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Starting with a dream

CorvusCorax

Dreamer
Okay. I know starting a story with a dream is generally a terrible idea. You get immediately hooked by all this interesting stuff going on, then you find out none of it actually happened. It's a big let down.

But what if it did actually happen?

I thought I had a decent start to my story but lately I've been feeling less certain about it because it starts with a dream. I feel like it works, but every time I hear someone talk about how you should never start with a dream I get a bit less confident.

The first chapter/prologue starts with an important event occurring. Now this event is actually happening, but the next chapter begins with the main character waking up having just dreamt the events of Chapter 1. The way it's written leaves the reader questioning whether it was more than a dream. Which of course it was, and that will be confirmed later on.

So, since it wasn't "just a dream", do you think this is an exception to the rule? Or should I start rewriting?
 

Spider

Sage
Do whatever works best for you! There are always exceptions to rules, so long as you can execute them well.

IMO, though, the disappointment isn't simply finding out that the events of the first chapter never happened. It's going from the action-packed/tense/intriguing to the mundane (or something of the sort). There's not much of a transition when the character simply wakes up and goes about doing normal things. In the first chapter, the reader's getting a sense of what kind of a story this is. Even if the events of the dream did happen, the readers don't know that until later, right? *letdown*

In terms of leaving them questioning whether it was more than a dream, how are you doing that? (Just wondering.) Maybe if the character's "reality" exhibited meaningful similarities and/or differences with the dream, and if the world that s/he wakes to presents some other gripping conflict (that isn't completely random) to level the tone, then the readers would be hooked enough to try to put the pieces together. Then again, wouldn't all dreams found at the start of books be "more than just dreams"? I'm not sure if that's enough to prevent someone from putting the book down.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I'm not fond of dreams that start off stories, if they happened or didn't happen. I know some people can pull it off, but I'm usually only personally interested in such a scene if it's really bizarre or some kind of invasive magical kind of thing (like a witch is giving someone nightmares or something). I think it can be done, but my tendency is to veer away from them myself.

The thing you might think about is "How can I relay this information in a different way?" If you think of a way to get the same information across in a more dynamic way, it might make it more interesting and won't have that dream stigma attached to it.
 
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Fyle

Inkling
There are no set rules as to what works and what doesnt.

It all depends on the content matter and events of the dream. It also depends on the quailty of the writing.

It also depends on how the dream makes logical sense with the plot and story development. If it does make sense, i cant see why i should find it less enjoyable because it was dream?

Just my humble opinion.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Sounds like the beginning of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The first chapter is a scene where an elderly gardener finds Lord Voldemort hiding out in the old Riddle House and gets killed. Then Harry wakes up with his scar hurting having just dreamt the whole thing.

Of course, since this is the 4th Harry Potter book the reader already knows about Lord Voldemort and is interested in his movements and plans. The reader also understands that Harry is prone to seeing weird stuff when he's sleeping and knows that when his scar hurts it means something. So even though this is the first time Harry has dreamed something about Voldemort so vivid, the reader knows to expect something significant about it and indeed it is later confirmed that what he dreamed really happened. If this is a book one that you are writing you don't have the benefit of readers already being invested in your story and being primed for the dream/reality, like with Harry Potter.

In your case, I think what you have to focus on is not "this is an exception because it's not really a dream after all" but "this is an exception because it's just so interesting that my beta readers couldn't wait to find out what happens next". Because it doesn't matter what technique you use or how many "rules" there are about it, if it's interesting enough to readers then they'll keep reading.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I'm open to anything, so long as the writer does it well. I'm not much of a believer in "rules" for this sort of thing. I have to admit that my personal preference is against dream sequences - I tend to hate them wherever they appear in a story - but I'd go with it if it was well done and held my interest.
 

CorvusCorax

Dreamer
In terms of leaving them questioning whether it was more than a dream, how are you doing that? (Just wondering.) Maybe if the character's "reality" exhibited meaningful similarities and/or differences with the dream, and if the world that s/he wakes to presents some other gripping conflict (that isn't completely random) to level the tone, then the readers would be hooked enough to try to put the pieces together.

