Shower Books

Hello Everyone.

Speaking of dreams, my four year old bumped into me at five thirty in the morning on his way to the bathroom. 

I said, Hey.

he said, Hey. 

Then he said, I had a dream where me and my friend Rena went into the forest with a robot who had a pizza for a face and then when we came out, his face was only a plate. 

I said: Oh.

And he said: Yeah. 

Then he went pee. 

All day I’ve been thinking about this pizza face robot. What happened to his face? Did they eat his face? That’s sad. Or maybe they met up with some kind of magic and he became his true real self–a plate-faced robot.  There are so many ways this story could go and all from a four year old’s dream. 

I think I’ll write a picture book about it make a million trillion dollars.

In other news, being alone.

I think it’s good to be alone. Especially if it gives you time to think about your book and your ideas and your dreams.

Sometimes WE THINK it’s hard to find time to be alone WE THINK WE THINK but today I realized there are lots of small moments that i have to myself. Like, the shower. Sometimes. Or when I do the laundry and someone is asleep and someone else is reading a book or watching a show. Or in the car when I run for milk. There are moments, there are times. 

This week I am making the goal to use my alone time. Specifically my shower time. I am going to focus completely on my writing when I’m in the shower. When I get out, I am going to write down every stinking thing that popped into my head. I might even get a laminated notebook and velcro it to my shower wall. Or maybe not. But I’m going to be dedicated. 

Who is with me? Think of all the brilliant ideas we’ll have if we just focus our energy for the few minutes we have with warm water pouring over us. I think it might change my life. 

Also, one day, i will have a writing/running half marathon (or five miler) Run half a mile (so much alone time! So much brainstorming!), write a scene, run another half mile (the plot gets even better!), another scene, etc. etc.. At the end, we all sit around and drink chocolate milk for recovery and read our stories to each other. Wouldn’t that be dreamy? 

Maybe after this baby. 

 

Accomplishing Your Dreams

dream

[dreem]  noun, verb, dreamed or dreamt, dream·ing, adjective

noun

IGNORE THE BLUE! I COPIED THIS FROM THE DICTIONARY!

1. a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.–Did you know that creative people have more nightmares than non-creative people? Yup. I read that somewhere.

2. the sleeping state in which this occurs. Once I arose at 5 every morning to write. Chris Crowe can do it (every morning at 4), why couldn’t I? Cheri Earl gets up early and writes. Sometimes. But when I did it I was so sleepy, I couldn’t even remember what I wrote or IF I wrote. Find your best time to write. Stick to it. Write when you can, put best you on the paper.

3. an object seen in a dream. Having something recur in a story makes the object important. It must play a role in the climax of the novel in some way.

4. an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake. I won’t tell you of my really scary recurring nightmare that had to do with a large man. That I think may have been more real than I want to remember.

5. a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie. I used to dream I’d make enough money to live on. Sheesh! There’s nothing to see here! Move on!

6. an aspiration; goal; aim:  This is us, as a group–We’re writers dreaming for something big, something exciting–to hold our published novels in our hands. Can we do it? Will you? Will I keep putting in the hours? Will Ann Dee? Kyra?

7. a wild or vain fancy. Our writing? Is our writing a vain fancy? Or are we really going after the dream and making it a reality?

8. something of an unreal beauty, charm, or excellence. Do you ever write that one great line and think, “Wow! Woweekazowie! That was inspired! No one has written a line like that. I may not have written that line. I think an angel helped me on that gem.”

Just remember, inspiration SHOULD help you form a good, strong thought.

Here’s a dream:

I have a not-so-secret crush on Ryan Reynolds. He is tall and my agent, Steve, has seen Ryan on the streets of New York.

A most beautiful dream, written, recorded and worth listening to often.

‘I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope.’ Martin Luther King, Jr. August 28, 1963

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html

(look for the blue word HERE to hear the speech)

“Every novel should have a dream in it.” Louise Plummer, not an exact quote, but from my memory.

Nightmare:

I used to always dream about one house in particular. It was huge. I could go anywhere in the house except behind specific doors because something evil was behind there. I don’t know what it was. But this was a recurring dream. And the house always had glass door knobs.

What do you think about your dreams? Are they attainable?

What about your nightmares?

So there!

I tried to put Johnny Depp on here, but he disappeared off the page.

I guess I won’t be marrying him after all.

(PS I will edit this after I get back from taking Cait to work. Please excuse any mistakes.)