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YouWriteOn Message Board > Literary Forums > Professional Writing Tips and Techniques - New Help Search Recent Posts
Dreams and Flashbacks
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dendon
 21 Oct 2011, 20:57 #133201 Reply To Post
I've been having a few issues writing these lately, my readers occasionally don't realise that I've written a flashback, or a dream, so I've been doing some research. For anyone interested, just sharing a few links to useful pages (at least I thought they were).

Flashbacks
http://www.writersdigest.com/qp7-migration-all-articles/qp7-migration-fiction/3_tips_for_writing_successful_flashbacks

http://www.be-a-better-writer.com/flashback.html

Dreams
http://forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com/2007/05/writing-dream-sequence.html

http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue%2012/Advwritedreams.htm
This post was last edited by dendon, 21 Oct 2011, 20:58
fxs60
 22 Oct 2011, 19:03 #133277 Reply To Post
Useful stuff. Thanks for posting this.
Self-expression is self-expression, rather than self-expression
Lin Lee Liu
 28 Oct 2011, 10:43 #133671 Reply To Post
Thank you for posting those links.

I just read the Forensics and Faith link you posted above, and was interested in this:

I’ve seen too many books in which a person, upon awaking from a bad dream, bolts upright in bed. This doesn’t ring true to me. Have you ever done that after a bad dream? I sure don’t think it’s common. A person might jerk awake—to a runaway heartbeat. May be sweaty or breathing hard. But I don’t know many people who can go from true dream stage to the amount of movement needed to suddenly bolt upright. (Sleepwalkers aside.) Neither do I think it’s common to scream from a dream and wake yourself up.


So true about sitting bolt upright. I suppose what the author describes are 'night terrors'?

As for the screaming, I briefly had a room mate who screamed in his sleep and leapt out of bed. Unfortunately for him he slept on a top bunk. It was most unnerving, and he could've warned me.
This post was last edited by Lin Lee Liu, 28 Oct 2011, 10:46
kazmojazz
 28 Oct 2011, 13:13 #133699 Reply To Post
I've woken myself up screaming once or twice. Have also woken myself (and my husband) up laughing out loud at a dream.

As for sitting bolt upright after a nightmare, one of my daughters does but only if she's unwell and feverish.
Mostar
 28 Oct 2011, 18:08 #133723 Reply To Post
Thanks from me too, this is very helpful.

Also, Lin, thanks for highlighting the "bolt upright" tip too. I had to check my m/s to be sure I hadn't fallen into that trap (luckily, I hadn't!)

I've had a couple of night terrors, but I know they're unusual. I'm not sure I bolt upright even when I have those.
On turning fact into fiction: African Violet blogpost on Sue Howe's site: http://howesue.wordpress.com/
Lin Lee Liu
 28 Oct 2011, 22:11 #133747 Reply To Post
Kazmojazz, my husband has woken me up after laughing in his sleep, and the most vexing thing is that he had no idea what had been funny.

Mostar, I'm sure it happens occasionally, sitting up in bed after waking from a nightmare. Perhaps the phrasing 'bolt upright' is better avoided, though. When does someone else's metaphor become cliche? I'm always in two minds about this because hackneyed phrases get the meaning across.
Mostar
 28 Oct 2011, 22:39 #133751 Reply To Post
Yes, I agree. I've kept "in the dead of night" in my m/s, even having read it's one of those cliche no-nos. I just think it suits the tone and the meter of the para. I may change it later.

Fascinating stuff about the flashbacks. Almost my entire book is a flashback - well, memory really. But I decided to put in a present day chapter at the very beginning and that is where it will end.

Says on the first of those articles, that's a common thing that new writers do and is to be avoided, unless the differences between the older character and her/his younger self are what you hope to highlight.

I knew I was trying to pull off something quite hard when I started this. Hey hum, stick to your guns, I guess!



On turning fact into fiction: African Violet blogpost on Sue Howe's site: http://howesue.wordpress.com/
Mostar
 28 Oct 2011, 22:40 #133752 Reply To Post
Quote: Lin Lee Liu, Friday, 28 Oct 2011 22:11
Kazmojazz, my husband has woken me up after laughing in his sleep, and the most vexing thing is that he had no idea what had been funny.


I once woke my husband up, shouting another man's name! He's now my ex-husband.

On turning fact into fiction: African Violet blogpost on Sue Howe's site: http://howesue.wordpress.com/
Lin Lee Liu
 29 Oct 2011, 03:15 #133762 Reply To Post
Quote: Mostar, Friday, 28 Oct 2011 22:39
Yes, I agree. I've kept "in the dead of night" in my m/s, even having read it's one of those cliche no-nos. I just think it suits the tone and the meter of the para. I may change it later.

Fascinating stuff about the flashbacks. Almost my entire book is a flashback - well, memory really. But I decided to put in a present day chapter at the very beginning and that is where it will end.

Says on the first of those articles, that's a common thing that new writers do and is to be avoided, unless the differences between the older character and her/his younger self are what you hope to highlight.

I knew I was trying to pull off something quite hard when I started this. Hey hum, stick to your guns, I guess!





I think certain narrative voices can absorb cliche better than others.

James Wood in 'How Fiction Works' gives an example in which an unnamed narrator uses 'literally' (incorrectly) as an intensifier. I can't give the exact example because I'm nowhere near the book right now, but I remember reading that and thinking that's just the sort of thing that would score you a 1 for narrative voice on YWO, when in fact the author of that example chose exactly the right 'incorrect' usage for the narrative voice. I'm sure the same can be true of certain cliches, as long as the author uses cliche with intent.

Isn't any book written in the past tense a sort of flashback?

(I can see this thread getting into physics, with quotes from the Brians, and their various variations on linear time...)

Anyway, for exactly these reasons I agree wholeheartedly that you must stick to your guns, and I think the best use of writing groups is to have a few specific questions in your mind (whether you share them or not), and a strong vision of what you're doing.
This post was last edited by Lin Lee Liu, 29 Oct 2011, 03:19
Lin Lee Liu
 29 Oct 2011, 03:20 #133763 Reply To Post
Quote: Mostar, Friday, 28 Oct 2011 22:40
Quote: Lin Lee Liu, Friday, 28 Oct 2011 22:11
Kazmojazz, my husband has woken me up after laughing in his sleep, and the most vexing thing is that he had no idea what had been funny.


I once woke my husband up, shouting another man's name! He's now my ex-husband.



How disturbing for you. You'd never trust your sleeping self again...
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