. If I get into a tight spot where I can't figure out what to do, I usually sleep on it and voila! The answer is right there (and this works for more than just writing :-)It took me a while to learn to trust the process.
Thanks for posting the link to the article.
If you want an interesting once-over-lightly about dreams and are somewhat more pressed for time, there's also a 2009 Nova episode called "What Are Dreams?".
Unfortunately, since I very seldom remember my dreams, and usually don't even remember having had them ... [sigh]--Mario
Interesting post. I am currently re-reading FROM WHERE YOU DREAM: THE PROCESS OF WRITING FICTION, by Robert Olin Butler, and trying to follow his suggestions. He says all fiction needs to come from the subconscious.
"Without even trying, he dreams in plot structure complete with an Inciting Incident and a major reversal Turning Point."
Rhonda, based on my experience doing dream work, I suspect he dreams in plot structure, etc. b/c that structure is archetypal. We dream that way, and enjoy stories told that way, b/c it's wired in to our experience and our way of organizing the world.
Dream work's been very important to me spiritually and psychologically, but I've not tried to use it much in writing. I will now!
My husband created a machine he uses in his work by asking his Dream Voice to tell him about something -- and he woke up and drew what it told him, and voila!
This was an excellent post - thank you, Sandy. Thelma Straw
I've tried this for several nights in a row and my solution isn't there first thing in the morning, but things ARE shaking loose around my plot knots. I'm going to keep writing my hurdles down at bedtime and see what happens. Thanks, Sandy!
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