The terrible, the awful, the horrible....

[CandlestickJay]

the Dream Sequence.

You know the kind I mean.

Halfway through the chapter, somehow, someway, the character is asleep, and dreaming. You follow them into their dream, it means something, something happens, a voice speaks, etc and they wake back up.

Is this a good plot technique, a decent way of foreshadowing, or just a terrible cop out for the author and the reader?

Drop your opinions by!

Always,
Jay

PS. If you have an entertaining Dream Sequence from a current or past WIP, I'd love to hear it!

[megan_d]

I hate dream sequences. I skim over them, without fail. I can't even think of one exception. But this is just my personal opinion, of course.

[CandlestickJay]

That is all I'm asking for, have no fear.

[maestrowork]

If it works.

Dream sequence is tricky because it's trivial, and can become a "cheap" trick and many a time the "dream" doesn't read like a dream, but instead a way for the writer to "force feed" information/foreshadowing to the readers: "Oooh, the character dreams about this, so it must be important."

Now if the dream IS important and there's a reason for it, and if you tell it well, it could work. I'm one to say "never say never." For example, there are a few dream sequences in Lord of the Rings. The movie Pirates of the Caribbean also opened with a dream sequence -- and that worked for me. Still, you have to ask yourself: Why do I need this sequence? Is it an easy way out? Does it really have a purpose? And can I pull it off without it being contrite and silly?

[chevbrock]

I think I have done the unthinkable and inserted a dream sequence in my finished work!

Protaganist is in hospital, full to the brim of painkillers, and girlfriend comes to visit him (it's a long way to come to see him, so it's a big deal) - he thinks he dreams it, but later finds out that it really happened.

Does this qualify as a dream sequence????

[Shadow_Ferret]

I have a dream sequence in which my character is attacked by the antagonist, stabbed in the shoulders. Throughout the rest of the story the MC's shoulders actually hurt. So you wonder if it was a dream or something else.

Personally, dream sequences don't bother me if they offern insight into a character's psyche.

[Gray Rose]

I have a dream-like sequence under torture. I think it works well.

Dream sequences can be wonderful if the writer knows what s/he is doing. They can be horrible if s/he does not. This is also true of any other writing.

[wayndom]

There's nothing inherently wrong with dream sequences. Salman Rushdie became world-famous and got a fatwa calling for his death from the dream sequences in The Satanic Verses.

Personally, I'd only use a dream sequence to show something about a character that can't be shown any other way. And I'd NEVER write a dream sequence that isn't obviously a dream from the first sentence. I'd identify it as a dream by having those idiotic things that only happen in dreams, like a character is on the street one moment, in her living room the next, or finds himself naked in the back of a packed public bus rolling down main street...

But at some point, for me at least, the dream has to reveal something about the dreamer that couldn't be discovered (conveniently) any other way.

The phoniest thing about hack dream sequences (those lame excuses for sending the story somewhere it can't come back from, like Superman dying) is that they're written as if real until the character wakes up. I mean, come on, dreams are weird, silly, incongruous, but they're not realistic. I've often dreamt of riding my motorcycle, had it turn into a bicycle, and be a motorcycle again, without my noticing anything odd -- until I woke up.

So, for me, a dream sequence has to be blatantly surreal to work.

[miles]

Stephen King uses them a lot, and even then I end up skimming or impatient.

I don't like them, unless used as fantasy (two people having the same dream, two people meeting for the first time in a dream etc . . .)

But the absolute worst is when one is used for an exciting start to a movie or novel, then the character wakes up and the real story starts. Just watched a movie like that the other day, and I was wondering why anyone would think that's effective anymore.

[Billingsgate]

I totally loathe dream sequences, even when done by the best authors. I too skim past them, and I never feel that I've missed anything germane to the story. I rarely find them useful to plot or character. More often than not, it's either a cheap segue to a POV character's flashback, or a self-indulgent "arty" way to begin a chapter. The biggest effect dream sequences have is to interrupt a narrative with bizarre or flowery imagery or fantasy, that is usually completely out of keeping with the remaining writing style.

