The day before yesterday, I awoke at 4:00 AM with a storyline and plot going through my head. I didn't need to get up until 6:30, so I lay there, drowsing, and let the storyline and plot percolate through my brain, making changes here and there, following different permutations to their logical conclusions. Truthfully, I was surprised that I could be half asleep and work so well.
Once I had gotten my obligations out of the way, I sat down to write and found that while there was no hesitation, some of the glowing phrases that had sounded so great in my half-dreaming state, went on paper like the leaden footsteps of a zombie. The work has required some re-composing, (is that something slightly different than decomposing?) and is still turning out pretty well. Upon reflection, I must dream in predictable, stock lines, for the storyline I dreamed up, (literally) is simply a classic, romantic tragedy. It's still worth writing though, so long as I give it a twist here and there.
Back to the state of my dream-life: Not all of them are so staid and staple. The dream that awakened me yesterday was somewhat outre' and weird. It involved one of my favorite people, doing strangely sexual things that I felt I was not free to involve myself in. Throw in the improbably grotesque setting that we found ourselves in and there might be, (I say, might be) a story there. Kind of along the lines of "Repent Harlequin, Said the Tick-Tock Man" by Harlan Ellison.
Having grown up during the 60's, some of the things I saw and read were probably drug-induced inspirations of the authors and displayed a willingness to relinquish control over their own minds. I find myself unable to completely let myself go like that and so, will probably never write anything like them. However, in keeping with the title of this post, I still say that a writer should take inspiration where and when he finds it.
Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of The Empty Heart: A Collection, Congruencies and others.
Available on Kindle
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