Writing Dream Sequences Into your Story #ChaBooCha

 

Image by Johnny Lindner from Pixabay

Some authors will tell you to never include a dream sequence in your story, but I don't think there are any rules to writing that can't be broken if broken in a way that benefits the story.

There are some things to keep in mind when adding a dream sequence to your story though.

Does the dream sequence benefit the story in some way? Is your character having this dream important to the story? Does it advance the story at all? If you removed the dream sequence, would it harm the story in any way? Does the dream sequence inform the reader of something that can't imparted in a better way?

Does a dream sequence fit into the overall theme of events within the story? Dream sequences can work really well in fantasy stories. Dreams can be given to a character through magic, or through an elder "wizard" figure. Dreams can be had by a character who can see glimpses of the future through them or see omens. Dreams can be had as prophecies. For non-supernatural stories, dreams can be had as a way for your character to work something out in their mind.

Dream sequences do not have to be rational or follow the normal laws of nature. Just as people in real life have different types of dreams, your characters can have different types of dreams too. Some dreams are very realistic, and other dreams do fantastical, magical things, some dreams make sense when remembered in the light of day, and other dreams are disjointed and jumbled, full of imagery from a mish-mash of storylines in one's head. In some dreams, you might follow a normal time-line and in other dreams you might jump from one place and time to another with no explanation of how and why.

Dream sequences do not have to be fully remembered by your character. Just as we sometimes wake up and don't remember what we were dreaming about, your character might have the same thing happen. If your character can only remember pieces of the dream, and the dream imparted some important information to them, this can set the stage for the reader to be hoping and waiting for your character to remember. thus the dream can either be a way of foreshadowing a future event in the story or as a way to create suspense because the reader knows what is coming and the character does not.

Dream sequences should not be in place to trick or cheat the reader. If your story goes along the lines of the dream without the reader knowing it is a dream until several events occur, and you leave them with the idea that "it was all just a dream," your reader is going to feel cheated. If your dream sequence misleads your reader into believing something that isn't true, your reader is going to feel betrayed by the story. Be careful how you use your dream sequence. Don't use it just for an easy out. If you want to change your story from a certain point but don't want to lose the word count, setting everything back to that point by claiming it was all dreamed from there is lazy and disingenuous and your readers will not thank you for it.

Note: This post was previously published on Blog Your Book in 30 Days.

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Giveaway

Today's giveaway prize is a mug for writers. If you are already signed-up for the challenge, the only thing you need to do in order to be entered into the drawing is to comment on this blog post. the winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced on March 31st, 2021. 

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Winners!

The winner of a copy of Inkwell: Simple Writing Practices to Restore Your Soul by Anne Elrod Whitney is Bonnie Kelso!

The winner of Alayne Kay Christian's a 30-minute Zoom call discussion on the first three chapters of a manuscript is Melissa Gijsbers!

Congratulations to Bonnie Kelso and Melissa Gijsbers! Please contact me as soon as possible.

Beta Readers: A Little Help from your Friends by Alayne Kay Christian #ChaBooCha

Image by Elien Smid from Pixabay 

BETA READERS: A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS 

by Alayne Kay Christian 

Whether you have critique partners or you don’t, a smart final step in writing your chapter book is to recruit beta readers. For those who may not know, a beta reader is a test reader who if all goes well, will give you opinions and advice from an average reader’s perspective. But it doesn’t quite work to give the reader your book and ask, “How was it?” “What are your thoughts?” “Any advice?” Unless, of course, that works for you. However, in my opinion, what does work is to give them questions to consider while reading and to answer ultimately.  

 

I did this with my recent chapter book Sienna, the Cowgirl Fairy: Cowboy Trouble, and it was extremely helpful. I asked six writers to read my book and answer a list of questions I gave them. I chose to ask writers because I wanted feedback both from potential readers’ perspectives and from writers’ perspective. I feel like I got a good mix of feedback. I’m guessing getting some feedback from children ages 8 to 10 (the target audience age) would have been wise. But I thought it might be tricky to have them fill out the questionnaire. However, if you have access to a number of kids in your book’s age range and you can ask them questions and take notes, that would be a great way to go. I’m going to keep this short, but offer you lots more reading via other articles below. Following is the list of beta questions that I gave my beta readers. This will give you a good starting point in developing your own questions when you are ready to have your book read by test readers. 

 

One tip about creating questions—make sure they are open ended so the reader provides you with specific and detailed comments instead of simply answering “yes” or “no.” 