[dpaterso]

I'd like to think that sometimes, depending on circumstances, opening with a dream sequence (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/kiss.htm) can add something to the story. How disturbing to learn they're so unpopular!

<gasp, gasp!> Where am I? How did I..? :)

-Derek

[WannabeWriter]

In my real-life experience, dreaming involves various vague images coming together in very unusual ways without any meaning whatsoever. So I'm one of those people who might be skeptical about dream sequences in fiction because they tend to be way more structured and meaningful than what a dream really is.

[maestrowork]

I just saw one of the worst movies this year and it opened with a nonsensical dream sequence that made me mad...

[Manderley]

I'm bored to death listening to other people's dreams, and reading about dreams is no better.

[arodriguez]

I oplan to do a whole novel of dreams, and im going to make you love it.

[Novelist in Paradise]

In real life, when people tell you about their dreams, do you really listen, or is there a little voice in your head, which you suppress because you are polite, saying "Please, please, please, I don't have time for this"?

[seun]

I'm surprised to hear such dislike for dream sequences. Surely it's the same deal with any other writing? If it's shit, it's shit. It doesn't automatically become shit writing just because it's a dream.

[Khazarkhum]

As long as it isn't an "And it was all just a dream" copout AND it provides insights into the characters, OK. But I despise the AIWALJAD reveals.

[Azure Skye]

Dreaming pops up a few times in my newly finished work but it's part of the character's journey so when the character actually has a dream, it isn't out of the blue or nonsensical. That scene lasted about a page.

I can't say I have anything against them since I find dreams interesting as long as the dream is interesting, of course.

[callalily61]

In real life, I love listening to people tell me their dreams, because they never tell the boring dreams--always the bizarro, what drugs were you taking?! dreams. Then if I like them I wriote a summary later and file it away for possible use in one of my books. Hee hee hee hee

In my thriller, the MC has 4 or 5 brief (20 lines max, usually less than 10) dreams. But she's haunted by a horrible near-death experience, and the dreams are little snippets of things she doesn't want to remember.

For example: She's at a Hallowe'en party and dances with someone in a rat costume. That night, she dreams/remembers that when she was left to die, a bunch of rats came out of the woodwork and started lapping up her puddled blood. 10 lines, and her roommate wakes her up b/c she was screaming.

[WittyandorIronic]

Hmmm...I am one of those readers that never skim anything. If I am ready to skim, I am ready to put the book down, and that is only if I dislike the style or poor writing. I don't skip dream sequences, prologues, epilogues, pages of setting description, backstory, or anything else, as long as it is well written.

[Linda Adams]

I don't mind them if they're used appropriately. Meaning, of course, just like any other writing device. They shouldn't be used to simply convey information, like an info dump, but move the story or the characters along. I've seen some authors used them very well. Tamora Pierce used dreams to have the gods contact one of her characters. She added to them by having the character wake up and find suggestions that the dream had be real. Laurell K. Hamilton did one that was a bit of backstory, though the type of dream would fit why the character was having it, and the segued right into an action scene outside of the dream.

Where I think it doesn't work is when it's used as a type of info dump flashback without a real reason for being there other than to convey backstory. I also think dreams don't work as well when they're used for hidden meaning. If the meaning is important to the story, it might get missed completely if left to interpretation in a dream sequence.

[AnneMarble]

I think dream sequences belong in the It DependsTM category. They're the sort of scenes we're told to never ever write. Yet many writes use them, and use them well. That's why generalized rules like "Never use a dream sequence" usually mean "Never use a dream sequence unless you can make it interesting." When a story is really good, we don't think of a dream sequence as a dream sequence -- it's a part of the story.

