First off, don’t forget to enter the contest from yesterday here. All you have to do is post on that entry congratulating JP for becoming a finalist in Writers of the Future and you’re entered to win a short story collection that has one of this stories!
I have all sorts of bubbly things going on that I don’t know if I can talk about but rest assured, there’s been lots of me bouncing around. I’m not sure anything will come out of the exciting things except that it’s sparked many a lovely day dream which is always nice.
JP and I were talking about this over dinner last night as he’s a big fan of the “don’t count any chickens until they hatch” philosophy. And I totally agree with him — I’m not really counting chickens. I’m just sort of playing with the eggs — holding them up to my ear, rattling them around a bit to see if anythings inside, etc.
I think some people are more like him — afraid somewhat of day dreaming about things for fear of them not happening and then what? Me on the other hand — day dreaming is how I fall asleep at night. It’s funny, I think the only down side to having my first book out is the inability to day dream about it any more. For YEARS I spent my falling asleep time day dreaming about getting The Call. I can’t even begin to tally up the different scenarios that I played out in my head.
Incidentally, the real thing was even better and I wonder if that’s one reason why I still allow myself to day dream — because I haven’t been let down by reality? It’s funny, in my every day life I tend to be someone who can always point to the worst case scenario (which can be infuriating when you play against me in Risk but also made me a good attorney in some ways). And yet when I close my eyes and daydream, it’s always about the best case scenario.
Maybe I’m just able to separate my day dreams from reality, or maybe it’s that I have a fundamental belief that things tend to work out in the end. So even if my day dreams don’t come true, it’s not necessarily a bad thing — it’s just a different path. Maybe I also separate my day dreaming from “wanting.” Sure I’d love the things I day dream about to come true, and I do to some extent want them to come true, but there’s just not that NEED there. Life will go on even if they don’t come true.
To me, it’s just about the day dream. Something nice and fun to ponder while falling through the edge of sleep. And who knows, maybe those years of day dreaming about getting the call pulled double duty as goal visualization.
What about y’all? Do you day dream? If so, what do you dream about? If not, why?
For me, daydreaming is what I am tapping into when I work on my stories. That is what draws me to urban fantasy — it is like a "what if" daydream on paper.
Of course I had a friend claim that daydreams are the only thing keeping me sane since I don't sleep much. I suppose if I get "The Call" that will determine which of us is right. 😉
I daydream all the time, probably too much hahaha. It's where I tend to get my ideas for writing from. I'll just be sitting there zoning out and this little idea will pop into my head – a place, a time, a character, a little blip of a story. Everything I write goes from there.
I fall asleep at night while day dreaming as well; its the only way I can sleep at all actually. If I don't force myself into some kind of day dream, I'll just lay there staring at the ceiling for hours on end…
I try not to do it.
But I have fulls out with three dream agents right now, so it's hard not to.
Still, I know full well that all three could pass, and if I let myself daydream too much, the letdown would be that much harder.
(On the other hand, my favorite daydream is getting the call from one, and then notifying the other two, who come storming out of the woodwork to offer me representation.)
Oh my, day dreaming to me is like illegal substances to Amy Winehouse. I never really stop dreaming about finiahing the next chapter, getting to the middle of a book, gettting the quiries sent out, getting the call from some quirky agent in Idaho, talking about movie/Anime rights, doing book signings – the list goes on.
If being obsessed and starstruck about writing is wrong, then being right sounds boring.
-J.T.
Lovely post! Daydreaming is like breathing for me. Absolutely the best way to fall asleep at night.
And yes, I do still daydream about the big call (I like the one where my manuscript is up for auction and the bidding is going crazy).
And like the others, the daydreaming feeds the creative work – whole novels can be written in the space before sleep.
I love your site. Many people have the wrong idea about daydreaming. Daydreaming has many benefits, especially as it applies to creativity, so I hope we can all stop feeling guilty about it. My book on the topic has just been published Daydreams at Work: Wake Up Your Creative Powers. You can read more about it at DaydreamsAtWork.com and happy daydreaming!
I day dream about the best possible outcome, but prepare for the worst.
But, at the same time, I'm superstitious enough that I think telling people what I think is going to happen as if it is a done deal can jinx it.
Patrick – you sound EXACTLY like me!
And I totally day dreamed about the call all the time — auction, bidding, call from agent triggering others to offer — I've dreamt them all (and loved it!)
Thanks for sharing all your day dreams!!
My life is a daydream. I only hit reality when I sleep 🙂
Great question! Can you be a writer and not daydream? For me, it's the wonderful (and often scary) question of what if. What if I got to take that dream vacation….