 

SIENNA, THE COWGIRL FAIRY (book 2) COWBOY TROUBLE 

BETA READER QUESTIONS 

 

1. Did the story hold your interest from the very beginning? If not, why not? 

 

2. Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, why not? 

 

3. Could you relate to the main character? Did you feel her pain or excitement? 

 

4. Was there a point at which you felt the story started to lag or you became less than excited about finding out what was going to happen next? Where, exactly? 

 

5. Were there any parts that confused you? Or even frustrated or annoyed you? Which parts, and why? 

 

6. Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in time sequences, places, character details, or other details? 

 

7. Were the characters believable? Are there any characters you think could be made more interesting or more likeable? 

 

8. Did you get confused about who’s who in the characters? Were there too many characters to keep track of? Too few? Are any of the names or characters too similar? 

 

9. Did the dialogue keep your interest and sound natural to you? If not, whose dialogue did you think sounded artificial or not how that person would speak? 

 

10. Did you feel there was too much description or exposition? Not enough? Maybe too much dialogue in parts? Please explain. 

 

11. Was there enough conflict, tension, and intrigue to keep your interest? 

 

12. Was the ending satisfying? Believable? If not, why? 

 

13. Did you notice any obvious, repeating grammatical, spelling, punctuation or capitalization errors? Examples? 

 

14. Do you think the writing style suits the genre? If not, why not? 

 

15. What do you think the take away message(s) is/are? 

 

16. Do you notice a theme throughout the story? If so, what is the theme? 

 

17. Do you think a prologue is necessary to clue the reader in to Sienna’s world? 

 

18. Does this book stand alone and make sense without the first book in the series? 

 

19. If you read the Trying to Make it Rain, does this book work well as a second book in the series? 

 

20. If you read the Trying to Make it Rain, does this book feel consistent in voice and in Sienna’s personality? 

 

21.  Please feel free to make any other comments in areas that haven’t been addressed in this questionnaire. 

 

Now that I’ve shared what I did, I will share the following articles that give more tips and also studies how a variety of authors approach working with beta readers. 

 

Beta Readers: Who, When, Why, and So What? by Barbara Linn Probst 

https://www.janefriedman.com/beta-readers/ 

 

I kept my post fairly short because there is no point in reinventing the wheel. Here are links to other articles about beta readers that you might find helpful. 

 

How to Find and Work with Beta Readers to Improve Your Book by Kristen Kieffer 

https://www.janefriedman.com/find-beta-readers/ 

 

To Betta or Not to Beta by Joe Moore 

https://killzoneblog.com/2011/03/to-betta-or-not-to-beta.html 

 

Writing Feedback: The Ultimate Guide to Working with Beta Readers by Amanda Shofner and Alicia Rades 

https://thewritelife.com/ultimate-guide-to-beta-readers/ 

 

Introducing the Beta Reading Worksheet by Jami Gold 

https://jamigold.com/2014/08/introducing-the-beta-reading-worksheet/  

Worksheets are in word. 

 

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Alayne Kay Christian is an award-winning children’s book author and the creator and teacher of a picture book writing course Art of Arc. She was the co-founder of Blue Whale Press (now an imprint of Clear Fork Publishing) and the acquisitions editor and art director for four years. In addition, she shares her knowledge with writers through free and affordable webinars at Writing for Children Webinars. She has been a picture book and chapter book critique professional since 2014, and she worked as a 12 X 12 critique ninja for three years. She has spent the last thirteen years studying under some of the top names in the children’s literature industry. Her published works include the Sienna, the Cowgirl Fairy chapter book series, and picture books BUTTERFLY KISSES FOR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA, AN OLD MAN AND HIS PENGUIN: HOW DINDIM MADE JOÃO PEREIRA DE SOUZA AN HONORARY PENGUIN, and THE WEED THAT WOKE CHRISTMAS: THE MOSTLY TRUE TALE OF THE TOLEDO CHRISTMAS WEED. Her fourth picture book, FAITH BENEATH THE BRIDGE is planned for release in the fall of 2021. Born in the Rockies, raised in Chicago, and now a true-blue Texan, Alayne’s writing shares her creative spirit and the kinship to nature and humanity that reside within her heart. To learn more about Alayne and her books, course, webinars, and other services visit https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/

This link is to the book trailer for Cowboy Trouble.

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Giveaway

Alayne has kindly offered the prize of a 30-minute Zoom call discussion on the first three chapters of a manuscript for one lucky person. If you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, all you need to do to enter the giveaway for this prize is comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen by a lucky number generator and announced on March 21st, 2021.