How a dream sparked my book idea/ Turning dreams into books

There are hundreds of ways for a book idea to spark in our minds. For me, dreams play a big part in this. I can think of three or four book ideas which started from dreams, just off the top of my head. I believe they are a gift from God, a sort of vision, of inspiration.

My book, Swimming with Lupins, which I am currently editing, was such a book.

The dream that inspired it was short, and more of a moment, than an entire story, or scene. It was more the scenery of the dream, the place I was that sparked something. It was one of those dreams that feel so strangely divine. I cannot describe the feeling, but it is so full of purpose and intrigue that when I awake, the fact that it must be a story is immediate.

I built one of the first scenes in Swimming with Lupins upon this dream. It is full of the essence of that dream, and I believe that changed the book. Compared to writing something I imagined out of nowhere (although nothing is truly original, but inspired by something), when I wrote those first scenes, it was a process of remembering, and bringing back to life those moments I lived in the dream. I want people to feel how I felt while reading it. I want the purity and perfection of nature to be given to them through the words. Instead of building something from ground up, writing off a dream is a sort of building towards.

Of course, the rest of my story evolved from those scenes, and didn’t stay there. I created many more scenes for the book which weren’t in my dream. But I wanted it to all have the same feeling for the reader. I wanted to capture that dream and give it to others. Because that dream was magical.

So, what about you? What about gaining inspiration through dreams?

Firstly, do you dream? This would be a good place to start. Some I know don’t recall their dreams, and if this is you, well, that’s going to make this very difficult. I’d look into why people forget dreams, and if there is a way to help you remember them. But in the end, I wouldn’t stress it too much. If God wants to gift you a dream, he’ll do it. Even though I dream often, they are rarely divine dreams, or anything I’d base a book off. Those otherworldly ones aren’t every night, or even every week or month. Just every now and again they happen, and it’s magical when they do.

Now, if you do dream, what are those dreams like? Where does you mind go? Asking God to speak to you through dreams could be a great prayer, if that’s something you want. Let’s just remember that He doesn’t have to do what we want though. Whatever is the best thing for us, will happen.

How can you tell if a dream is from God and intended for a book?

Whenever I have such a dream, when I wake up, I instantly am captivated by where I just was, or the story that was playing out. I’m intrigued by it, and want to find out more. Often, I’ll lay there and my mind will start thinking up characters and places and events for this new story in my mind. Because a dream is such a real feeling experience, it often makes it easier to begin an idea from it, because it’s almost as if you were inside the story, and now you want to bring it to life like that for others.

Asking God if He wants a book made out of a dream is probably the best way to know what to do. He longs to create with you, and by including Him (the Creator of the everything!) you are inviting a very powerful force into your writing journey, and the journey of this book.

Now, for some practical tips.

When you wake up, and have a dream in your mind that you want to remember. Write it down if possible, BEFORE falling back asleep, or getting up. If you can’t write it down right away, repeat everything you remember in your mind a few times, CONSCIOUSLY, before moving on with any other thoughts. Telling someone about your dream can also help you save that information in your long term memory.

Just waking, remembering, and then falling back asleep, or getting up and moving on, is almost sure to lose the dream. Every time I have a cool dream and I don’t make a specific effort to mark it down in my brain, it always gets lost somewhere, and I can’t find it again. This is the most frustrating thing, and not what we want for the start of an amazing book idea!

Later on, when you have a moment, expand on your memories a bit. Jot down any descriptions you want, or places. One time I drew out a map of this property in my writing notebook. I just knew I would write a story about it one day, and wanted the dream preserved so I could write it truthfully when I got to it. I still haven’t written that book, but that drawing is waiting for when I do.

To be quite honest, I’m not always the best at noting things down and keeping records of it all, and I tend to recall these specific dreams really well, because they stay with me like a real memory. But I’m sure I’ve lost many dreams because of this. I want to get better and noting things down in my notebook – but it’s never on me grr!

So…pray about if a dream is from God. If it is, write down anything you remember about it, perhaps even compose a short description for the future book. Then, when the time is right, that dream will be waiting there for you to write into a book.

Let us know in the comments of any other ways you find book ideas!