As Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams', and she was definitely right. Dreams have the ability to apply themselves to many different aspects of life, including the art of storytelling, and here are 10 reasons why…
Lauren Rose Brown
Anything can happen
Want the ability to fly? You got it! Want to skydive out of a helicopter while stuffing your face full of chocolate cake, only to land on a cloud of candyfloss? Well, you can have that too! There are no limits when it comes to the contents of your dreams. They can be any genre you wish - romance, thriller, drama, comedy; take your pick! Your mind is like a massive library full to the brim with books, and no storyline is ever off limits!
What's scarier than a nightmare?
It sure takes some beating. You're asleep, your guard is down and you feel completely relaxed. You're relaxing on your back, floating around in the sea which is as blue as the sky. The weather is warm, the sun is out and you're feeling blissfully content. You exhale heavily, in awe of the serenity you are feeling, surrounded by others that are relaxing similarly to you. But hang on a minute…what was that? Something just brushed past your leg. You open your eyes and see nothing, your heart begins to race slightly. You close your eyes. There it is again. You scour your surroundings for a hint of what it may be. In the distance you spot a fin. It is a shark. One by one, the other tourists are disappearing under the surface of the water, being dragged down by the shark. The sea is turning red, and it is moving its way closer and closer to you. You try to move but you can't. You try to swim away but you can't. You're paralysed, and all you can see is that fin… Nightmares have the ability to terrify - they are the dark parts of our imagination running wild. But just like a story's villain, we are somewhat captivated and intrigued by them…
And what's better than a good dream?
Quite the opposite of nightmares, good dreams fill us with positivity! Waking up from a good dream in the morning can put us in the right frame of mind for the day; they make us feel energised, brighter and optimistic! The world always feels like a better place when we have had a good night's sleep, and the sweeter dreams often make the nightmares more bearable. It really shows just how powerful our imaginations are, and imagination is one of the most key parts of storytelling, for both the audience and the author.
They're relatable
Dreaming is a common denominator between us humans. We all know how it feels to dream, good or bad. We've felt that joy, we've felt that terror - we have experience. Often, we feel things deeper, we understand things better when we have experience. It is something that is such a natural form of expression. We grow up with our dreams, they are shaped through our own personal encounters but they are fundamentally familiar. Unlike a character in a story who has the ability to fly or transform or do things nobody else can, everybody possesses the power to dream - it is a form of magic we are able to connect with.
They link strongly with our reality
We can all relate to a storyline in some way or another. It doesn't have to be specific, but it is likely that we will be able to form some sort of connection to it, whether it be big or small. We can pick out certain aspects of a story and associate them with things from our life - it is often the case that dreams provide us with a link between fantasy and reality, they use symbolism as a way of conveying a message to us. In the same way, we are able to integrate ourselves into a plot with our ability to empathise.
We never want them to end
We've all had that time when we've woken up and felt like we were not quite finished with our dream… I'm not sure if there is an explanation behind why this happens, but I have had it myself - usually because the dream is so good, I need to get right back in there to see how it ends! Similarly, we've all had that book we just cannot put down; we get so hooked into the storyline that we need to get to the ending, we need that resolution. And in this way, a good dream is exactly like a good book - we want a story we can get involved in, we want that absorption.
They explore the unexpected
How many times have you had a dream that changed its direction in an instant? Just like a fantastically detailed plot, dreams hold their own twists and turns that are completely unforeseen. They take you on a journey - their journey, and you can do nothing but sit back and watch them unfold.
There is always one that stands out
Sometimes a dream can be so enthralling that we are certain it could win an Oscar if it was shown on the silver screen. We wish it would become recurring so that we would be able to watch it over and over again. Dreams like this have a certain dominance over others, just like books; we will always have a favourite, and it'll be one that sticks in our memories for a long time. Not only do we want absorption, we want a storyline that never gets old, one that you could easily read more than once and not get bored. Narratives are best when they're timeless.
Because we all want to know what our dreams mean
They capture our imagination. We are left wondering why we dreamt what we did - sometimes we even look it up. This is because dreams are special to us. We believe that they have real significance, and they often do. Dreams are effortlessly enchanting, and one of the most important aspects of a storyline is its ability to catch, and hold, the interest of the reader.
And because dreams really can come true
We are often told to dream big, and for me, writing a book was my ultimate ambition. If storytelling is what you want to do, then do it - don't let anything or anybody hold you back. Because if you put your mind to it, you can achieve whatever you want to. Always believe in yourself and never, ever stop following your dreams.
