Dream Sequences

A question:

What if the dream is used to reveal something to the reader about a character's past? (Not as an opener, of course, but as a tool in another chapter.)

electroweakstar said:

A question:

What if the dream is used to reveal something to the reader about a character's past? (Not as an opener, of course, but as a tool in another chapter.)

Click to expand...

I think that would be fine. A lot of times I dream about the most random things like my best friend from 3rd grade whom I haven't seen in a million years LOL

I'm one of those people who has some patience for dream sequences, though I can understand why others might not. Some feel they don't really achieve or mean anything since they do tend to only exist within one character's mind and therefore don't affect the real world. They can be used to reveal, but not normally to alter.

I guess they can be used to reveal a character's past, but when it comes to aspects of the story actually happening in dreams, these aspects then need to be substantiated in the "real" world, or it can seem like a waste of time.

Dream sequences are often used because the writer can't think of any other way to express the information, but most of the time, it should be told in another way.

As for the premonition dream, I think that's kind of cheap unless your story is about someone having dreams like that. There are probably better ways to create foreshadowing that haven't been used quite so much.

Dream sequences can be a handy tool when used sparingly and well, but most people don't.

My eyes glaze over whenever someone starts telling me about a dream they had last night. I'll usually skim through dreams in novels, although I can't think of any novels I've read lately that have dreams.

I don't mind a quick mention, though. If a character says, "I keep having this recurring dream of pole-dancing zebras."

Bec de Corbin said:

I generally feel that the problem with most dream sequences is that they aren't random and surreal enough. Maybe I just have more bizarre dreams than most, but well-ordered dream sequences that offer obvious hints about the plot just don't seem realistic to me.

Click to expand...

I've had such mundane dreams in my life it's almost embarrassing. I've had some that are surreal, but others where I'm doing ordinary things of utterly no significance.
That said, I've never had a dream about the past that recounts something that ever happened. Somebody mentioned that as a way of revealing something that happened in the past, but if it's devoid of symbolism, such a technique would probably not do it for me at all.

I generally agree with the other posters - if it's important to the story, keep it, so long as it's neither a 'gotcha!', a lazy way of describing a psychic or moving the plot along in an overly contrived manner.