Opening story with dream sequence...

Think about how you respond when someone tells you the dream they had last night. Your eyes glaze over, right? It just doesn't matter. It's a dream. It may be full of symbolism and it may have made the person scared, but it's really not all that interesting in itself. What may be interesting if a friend tells you about a dream is not the dream itself, but the CONSEQUENCES of the dream. She had a bad dream, and now she doesn't want to go back to bed. She had a bad dream, and now she thinks she's going to fall off a cliff like she did in the dream. It's not the dream, per se, that's interesting; it's what the character does with having had the dream, and how she acts in the aftermath of it. It's backstory. Skip it.

The problem with starting with dreams is twofold. First, there are no stakes, no tension, because the reader knows it's a dream, so there's no real risk to the protagonist. Sure, she may be miserable in the dream, but it's a DREAM. It's not real, so there's no reason to care. (And if the reader doesn't know it's a dream, it's even worse, b/c the reader gets invested in what's happening, and then the author says, "Nyah, nyah; I fooled you; it didn't really happen," and the reader throw the book at the wall or, at the very least, is reluctant to believe anything the author says thereafter.) Second, you now have two beginnings to the story (and it's hard enough to write one good beginning). One is the dream and the other is waking up (also a bad place to start generally). And nothing REAL, nothing that matters or interests the reader, has even happened yet.

Start where there are real stakes for the protagonist. The character has a goal and is doing something to further it, so we can care about her and what she's doing and whether she's going to accomplish it. Then, if you want to mention that she had a bad dream the night before, in which someone assaulted her, then so be it. But the dream itself, whether it's a past life or not -- just don't do it.

In your example, the dream doesn't do anything useful for you. The reader doesn't know who "she" is, or who "the man" is, so there's no reason to care about either one of them. And it's pretty generic -- drunk assaults a woman -- so it's not intrinsically compelling, as, say, a unicorn assaulting a woman, or a martian assaulting a woman or a woman assaulting a martian or whatever might actually get a reader to think, "Wow, that's different."

Unless you're absolutely sure that the dream is pure genius -- don't do it.

JD

Jan's on the money.

I'm guessing, Dreamer76, that the scene continues with the narrator telling us how many other times she's had this dream, and of her pondering its affect on her daily life? Introspection without action?

These "rules" are really more like guidelines, meant to help new writers understand why certain tropes are difficult to do well. Often, these tropes have been so overdone they've become cliche. And dreams also fall into the other "try not to do this" trope of having the narrator wake up--way overdone. There are always exceptions, but they are rare.

ETA: AW has dozens of threads on starting novels with dreams/the narrator waking up. Lots of great discussion. Try a search and have fun.

Never say never, but Jan and Chaos are right on about this. Most of the time a dream is not the right opening (it's not conveying anything real) and can be viewed like a cheap shot, especially when the readers don't know what they're reading is a dream sequence.

And, in the long run, it's so overdone in the slush piles it's like the amateur signal for agents.

Those who posted before me gave you great advice as to why you never want to open with a dream sequence. Yet, the manuscript of so many writers do so. Of course, very very few get published. I don't know the numbers, but I would guess that 2%-30% of submissions received by agents or editors start out with with some srt of trite, waaaay overdone setting, such as a dream sequence. Is it any wonder why most are tossed aside after they read they first 2-3 sentences? Take the advice given you above and re-write.

You should print out this thread and stick it on the wall above your writing desk. There's been some great advice.

The reason the avoidance of a dream sequence guideline exists is because it's been so overdone by new writers as to become cliche. Heck, the cliche even has it's own name- "dream sequence". That is, 'something terrible happens, then character wakes up in a cold sweat'. If you open your story with one of these, unless it is superbly written and unique (even then, I think your name would have to be Stephen King or something...) you're just hurting your chances of getting published.
New writers open with dream sequences all the time.

