It’s great to dream! In fact every success in life has to start with an idea. Dreaming is a waste of time, though, unless you are willing to work hard to make your dreams come true!

Image of a wave

However, to get on to the writing tip that you clicked here to read 🙂 . . . readers feel cheated if you begin your story with a dream sequence without telling them it’s not real. When your character wakes up and your readers are jolted into what is a new reality, they tend to find it at best disconcerting and at worst, annoying. Nobody likes being led up the garden path! For some reason amateur writers use this dream technique frequently at the beginning of novels (children’s and adult fiction alike), and it makes editors roll their eyes.

So find another way to begin your book – some honest truth and a bit of mystery will help readers step into your story and love being there. 🙂

Janet WilsonWhat do you think? Love to hear from you!

Janet

Should you begin with a dream?
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2 thoughts on “Should you begin with a dream?

  • 20th April 2015 at 10:50 am
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    So agree, Janet! And if not that, an accident which sends them into another world or the past/future! All tropes to be avoided …

    • 20th April 2015 at 10:59 am
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      Thank you! Yes, indeed. Nothing wrong with an accident catapulting protagonists into another world or the past/future (especially perhaps for children/young people?), but readers do like to know what’s going on!

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