Authoring & Playwriting

Keep on Dreamin’. Keep the Dream alive. The Dream team. The Dream Time.

Probably since humans became self-conscious, we’ve always been fascinated by our Dreams.

Creative people in many fields often attribute inspiration and information to their Dreams.

The Roman poet and myth-maker Virgil wrote, “T...

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Keep on Dreamin’. Keep the Dream alive. The Dream team. The Dream Time.

Probably since humans became self-conscious, we’ve always been fascinated by our Dreams.

Creative people in many fields often attribute inspiration and information to their Dreams.

The Roman poet and myth-maker Virgil wrote, “There are two gates of Sleep. One is of horn, easy of passage for the shades of truth; the other, of gleaming white ivory, permits false dreams to ascend to the upper air.” Homer (teller of the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY) had noted something similar.

Check out the Dreamtime of Australian Aboriginal peoples; quite fascinating.

Many myths, legends, and folklore involve Dreams.

It’s often said there are three types of Dreams.

1) Trivia Dreams just dump the trash from the previous day: something you’ve seen on-screen, read, done in person, and such.

2) Traveling Dreams send you hurtling over cliffs…then unlike the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote you are suddenly able to fly to safety, or if over water suddenly be able to swim and breathe underwater. Astral travel is a fascinating topic to explore.

3) Teaching Dreams offer insights to problems or can be predictive of things to come. A number of scientific discoveries came in dreams.

Lucid Dreaming (when you’re aware within the Dream that you are Dreaming) can occur in any of these three.

Ancient Mystery Schools taught Lucid Dreaming. One of the tools is to look at your hands within the Dream.

The Senoi people of Malaysia have a very rich involvement with dreams, including group dreaming, as do the Sapara people of Ecuador. [We spent two weeks in Ecuador on the “People to People, Heart to Heart” peace conference and it was amazing and enlightening.]

So what’s this mean to today’s creatives, scientists, and all of us?

Some people will Dream a complete story, then rise to write it down, then craft and polish it into a script, short story, or novel.

Personally I’ve been fortunate to remember my Dreams. One became a mixed-race teen love story set after WWII in America that was optioned by a Hollywood production company. Another was set in Cuba in 1948 and after a lot of research and a number of drafts with my co-author Monty McMillan was a winner at the Bahamas Intl. Film Festival and we got to spend a week in the Bahamas.

Another set of three Dreams, one after the other, resulted in a series of linked stories I’m currently completing. The first two KURULTAI novellas are already available on my website. https://pamelajayesmith.net/products/short-stories/

What is your experience with Dreaming?

What media do you think sprang from Dreams? INCEPTION, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, WIZARD OF OZ…. We can probably pass over ones with the cliché of the alarm clock going off and the character realizing, “It was all just a dream”. Or maybe not? What say you?

Regardless, do DREAM ON!

And may all your best Dreams come true.

Here’s an article about the science of Lucid Dreams.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/aug/18/linking-two-real...

Tips for writing action scenes?

I have currently created a 200 page book, but I can't write ""part 3 "" without a war scene between the Venice banking Mafia that owns 4 trillion dollars and between American Patriots and Hollywood. Hollywood has found out about them because of certain global vips. Th...

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Mike Childress

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4 people like this
3 days ago

Nancy Golden Thanks! It seems a lot of authors are pro-eBook and paperback co-publishing. Also seems Apple users gravitate towards Vellum while others use Atticus for formatting before self-publishing...

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3
3 people like this
3 days ago

Nancy Golden I got an email from The Black List stating it's starting free hosting on the site for novel manuscripts. Are books en vogue again?! Orrrrr is it (more likely) Hollywood wants to adapt mor...

Ashley Renee Smith

Great advice, Nancy Golden!

Leonardo Ramirez

2
2 people like this
- Mike Childress
- Maurice Vaughan
2 days ago

Hey Mike Childress. I agree with Nancy and others regarding publishing in both markets. It's just too easy and you get more exposure. Have done it myself many times. I've never used Vellum but do use...

2
2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan
- Leonardo Ramirez
2 days ago

Leonardo Ramirez Nice. Funny how Word is still the common denominator haha. I had gotten so used to exporting to PDF, only, for screenplays from Final Draft I didn't even think about the formatting pa...

Maurice Vaughan

2
2 people like this
- Benjamin Elliott
- Billy Kwack
3 days ago

Great share, Ashley Renee Smith! Jenna Moreci talked about taking a break from writing when other things are going on. I think taking a mental health break is really important! It doesn't have to be a...

1
1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
2 days ago

Haha! "I just wrote a stream of steaming hot garbage!" I don't think there's a reasonable writer who doesn't feel this to some degree, Ashley Renee Smith.

Nancy Golden

Sure!! I just launched Book 2 in my Dynamis series (fantasy) and am blessed with an incredible cover artist. Here is Book 1:

And Book 2:

2
2 people like this
- Benjamin Elliott
- Maurice Vaughan
3 days ago

These all look awesome! Thanks for sharing, everyone!

Jesse Kalfel

2
2 people like this
- Dave Wickenden
- Maurice Vaughan
2 days ago

This is the cover of my novel: "Paper Ghosts: A Fenn Cooper Novel"

Brian Smith

OK, I'm late to the party, but here is my latest.

I use Word, and when I am ready to publish - I import my Word document into Vellum and it handles the formatting beautifully. I have used it for years, but it is only available on a MAC. I always have...

Travis Seppala

My wife writes her novels in Google Docs, and then puts them in Word when she's ready to format it for publication. She's got a handful of novels published so far.

Christine Capone

Vincent, I do "just write" but where I just write is important.

Marcel Nault Jr.

Nancy Golden That's an interesting option for writers everywhere around the world. Can you use Vellum for screenwriting though?

Marcel Nault Jr. Scrivener is the manuscript-writing program with a screenwriting feature, Vellum and Atticus lack one. Still new to Scrivener, but not sure I will be ditching Final Draft for Scrivene...

2
2 people like this
- Ashley Renee Smith
- Benjamin Elliott
1 week ago

Fantastic share, Ashley Renee Smith! I learned a lot about the publishing world watching this video!

William Joseph Hill

3
3 people like this
1 week ago

Thanks for sharing, Ashley Renee Smith ! I'm currently working on a screenplay adaptation project for a tween/YA book. It skewers more for tweens and children as the story is very innocent without any...

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, William Joseph Hill!

1
1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
1 week ago

That's very cool, Tom Lapke ! I'm sure there was a mountain of groundwork developing his craft to get to this point. Proof that persistence can pay off!

Jonathan Jordan

2
2 people like this
- Benjamin Elliott
- Maurice Vaughan
1 week ago

Hey Richard Kelly there's a couple places you can look for literary agents and filter based on what kind of material they represent. Publishers Marketplace has a really robust database. Their paid ver...

Good Luck, Richard Kelly ! Jonathan is pointing you in the right direction and the Poets & Writers database is a good place to start.

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