Well that's exactly what I've tried to do. I've used things like that, along with his noting of details that mark this particular dream as very unusual, to make it as clear as possible that there's something more than a simple dream going on here.
As for the gripping conflict, plenty of that occurs soon after. Certainly enough to level the tone and hopefully avoid any jarring transition from action-packed to mundane.

The thing you might think about is "How can I relay this information in a different way?" If you think of a way to get the same information across in a more dynamic way, it might make it more interesting and won't have that dream stigma attached to it.

I think this is what I'll try to do. It may take a while, but this seems like the best way to go.

What I've gathered after reading everyone's replies is that, while this kind of dream sequence can be done well, they're not too popular either way. I'm fairly convinced now that I need to rewrite.
But if I can't find a good enough way to relay the same information, I'll stick with the dream. I'll just have to put a lot of work into it to get it right.

Thank you to everyone for your input. It's helped a lot.
 
From my limited perspective, I have heard the same as everybody here has: Don't start off with a dream (get out of a car, discussing weather, etc.). Granted, the "rules" have always been more guidelines than anything. The challenge is that very few authors have the ability to break storytelling rules or paradigms and be successful about it. Cormac McCarthy comes to mind.

I believe that writing a book that anyone truly wants to read carries with it enormous challenges already. Making it more difficult for not only the reader, but editors and agents, is an additional handicap. That said, if you feel good about, go with it and make it work!
 

Cerberus

Dreamer
I have a story that starts of with a dream (which was actually inspired by a dream I actually had). Basically humanity's been forced to move to one of the moons on Jupiter because the sun went nova and became a red giant, consuming the nearer planets in the solar system. As part of a means of ensuring that humans never forget where they came from the memory of Earth and its destruction is encoded into their DNA, so they pass it down to their children. Most people have dreams of Earth's destruction fairly regularly.

Another aspect is that in order to ensure humanity's survival the first generation of survivors encoded knowledge of how to run the machinery that keeps them all alive into the DNA of a select few. Rather than being a failsafe, though, this becomes an excuse for nobody to bother learning how the machinery works and just leaving it to the DNA encoded technicians to handle it, so when something goes wrong that they're unable to handle the entire population is hosed.
 

K.S. Crooks

Maester
Because the events of the "dream" happened, I think you are okay to start with it. I would however have it as a prologue, including the character waking up and questioning whether it was only a dream. Good luck.
 
I'm glad K.S. Crooks mentioned prologues. I think opening with a dream is similar to a prologue: if you do it right you isolate a couple parts of the story and put a fun spin on them, but readers may think you're stalling instead of showing the whole picture. (Except, opening dreams have an even worse reputation!) I wrote a bit about prologues at The Prologue Checklist | Ken Hughes, and I think it all applies here too.

Especially, I think a lot of this comes from making it the first chapter. It's the strongest way to use a specialized scene like this (and of course changing prologue-content to chapter 2 would make it an ordinary flashback or POV shift, and that makes a different impression). But it also maximizes the odd problems of a scene like this as well as its power. If you really like the dream and want to use it with fewer risks, you might look for just the right teasing ways to lead into it, so the dream doesn't actually happen until later in Chapter 1 or in Chapter 2.
 

SeverinR

Vala
The only thing I hate is the "All a dream" end story. Nothing happened, no one was in danfer, it wasn't real.
Dreams are one way of foreshadowing, showing fears, but it can't be the conclusion of the problem or it was a waste of time.

"THe apes climb on the nuclear missle shaking it, it topples and just before it explodes, the astronaut wakes up," it was all a bad dream before he gets launched into space.

I think a child in a coma did have many adventures, but the viewer/reader knew it was either in another plane of existence or in his dreams. There was no suprise dream ending. (Don't know the name of the book or show, but I saw it a few times. I think it might have been a show filmed in England or Australia.)
 
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