greenoh hey, this week's #Writephant is on a subject that's one of my Special Interests--dreams!
first, how I'm doing today is pretty good, actually! it might snow a bit today or tonight or tomorrow, which would be neat! also I just woke up from a nap, also incidentally to the subject. XD #Writephant
#writephant Q1 Do you usually sleep pretty well, or is it sometimes a challenge?
ooooh it's a challenge for me. I had very bad insomnia for years, before I learned the elaborate combination of preparation, isolation, and OTC and prescription medications that usually do the trick, and sometimes it still doesn't work. that said, I generally get at least 8 hours these days and when I do sleep it's usually pretty high quality, though there are exceptions. >__<
#writephant Q2 The common advice is not to start a story with a dream sequence. Aside from that, do you use dream sequences in your writing?
hm... having to think about this, and I think the answer is no. although I have written several times about my characters having dreams of various kinds, I don't write their actual dreams; I write their descriptions or memories of them after they've woken up, or how the dream affects them later. (cont)
not for any particular reason, I certainly don't have any reason to avoid writing out dream sequences, except that most of mine are so disjointed and nonsensical which makes the feeling of a dream difficult to capture, and makes me feel like a more narratively sensible dream is kind of a cop-out, if that makes any sense.
#writephant Q3 Which feels closer to your writing process: Daydreaming, where you consciously imagine and guide the scene? Or lucid dreaming, where the story unfolds around you and you try to influence it from inside? Neither?
hm... all of the above? XD when I'm outlining/planning, it's like I'm having a vivid daydream that sometimes veers over into lucid dreaming, but when I'm actually writing it's not really dreamlike at all. hard to explain?
#writephant Q4 Do your characters ever appear in your dreams?
and now, the meat of the questions: all three of my longfics are the products of dreams.
the kernel at the center of Tongues of Serpents is one scene in the story that is pretty much *exactly* a dream I had. when I woke up, I wrote it down, then had to construct a setting for it, and next thing I knew it was 60k words. (cont)
the inspiration for The Monsters We Become is... similar, but not quite; I was already spinning up the story in my head when I was ambushed by a couple of dreams about the characters, which is when I knew I was committed.
the title for my current fic is "Dreams of Dead Stars" so yeah, you might say dreams are kind of a theme here. XD
I learned to lucid dream decades ago, and while I rarely practice it still happens sometimes. (cont)
my dreams are almost always very--I'm not sure how to explain it. complex? imaginative? weird? XD sometimes I get useful story ideas from them; sometimes I *dream a story* and writing it is literally a matter of cleaning the story up a bit and adding some narrative bridges. other times I wake up thinking "oh that would make a great story!" and then I write it down and, uh, no it doesn't! my dreams are usually very enjoyable, and make a nice respite from the waking world. (cont)
an author (whose written works I still respect but I will not name because I do not respect them as a person) once wrote, "anything you take from dreams is free." dreams have inspired so much of my life--writing, other artwork, personal decisions, even religious experiences and tattoos!
so whenever the meme question comes up "which would you rather never have to do again, sleep or eat" I *always* choose to give up eating. (plus not having to deal with my digestive system would be a huge bonus)
#Writephant promotion time!
Tongues of Serpents https://archiveofourown.org/works/16125740/chapters/37673537 is a story set in the #MarvelMultiverse about #Loki and a shapeshifting dragon navigating the events of the movie "Thor" and coming to a rather different conclusion. it's a completed novel-length fic, 31 chapters and 61k words. (cont)
The Monsters We Become https://archiveofourown.org/works/34145443/chapters/84956344 is a rewriting of the #FFXIV #Shadowbringers story, in which the Warrior of Light makes a different choice--to spare #EmetSelch--and the consequences of that decision. also a completed novel-length fic, 55 chapters, 97k words.
my current project is Dreams of Dead Stars, a re-write of the entire #FFXIV #Endwalker expansion as a sequel to The Monsters We Become in three parts.
part 1, Research https://archiveofourown.org/works/47949367/chapters/120894697 is from #EmetSelch 's POV, 34 chapters / 59k words
part 2, Recall https://archiveofourown.org/works/47949367/chapters/120894697 is from the Warrior of Light's POV, 42 chapters / 77k words
(cont)
part 3, Revise https://archiveofourown.org/works/64488034/chapters/165597784 is from #Hythlodaeus 's POV, and currently in progress! chapters are posted on Sundays, I'm around halfway through at 28 chapters / 47k words, it's coming around the bend to the theme of the entire venture and should be done before the end of the year! eeee (cont)
I have a variety of fics in a variety of fandoms on https://archiveofourown.org/users/elynne currently most of them are #FFXIV stories, building on the longer fics or playing with various story concepts. other fandoms include #WorldOfWarcraft #DragonsAge #Skyrim #StarWars and little bits here and there from Supernatural to Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, from 10k words to less than 100, and a variety of spice levels from Completely Safe For Children to Extremely Very NSFW!
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Neve Maslakovic@troodon that's so cool!
@troodon That seems to be the theme tonight -- pretty much everyone who responded has said the same, sleep is a challenge (or can be)