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How to write a dream scene in your story

Throughout history, the subject of dreams has caused fascination and mystery. Their meaning has generated drastic changes and decision-making in ancient kings and even deities, which has increased its importance in the actual world.


Even in psychology, the subject of dreams is interpreted as the way in which our unconscious dares to manifest itself in different ways.


According to scientific research, human beings dream between three or four times every night, although sometimes we do not remember it. Dreams rarely follow laws of reason or logic, for skeptics they make no sense, however, for the credulous it is possible that, when trying to interpret them, some of them may evoke fears, routine anecdotes, hidden desires or mysteries that are blend in with reality.


Dreams are important in everyday life, How many times have you not heard yourself telling someone about your dream last night? How many times have you not heard someone's wild dream? How many times has a chilling nightmare made you wake up and have you been looking for some meaning?


If real people dream, why don't we let the protagonists of our story do it too? If they do so in the plot, there are fundamental aspects to consider in order to include dream scenes within the story, the correct way, it is characterized in that any aspect to be included helps to advance the story.


The problem can arise when, during the storytelling process, we force the reader to see it as something real, and a dream generally is not. However, if the dream of our protagonist exists for a reason, you will be able to make it. To achieve this, you must take into account several notable factors:


  • The dream must be realistic and must follow the principles of a dream. A dream can be ambiguous and fanciful, but be careful not to go over the edge.


  • Think very well about what will happen in the dream, how important it is for the story and for the character; ask yourself if it helps you move forward.


  • Remember that every dream has a duration and don't forget "the after": What happens when the character wakes up?


  • Plan the continuity, how will the character react upon waking up?


  • Also think about how to distinguish the scene of the dream from the real story, this will help the reader a lot so that he can understand it and not get lost or feel disappointed.


Article written by: Lia Obregón.

15 февраля 2021 г. 0:00 3 Отчет Добавить 31
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Writing formats

You have decided to write a novel, haven't you? You have already thought about the plot, you may have planned the pace of the plot, or you may have already decided how the story will unfold. We could say that you are ready or ready to start the writing process, but suddenly a terrible doubt arises and it turns out that it has been one of the most crucial for your creative process. What is the right writing format that I should use?


What is a writing format?

Although it is not a very unified expression, we call this the different formats that can be included in a work. Keep in mind that we are not talking about first, second or third person narration, since these are narrative formats and times. To be exact, we will refer in this post to the two styles that have become popular in recent years at the time of writing online. These are the script format and the traditional narrative format.


Script format

The Script format, or theater script, is a format that has been widely popularized for the supposed simplicity it represents at the time of writing. However, it is not mentioned that it is that "easy" because it limits a large percentage of the narrative in a text. Let's take the following scene as an example.


Gabriel: (arriving at the park) Today is a good day (takes Lisa by the hand)

Lisa: (removes her hand) It's very hot, I don't like it.


Can you notice the problems in the above text? As you may have noticed, the narration is sparse. How is the landscape? Did you also get confused with the action of holding the girl's hand? Although the script format is presented to us as an easy format to use, and there are those who even recommend it for beginners, it should not be used.


The reason why it is so little descriptive is because this format is intended for theatrical and cinematographic representations, serving as a free guide for the actors when interpreting them. The actors need to remember only what is vital in the scene in order to bring it to life, learning only the dialogues and using the actions as an interpretive resource, since they quickly indicate the way they should act, where to look, how to feel. It is very useful for them, but for the reader it is limiting.


Narrative or traditional format

It is the way of structuring dialogues that we are all used to when picking up a book. It is known for describing the scenarios in detail, as well as narrating the actions and feelings of the characters in a more descriptive way and therefore easy to imagine. Do you remember the previous example? Why don't we write it in the narrative format?


Gabriel and Lisa went out to the park. The sun was at its zenith, and the birds flew from tree to tree. The wind was blowing slightly, making it somewhat refreshing.


"It's a nice day today," Gabriel mentioned as he stealthily directed his hand towards her companion who, feeling the slightest touch from her, pulled it away in a somewhat awkward way.

"It's very hot, I don't like it," Lisa replied, having removed his hand from her as she wiped away the sweat.


Just look at how many lines it took us to write the previous text, compared to the one we did in script format. Can you tell the differences? To begin with, in the last example we have given a very detailed description of the environment in which our characters find themselves. We have also delved further into the physical actions of the two protagonists, while showing the feelings they face with an attempt to hold hands.


As we have seen with these simple examples, we noticed that the script format really hinders our narrative instead of making it easier to read, the only thing it achieves is to confuse or even hinder the imaginative capacity when reading. Unless your intention is to make a theater script to be performed, it is not recommended to use this format as it can be even annoying for your audience.


I hope this blog post will help you when writing your story, as I emphasize the importance of the layout of the chapter to be published, so that it is friendly to the eye and does not generate later confusion, since it is the the way you present yourself to your readers, and details like this can make your future audience stay or go, no matter how much potential your story has.


As a last tip, speaking of structure and narrative, I also remind you to avoid using emoticons or kaomojis to avoid narrative. It's unprofessional and very informal, and it's also a reason for readers to skim over your story. Personally, it is one of the reasons why sometimes I pass by many stories that caught me in synopses, because the same thing happens with the script format, they eat up the narrative and take away the depth of the story . It is not the same "she blushed slightly as she lowered her gaze" to simply writing a "uwu".


See you in the next post, until next time.

