Hello I'm thinking of beginning a story with a dream. Well, actually a nightmare. It is a first person narration, and the main character experiences a short nightmare about blood before waking up. Why do I want to do this? Well, its an experiment right now. I want to set the tone for the rest of the chapter, where everything is a bit unreal and shocking for the character. I want the beginning to be unconventional and interesting, but I fear that a nightmare might only set the reader off. It might be too dark, even. What do you think?
I see. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't try it anyway, but I'll keep in mind that its been done before. Thank you for your comment.
Sorry, this was my impression too. What really grabs me is characters starting off 'in-action,' i.e. doing something.
I wouldn't do it. I don't think dreams and fiction always make the best combination. And a character waking up from a dream is probably the worst way to start a story. Sorry. But I don't understand why you just didn't write it out and see what you think before posting anything about it. Most of the time I think it makes more sense to do some writing and then figure out what your real questions or concerns are. You don't need permission to write anything, and it sort of seems like you're asking for it. I imagine more people on here will tell you something similar about starting a story with a character waking up. It's also something you could have googled and found a lot on. But, honestly, none of it matters because we're talking about writing you haven't done.
Thank you for your comment. I actually have written it out. In fact, I've written it over and over. Reading it over again, I'm reconsidering. I've done a bit of research and it seems that most people find it to be cliche. Which is okay. Cliche is not a reason for not going with it. For me, its more of a warning. My issue with the beginning is that it might be too dark. It might even ward some readers away...not necessarily bore, but disgust. My aim in this thread is not to seek permission. I want to see other's views on it, and maybe find inspiration for a new beginning if I do change my mind. And there's a good chance I won't. Frequent nightmares are a problem for my character. Starting the story with one of her daily nightmares seemed natural to me. I was going to post what I've written, but I wanted to see what others thought of the main idea first. For now, I disagree.
Thank you, and no need to apologize. Action does grab my attention as well, though I've read others disapproving of it. My least favourite way of beginning stories are descriptions, especially lengthy list kinds.
Opening with a dream will certainly ward some readers away. The same sort of reaction will likely come from agents and publishers. I would give this one some more thought if I were you.
I write, read, and study adult horror, and so do a large number of us on this site (Clive Barker and H.P Lovecraft seem to be a favorite of discussion on this site.) There is not much you can write that is going to ward people away. If someone reads' horror' they know what type of material they might find before they even open the book.
I see. To be clear, here is a sample of the beginning. Blood. Black, dry blood. It’s always frightening to see blood, so sudden, so strange on his pure white clothes. His perfect, meticulous hands are dark with blood, and they work tirelessly on closing my wound. This wound on my still beating heart. Light. I awake suddenly, the red disappearing to reveal a drab world. The pale, spotted ceiling greets me. The eternal, piercing cold embraces me. For a few seconds I continue to stare, the world quiet and waiting. Perhaps I will start a chapter with this instead.
Who said I wasn't? Just joking. I know it'll take skill to pull it off. I'm still an experimental student, so I'm okay with reconsidering.
Ironically, I passed out in the college library in front of the computer screen and woke up, started typing out the story. Fast forward 6 years later, I'm still going at it.
Thanks so much, Mouthwash. I'm still iffy about it, so it may be safer to begin a chapter with this. Or not. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.
I'm actually working on setting up my opening scene in such a way that when my MC later thinks back to that day and her experience, she won't recall if she dreamed it or if it really happened.
Do you need to hide the fact that the dream is a dream? I would find it much more forgivable if it immediately confessed to it. For example: Joan told me that she always slept well after warm milk. She was right, in the sense that this time I couldn't even wake up from the nightmare. The blood was... (etc., etc.)
Here's my two cents for what it's worth. There is a lot advice out there, don't write a prologue, don't open with a dream, don't open with the weather, don't use flashbacks, I'm sure the list is longer than this. It's important advice. You can look at critiques here in this forum and elsewhere and say, OK I get it, I get what they're talking about. But it's advice, not a fixed in stone rule. Ask @jannert, she will defend her prologue to the ends of the Earth, and when that's the case, her prologue belongs in her story. I believe that. I don't have flashbacks in my story, I have two timelines, the past and the present woven together. Sorry, but that is what belongs in the story I've written. I know why it belongs, I don't care about the 'rules'. I do care about critique, I care that people have issues about opening with a dream or the weather or a prologue or with flashbacks. I fully take that into consideration. And I did as I learned how to write. And I'm still learning, I don't claim to have 'learned' as that suggests completion. I'll never be finished learning whether it be writing or anything else. But I did take it all in and I'm still taking it in. And I very confident that interweaving two timelines, my protagonist in the current story, and chapters in her earlier life, are what belong in this story. I care about what other writers have taught me. And I know my story is right, it's good. I don't care that all I have published are a couple short stories and some so called 'writers' look down on that. I don't care that some so called 'writers' think if you aren't published your work has no value, couldn't possibly be good. Take the advice to heart about not opening with a dream. Write the whole thing, you can always change the opening. Hell, I completely rewrote my opening more than a dozen times. Don't let that stop you from writing what you want to write. If, when you are finished, your beta readers or critiquers tell you the opening doesn't work for them, think about it, about what their objections are, then make your own decision. Just don't make that decision with blind confirmation bias. If you are sure the dream belongs there, leave it. In the meantime, don't worry about it, just keep writing.
Not immediately, but after waking up she remarks: "What a horrible nightmare". The italics also play a role.
I completely agree. Thank you so much for your advice. I'm sure others skimming through this thread will appreciate this comment and others. I agree that at the end of the day, you are the writer. I believe in both respecting rules and breaking them.