The important question to ask is "Why is that scene there?" Is it one of those repressed memories stories where the dreams give hints at a shocking secret? Is it a way to give insight into a character? Or is it a fantasy novel where dreams can predict the future? Robert Jordan's Eye of the World had lots of dream sequences that were important to the plot -- although I did think they ran on too long, so they may not be the best example. ;) In one of my WIPs, I have a character who suffers from nightmares of a war -- and who accidentally kills someone in the throes of a nightmare. But I don't dwell on the nightmware (I'm vague about the details). Instead, I dwell on his troubled mind, the way he has refused to seek help about this, the way he tries to hide his dreams from others, etc.

Sure, it works better in visual media. Imagine A Nightmare on Elm Street without dreams. :tongue Or for that matter, Hitchock's Spellbound without the famous Dali dream. But movies can have crappy dream sequences as well. (For example, the ending of many a slasher movie in the 1980s, where the heroine dreamed she was back in the camp or creepy house, dreamed she was killed, and then woke up in the hospital bed. ;))

[DVGuru]

If the dream sequence works for the story, I would write it and not worry about what the reader will think. If someone reading your novel is into the story, they'll keep reading, dream sequence or not. If they skim over it just because it's a dream, then the reader probably isn't really into your story anyway.

I personally like them. I recently watched Twin Peaks and my favorite scene from the whole series was a dream sequence.

[CandlestickJay]

Wow, I'm thrilled to see so many replies!

But a little shocked to see how many hate them. I mean, I understand that they can be a bit cliche, but everyone dreams, so why can't the main character? (Just kidding, I know thats ridiculous in a decent novel - especially if the dreams don't matter) I think though, on a more serious note, that I agree with Linda. When used appropriately, they can be very helpful. When not, well let's just say it tumbles with all of the other craptastic ideas into the craptastic ideas toilet.

Thanks for replying everyone!

[scarletpeaches]

Everyone goes to the toilet as well, but you wouldn't describe your MC taking a shit every morning in great detail, would you? Some things are just too damn boring or irrelevant to include in your book.

[Conman]

I used two dream sequences in my current novel. In one, the thing that the main character was afraid of most (hurting the people around him because he can't control himself) happened. You knew he was worried about this, but when you actually see it happen in his dream, you really learn how terrified of the possibility he is.

The other dream was actually pretty important to the plot. The antagonist sort of took over the main character's dream and showed him something for the sole purpose of disturbing him.

[BarbaraKE]

Like most of the respondents, I have a dream sequence in my WIP. (In my defense, it's short, clearly a dream and important to character development.)

But I do have to agree that I generally dislike dream sequences, mainly because they are 1) often boring and 2) a cop-out. (Dream sequence from 'Dallas', anyone?)

[joyce]

I asked this very same question months ago and found out that about 50% hate dreams and it was ok for about 50%. My first novel originally opened with a dream but I changed it after getting so many boo's. The several dreams I had were important to the plot and connecting several of the characters together. I left them in and just tried to make it clear from the start that it was a dream (for the readers who hate them). I did get bites from agents for fulls and partials. In the end I sat the book aside because agents kept telling me my story was too controversial for a first time author, nothing was said negative about the dreams. At this point that novel is sitting on a shelf waiting for me to look at it again. I've now moved on to novel #2 figuring one day if I ever get published, or aquire and agent, I will dig #1 out of its controversial grave and polish it up once again. When I told the several people I had reading my work I was going to take out the dreams, they all shouted "No", saying they enjoyed them and felt they were important to the plot. If it's written well and moves the plot, I say leave them in. Just because one person does not like to eat liver, does not mean everyone hates it. (I hate liver by the way)

[WittyandorIronic]

I did get bites from agents for fulls and partials. In the end I sat the book aside because agents kept telling me my story was too controversial for a first time author, nothing was said negative about the dreams.

