Ireth
Myth Weaver
I have no idea if this is a good idea or not. To clarify, this isn't a bait-and-switch scenario, where the reader is duped into thinking the dream is real. I state at the start of the scene that it's a dream, and then describe it. (It isn't the opening scene of a book or chapter, either.)
The context of the scene as a whole is this: the MC, Ariel, is in prison awaiting her death by execution after maiming the villain, a prince. She'll wake up from the nightmare to realize another character is trying to break her out of prison. (The fall of the axe in her dream corresponds to the fall of an unconscious guard in real life, at which she wakes up.) She goes with him when he explains what's going on, and they flee into the night.
My questions are this: Is starting with a dream sequence a good idea even when it isn't a bait-and-switch thing? And does having the dream be about the beheading make it too obvious that things will turn out differently in real life?
The context of the scene as a whole is this: the MC, Ariel, is in prison awaiting her death by execution after maiming the villain, a prince. She'll wake up from the nightmare to realize another character is trying to break her out of prison. (The fall of the axe in her dream corresponds to the fall of an unconscious guard in real life, at which she wakes up.) She goes with him when he explains what's going on, and they flee into the night.
My questions are this: Is starting with a dream sequence a good idea even when it isn't a bait-and-switch thing? And does having the dream be about the beheading make it too obvious that things will turn out differently in real life?