My partner likes me to sleep well in the mornings because I more often than not come downstairs and tell him about my morning dreams, which are often very vivid and narrative-like.
My latest one consisted of me returning to school only to be confronted by a Godzilla/Tyrannosaurus Rex type creature that went smashing through the buildings trying to eat people.
- Stephenie Meyer claims a dream inspired her to write Twilight.
- Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein was also inspired by a dream.
- The plot of Robert Louis Stevenson‘s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was inspired by a dream.
One of my most memorable dreams inspired a story I half-wrote (and then abandoned) when I was fourteen about a doppelganger switching places with a young girl’s boyfriend.
A dream I had a few years ago gave me the backstory and motivation for the villain in the Innocence Saga.
Inspiration from dreams doesn’t always happen. I can’t remember half of my weird dreams, but I do remember the more story-like ones. I can recall dreams I had when I was a child – including the one about the skeletons that invaded my school, and the one where I jumped off an enormously tall tower and glided away from the witch chasing me and throwing spells.
My question is this: As self-published writers, do you use dreams to inspire your writing? How else do you come up with your inspiration?
Related articles
- Get Writing Ideas From Your Dreams (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
Lissa Bilyk 
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