Musings From My Mind

Dreams are quite interesting, aren't they?

Think of a dream you've had. Have you ever woken up with the biggest smile on your face, or had to sit for a moment to fully realize what just happened?

I had several dreams this week that took me a minute to figure out what I had just dreamed about. Strangely though, those are the dreams that give me the most material to work with.

One night I promise that I had three dreams in one night; they all seemed to have nothing in common (save the people in it); I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out if there was a theme or something to connect them (something I've been teaching my kids lately). I never came up with anything, but it was a great exercise.

I also notice that the artistic things that I take in influence my dreams. For example, I've been binge-watching a show called "Turn" which is about a spy ring during the Revolutionary War. A lot of my dreams lately have been about being a spy, or being a slave or servant in the house of a British officer, and other such things.

Though the story that I'm currently working on doesn't really have anything to do with any of this, I take it as another great exercise. How can the emotions and overall feel of a narrative be captured in my writing?

When I was younger, my writing was simple. Basic ideas; I had a dream and I wrote it down. And let's be honest, dreams don't really follow a set story structure. I didn't really know how to add emotion and intrigue and adventure. Possibly because I hadn't experienced anything. I hadn't been in a relationship, I hadn't lived far from my family, I hadn't even strayed outside of my family's friend circle. I look back on my earlier works and honestly ask myself how I possibly expected this stuff to get published.

Once I got into college, though, things started happening. Not all at once, mind, but they did happen. I made new friends, friends that my family didn't know. I started pursuing my passions of acting and singing and ballroom dancing. I spent more time outside of my house. Then it hit me; it's hard to write about things that you have no experience of. I've always loved subtle romance in a story; but since I'd never been in love, I could not accurately capture the feelings that love could bring. I'd never really drifted away from a friendship, so I couldn't talk about the way that it can slip away.  Emotions like these (and more) have truly enriched my writing.

I read somewhere once that one of the ways to become a better writer is to experience things. Travelling, talking to people, experiencing the arts. Because writing is my goal, I will continue to take in and experience all of the things around me in order to improve my craft; after all, at some point it must move away from musings and onto the page.

"The only source of knowledge is experience." - Albert Einstein