This is one of the best teasers I have ever seen. Need a new beta? :popcorn:

[joyce]

This is one of the best teasers I have ever seen. Need a new beta? :popcorn:
Trust me, the same repeated response had me pulling my hair out. I would rather hear it just sucks, than the responses I did get. It only filled me with hope and more frustration. One day I will pick it up again and try to fix it but I don't think I can elminate the controversial matter nor do I think I would want to.

[WendyNYC]

I typically hate them, especially when they are gimmicky or meant to fool you "Who shot J.R.? Oh! It was all a dream!"

But there are exceptions. I liked some of Tony's dreams in the Sopranos. They were very telling of him as a character.

I realize that neither of these examples are literary works, but the same holds.

[maestrowork]

I had one dream in my novel, but I took it out -- I realized it didn't do any of the following: advance the plot, reveal character (not really), strengthen the themes. I realized it was just a cheap way to "get inside" my protagonist's mind. I did mention the protagonist had a bad dream, but I didn't go into details.

I don't have any dreams in my WIP. I have one sequence that reads like a dream, but it's fantastical so it could be real, or not. I leave it to the readers to decide. It's part of the plot.

I have a brief dream in a short story, but it's so integrated into the story (again, it moves the plot forward) that I believe it works well. Plus it was only one paragraph long and done in sort of a Twilight Zone way.

[LilliCray]

Dreams are a major part of my WIP at the moment. They're not actual dreams, per se; they're sent by a shapechanger thing as a medium for psychological torture. They're fun to write. Only I haven't written one yet. Ah, well.

In fifth grade, I wrote a short story where the whole thing was a dream. I can't reread it now; it freaks me out. ;)

I almost always have structured dreams. The past two nights, I've had dreams that built off of each other. They were weird, but not entirely unrealistically so. And they had a firm fanfiction basis. Very strange. ;)

;) Right. Back to the actual topic: I like some dream sequences. If they're done well, I might even reread them. But that's just me.

[heyjude]

I never read a dream sequence. Boring. As soon as a character goes to sleep so do I.

[otterman]

Like any other device, if done well it works. I have one in my WIP and it is important in establishing a character's sense of guilt for the death of a loved one. I think it works but it's yet to be beta tested. I never realized how much they were hated. Makes me worry a little.

[imagegod]

I never realized how much they were hated. Makes me worry a little.
Who cares what other people think about any particular technique?
In general, 'dream sequences' are unpopular on a writer's forum because they allow the writer to be indulgent...in said sequences, you're not bound by any law of nature, God or Man. They don't even have to be internally consistant.
But a good writer doesn't need an excuse to be indulgent...because a good writer is never indulgent.
As long as the sequence sustains the integrity of the piece; as long as it helps tell the story; as long it's useful, meaningful, integral to the whole...and perhaps even fun...than you're doing your job.
If not...then not.

[OverTheHills&FarAway]

Anything works if it works.


American Gods would not work without the dream sequences. Neither, in fact, would the entirety of the Sandman series.


*okay Neil Gaiman freak has said her piece and will leave....*

[narselon]

I never knew so many people hated dreams. My WIP has quite a few dream sequences. Mot of them serve as a means for my protagonist's subconscious to communicate with him, making observations that he would never admit to. I do a little foreshadowing but in most cases the dream prophecies are completely off due to his lack of knowledge. Later on he becomes lucid and I attempt to draw connections between realizing the true nature of a dream only for it to fall apart and understanding the truth about the world he lives in and the effect it might have.

I'd hoped these dream sequences gave insight into how the character has changed by looking at past events with fresh eyes. Maybe I'll have to find some other way.

[Julie Worth]

I think dream sequences belong in the It DependsTM category. They're the sort of scenes we're told to never ever write. Yet many writes use them, and use them well. That's why generalized rules like "Never use a dream sequence" usually mean "Never use a dream sequence unless you can make it interesting." When a story is really good, we don't think of a dream sequence as a dream sequence -- it's a part of the story.


This is the only right answer. You can do anything you want if you know what you're doing. The rules are for beginners, to keep them out of trouble.