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My daughter is very interested in dreams, and she also loves to write creatively, so this was an intriguing book to get a chance to review.
When I was in college, I always felt like I could be more creative when I was closer to sleep, and have had many dreams with fantastic ideas. There have been artists who have capitalized on this idea of writing or painting whatever the sleeping mind inspires. Tzivia Gover has written Dreaming on the Page: Tap into your midnight mind to supercharge your writing, available now for pre-order. This book provides a way to access the creative dreaming mind, even if we don't remember our dreams.
- Know thyself. Journaling dreams helps you better understand yourself from the inside out. Which in turn helps you understand your characters better, brings deeper empathy to your work, and makes you an all-around more interesting writer.
- Write regularly—and better. Building the habit of writing dreams each morning is a great way to build writing into your everyday routine.
- Never scratch for ideas again. As you record dreams in your journal, you are creating an encyclopedia of plots, landscapes, characters, themes, and ideas you can return to any time. You will never again have to begin a story, essay, or poem from scratch.
- Build a better relationship. As you interact with the raw and complex narrative structure of the storytelling subconscious mind on a regular basis, you build a relationship with your inner narrator. Over time you develop confidence in your ability to dream into a story at any time of day.
- Tone your metaphoric muscles. The metaphor-making part of our mind is highly activated when we’re dreaming. Writing dreams is a great way to build our literary muscles, including those that help us create metaphors and similes.
Why can our dreams be more powerful than we realize?
You could say that dreaming is a form of thinking that takes place when the brain is operating with a different neurochemical makeup. This is powerful because when we are asleep and dreaming the brain is primed for random associations and other creative forms of thinking that aid us in problem-solving. Our inner censor, which is located in the prefrontal cortex is deactivated while we’re dreaming, so in dreams, we can think far outside of the box of our habitual thoughts. As a result, dreams help us imagine and consider new possibilities for our lives in large and small ways.
Of course, there are many other reasons that our dreams supercharge our thinking and our lives as well. For example, it is not uncommon for people to have dreams that literally come true, that let them visit with deceased loved ones, and/or that give them insight into relationships, health matters, and more. The neurochemistry that I described above is one factor, but there is so much we don’t know when it comes to the power of dreams. But we can say that they have the potential to inspire—and to change—our lives.
What is the link between our dreams and creativity?
In my book Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing I home in on the ways dreams serve the creative writing process. Specifically, our midnight minds are primed for making metaphors and drawing analogies, because those areas of the brain are active during REM sleep, which is the recurring phase of the sleep cycle where most memorable dreams take place. In addition, dreams are also filled with wordplay, humor, vivid imagery and colors, compelling characters, and blanket-wringing plot twists. All of this means that they are great sources of material for vivid writing, whether for writing memoir, stories, songs, or poems.
Although I focus on the connections between dreams and writing, dreams also serve as muses for anybody who needs a little extra inspiration whether they’re a visual artist, musician, inventor—or anyone who is facing a challenge that a new perspective could help out with.
How can people feel more free to be creative, whether that's in writing or other areas of life?
Dreams boost creativity on the page and off. Here are some suggestions for using your dreams to add a splash of inspiration to your daily life:
- Claim your dreams: Start by reminding yourself that whether you remember them or not, your dreams are spinning out cinematic narratives with no effort on your part—several times each night! This should infuse you with confidence that you are a naturally creative person—and just knowing that can give you the permission you need to create.
- Bring your dream into your day: One fun way to honor your natural creativity is to wear a certain color or a specific piece of jewelry that reminds you of something from last night’s dream. I often add a type of food that showed up in a dream to my grocery list—which encourages me to try something new. Also, simply telling someone about a dream you had can encourage new and creative connections with a friend—because dreams often lead us into uncharted terrain.
- Try to remember: Put a notebook by your bed and write down your intention to remember your dreams before you go to sleep. Then write down any dreams or dream snippets you remember in the morning. Even a single dream image or emotion can be a catalyst for writing a poem, story, or memory in response—or try sketching your dream, or creating a song or dance inspired by it.
- Discover the art of the notebook: Journaling is a great way to bring more creativity into each day. You don’t need to write a lot, and you don’t need to only write about your struggles. Get a notebook and keep some colored pencils or markers, scissors, and a glue stick close by. Write something inspired by a dream or something you experienced that day. Add some color: paste in a picture from a magazine or catalog that represents how you feel. Whatever you do, make journaling fun and inspiring—and treat the time you spend with your notebook (whether it’s just 5 minutes or longer) as a little oasis in your day where you connect with your inner dreamer!