Like mentioned above, the dream sequence has two problems;
- Once the reader realises something isn't real, it lacks importance. If you tell the reader right off the bat it's a dream (putting it in italics), they won't care about what they're reading, which defeats the purpose of the 'big scary dream'. If you keep it a secret until the character wakes, the reader feels cheated.
- The dream is then followed by the character waking up, usually with heart pounding and a cold sweat, because the dream was that terrible. You are essentially starting the story/chapter/section with another big no-no; the character going through the boring routine of waking from slumber, getting out of bed, going through morning routine. This bores (most) readers to tears.

You mentnioned that the dream is actually a vision of a past life. It's still a little risky, because it's not "real", but how about giving her these visions while she's awake? Maybe her real world is spotted with things from the past?
I don't know, it's risky. Have a think about it.

The 'writing rules' are there for a reason, just like common stereotypes are there for a reason. Sometimes they can be broken, or 'proven wrong'. But unless you've got some serious, serious experience behind you.......

Speaking of which, to give an example, the story Otherland by Tad Williams has what's thought to be a dream sequence a few pages in (note that the story doesn't open with it, and note that it is only 'thought' to be a dream).
I love that story. He has experience, and he wrote the story to be very..... unique....

My 2c.

Another thought. Now that I think about it, I believe the reason most new writers start with a dream sequence is so they start the story off with action. They begin with a bang. They don't realize it's a false bang.

Find the real action in your story, and start there. Don't try to construct a pretend one.

When I say "action" I don't necessarily mean gun-slinging Bruce Willis action. Action is essentially when your relevant, interesting stuff is all happening. I'm trying hard to give you some clear examples, but I write sci-fi/fantasy, so I'm drawing blanks.

You might want to strut over to the romance writers of the forum.

Opening story with dream sequence...

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For all the reasons mentioned above, don't do it. Please.

No, really. It's good advice. It's cliched, it's a trope that's been done over and over and over, and... etc. And almost never is it done in a way that's either interesting, unique, or even a little bit necessary. Like Chaos said, I'm assuming that the next thing is for her to wake up, heart pounding, sweating, then she will go on the do her none-too-interesting daily routine. You've tried to trick-hook us, basically. You've used fake action in an attempt to make sure we get through the real opening, which I'm guessing--if you had to open with a dream--isn't that interesting. Sorry, but that's what I'm thinking when something opens with a dream.

As pepper said, action doesn't mean punching some dude in the face on the way to her taxi. It just means relevant 'happenings' that make us ask questions, want the answers to those questions, become invested in the character, etc.

Dreamer76 said:

Thank you so much for all your responses! After the dream sequence, she's basically rushing to get ready for work because she forgot to set her alarm. This is probably not a good beginning either, huh?

I was trying to put her in a situation the reader can relate to along with showing how mediocre her life is before it changes. But I don't want to bore the reader either with a slow beginning. I actually added the dream sequence after the fact because an agent replied that the story didn't draw her in like she'd hoped. (of course this could have been a standard rejection letter which I took too literally)

What do you think about being late to work? Is it cliche? Boring?

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The rule of thumb is to start the book at the last possible moment, as close to the start of the "action" as possible. Dream sequence or not, a chapter about the protag going about her mediocre life can come across as very dull to the average reader.

Many agents will only give you five pages to draw them into the story. Some give you one. Most will stop reading as soon as they lose interest.

Pick up the three or four romance novels nearest you right now, and read their opening chapters. See how they do it.

The other thing you might like to do is mosey over to Miss Snark's First Victim

Every month or so she runs a contest where entrants enter the first 250 words of their novel ('Are you hooked'?). There's some good examples on there and you can see which ones work and which ones don't by looking at the comments left by others, including the 'secret agent' who also comments and chooses entries that he/she likes.

My trunked novel started with another agent *headdesk* moment, the MC waking up.

The novel I'm currently querying has been shorn of two and a half chapters at the beginning because although I thought it was a nice 'lead in' it was way too leisurely and probably put people to sleep. You really have to bite the bullet, look at what you've written with a cold and critical eye, and ask....does this really matter? If I was telling someone this story over dinner would they pitch face-first into the lasagne and start snoring? You really, really have to grab the agent/reader by the throat and pull 'em right in.