7 февраля 2021 г. 13:24 1 Отчет Добавить 17
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Epic narrative

Epic narrative is undoubtedly one of the best known literary genres. Easily recognized for narrating the "legendary" and generally fictitious events of its protagonists, these being generally (self-proclaimed) heroes or gods. We have various examples ranging from the classic myths of different cultures to the recreation of the deformed subconscious of its narrator or interpreter. To cover this genre more broadly, it is necessary to return to the different genres into which it is divided.


The Epics

Let's start with the oldest of all, the epic. This genre dates back to ancient times, at which time the exploits and journeys made by the gods of these lands were narrated. They were used in such a way that he could award the wonders of their environment to said protagonists full of power and mystery.

Examples of this we have several: The Homeric poems, the Gilgamesh poem, or The Book of Kings.


The Song of Gesta

Fast forward to the Middle Ages, we have the Song of Gesta. This genre takes up the ideas of the classic Epic but guiding the protagonist of the story to human characters associated with the world previously created by those all powerful gods. The protagonists of these stories were generally described under the name of "HEROES", an adjective that in turn differs greatly from the idea of ​​a heroic character that we have today.

For examples we have: Song of the Nibelungs, The Saxons the Beowulf, and of course, stories around the more than well-known King Arthur.


Romance

Leaving aside the mythological fantasies, the Romance genre transports us to a magical and wonderful universe. It is a more innocent narrative than the rest since its charm is not oriented to action, but rather to a much quieter and simpler environment.

Examples: Roman de la Rose, Roman de Troie.


Epic poem

The epic poem is a recreation of the Epic subgenre but adapted to the modern writing style. Originally, this archetype was narrated orally under the musical accompaniment of a third party, but with the passing of time it began to adapt to the written environment. Several examples could be: El Paraíso Perdido (John Milton), Canto General (Pablo Neruda).


Legend

The legend is a popular narrative (natural or supernatural), usually using cultural elements of the person who writes it. Unlike the others, this gender model can be found in a multitude of media beyond writing, and as such, it has a huge number of examples such as: El arbol de sal (Argentina), La Llorona (Mexico) or The devil's cross (Spain).


Myth

On the other hand, and unlike the Legend, the myth is a short narrative that explains the characters narrated in other stories (Here is their connection with the previous subgenres). The myth offers us a very large number of examples, such as: Pandora (Greek Mythology), the elves (Nordic) and the divine beasts (China).

8 октября 2020 г. 0:27 0 Отчет Добавить 10
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How to describe scenes and not bore the reader while trying

The description of characters and settings turns out to be one of the hottest points in literature and one of the most common problems for writers.


How far should I describe scenes to correctly help the reader imagine the surroundings?


There are stories that due to their extension it is illogical that they carry too much description, such as: short stories or micro stories. However, the rest of the stories do not have difficulties to generate a good description of their characters, their settings, emotions, sensations and others.


The important thing is to know how to describe and when to do it without going to extremes, in which either it is not described at all or it is described too much and in a single instant. Today many authors adopt this form of description:


... Hello my name is Nathan, I am dark, tall of 1.80 meters, brown hair and blue eyes, neither very muscular nor very thin ...


Although the previous example does not have an error per se, for the reader that kind of mechanical description is quite shocking, take the time to develop the characteristics of your character at different times or in a more natural way


Fifteen years ago I was born and my parents had the idea to call me Nathan, no idea why that name, perhaps because my blue eyes reminded them of my grandfather, who had the same color of orbs and that name of wealthy man. However, only the eyes are similar, because where he was pale as snow, I am dark ...


The same happens with the scenarios, it is not the same to describe.

The sky is blue, the car that takes me to school is black, and the neighboring trees are green.


To describe:

When I left the house, the first thing I noticed was the totally cloudless sky, which made its blue look more vibrant than other days, while making the black car that was waiting for me to travel to school shine, the trees of the neighboring gardens absorbing in their green leaves the energy necessary for their splendor.


Now, we must also talk about the other side of the coin. At what point does the description become so extensive that I chase readers away from too much character or setting development?


Let's put the previous example of the blue sky and make a more extensive description:


When I left the house, closing the door behind me and going down the seven steps, the first thing I noticed in the sky was the totally cloudless sky, there were no cirrostratus, nor high-strata, much less cumulonimbus clouds that obstructed my view, which generated that his blue looked more vibrant than other days, at the same time that the car was shining, my father's black 2019 Porshe Gt Gembala, who had been waiting for me for fifteen minutes on the sidewalk of the house to travel to school, that boring place the one he hated to go to. Trees of all types and sizes, from neighboring gardens of which he did not know the names, were absorbing in their green leaves the energy necessary to generate their photosynthesis process.


Observe how the description made mainly in four lines, becomes a paragraph of nine lines that may hold the attention of some brave, but that in the majority of readers will create a fatigue for the extensive reading of an action as simple as leaving from home and take a car to school.


In conclusion, the description is a very important element in the story and the good handling of it can trap the reader, transport him to the exact place and make him feel the same way the protagonist feels in a specific scene. Everything will depend on the way the writer does his descriptive work.


Finding a middle point between lack and excess is preponderant, read aloud what you write and imagine the scene according to the words you have already put down on paper, so that you are the first to judge if you lack a little more detail or if on the contrary you are detailing too much.


The character and scenario cards will help you to have your ideas of how each element looks and it will be easier to then go to the description within the story, Manage your limits and find your ideal point of description, it will develop you as a writer and your readers will appreciate it.


Written by Janeth Velázquez. (@jancev)

15 июля 2020 г. 0:24 1 Отчет Добавить 14
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