I tried this once a million years ago when I was still in highschool on one of the old fanfiction forums. The end result was a flame so terrible I vowed never again to use a dream sequence. Thankfully, it wasn't in a real work or anything. Just something to pass the time at that point. But the effect of what I wrote all those years ago still resonates.

Don't do it

Seriously, read through your first few chapters, find where the story starts, when i say that, I mean the first event that triggers the rest. The event that makes your MC do something, the catalyst for change.

I hate to sound like I'm nit picking, but getting ready for work doesn't cut it either. Ask yourself, what happens during the MC's day that is significant? What happens that turns her life upside down and start from there.

Look at other books in the same genre, see how they start.

Dreamer76, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but having your heroine look in the mirror and describe her own appearance is also one of the things that's overdone...I'd advise you not to do it.

It all comes down to the writing and the story. If you do it well, anything is possible.

The "rules" (which we all know are not really "rules" but best practices and guidelines) are there so the new writers won't fall trap into these "mistakes." The reasons why dreams are "frowned upon" have been discussed, so I won't repeat them. I can only say that whenever I read or see dream sequences, I get mad or bored because:

a) they're usually yet another way to do info dump/back stories

b) they're way too coherent to be real dreams

c) they amount to nothing... no stakes, no consequences, no conflicts, no real impact in the main story except to do (a)

d) they're usually done poorly -- the cheese factor is through the roof more often than not

e) 8/10 times the dreams can be taken out and nothing would be lost; they're a waste of time and space


Now, of course, never say never. Sometimes dreams are very important to the plot and characterization and they do have impact. Especially in paranormal fiction where the character possesses some kind of supernatural powers and dreams become part of that... still, the dreams should have stakes, consequences, etc. to make them worthwhile. If they're only used for info dump/backstories, then I don't consider them well done.

I just finished reading Jeaniene Frost's latest Nighthuntress book, Destined For An Early Grave, and it opened with a dream sequence.

And I HATED it. Even though it was relevant to the plot it seemed like a tired device, and as such it left me feeling blah rather than excited. But I persisted and the rest of it was great. Anyone else, and I would have put the book back on the shelf.

There are much stronger ways to open a book; pick one.

I think you are making a mistake by trying to re-write the beginning of your book, some 200 words, in 15-30 minutes. After all, you have probably spent months working to complete your work or to get it near completion. Take your time. Research, research, research - books of your genre and pay attention to the opening that clearly work. Yours doesn't have to be verbatim, but you'll have a good guide to follow. The opening is crucial to grab the readers attention and get him or her to want to read on, be it an agent, editor, or consumer.

Instead of trying to start with "action," try starting with conflict. It doesn't have to be major conflict, but I do think it should be representative of what's coming next.

In the opening of my current WIP (of course subject to change), my main character is agonizing over what kind of flowers to buy. It's obvious this is a big and major decision, one which he doesn't want to screw up. To anyone else, it's flowers, it's a ridiculous thing to be so frustrated about ... but then the flowers are for his girlfriend. His dead girlfriend, whose grave he'll be visiting later to place the flowers. So he has to pick the right ones.

Hopefully, with my opening, I'm showing that my main character is not over the death of his girlfriend, he's painfully meticulous, a bit pathetic and other character-revealing traits. And although the story is about a bazillion other things, the fact my main character is not over his girlfriend's death is a big deal, plot-wise.

So think about your opening. Is being late for work or not knowing what to wear or waking up late really truly representative of your character and what's to come? Isn't there a better way to show her in a predicament that also hasn't happened (probably) to half your readers? We've all been late to work. But maybe we all haven't been dumped on a street corner in the rain after spending $100 at Zabar's to make your fiance a great dinner. Or quitting a job right before finding out your boss (also your married boyfriend) was going to give you that awesome promotion.

Something more interesting than day-to-day activity is necessary for an opening.