Hi all New here, so apologies for quite a specific first question! If you are writing about dreams that the reader doesn't realise aren't reality until later in the story, would you use descriptions of smells for scene setting purposes? Or is it a bit of a stretch to suggest the protagonist is capable of rendering smells in his dream environments? Thanks!
When I'm reading it's like my mind is only concerned with whether smelling something was a good or bad experience emotionally, and it gives me the emotional part without filling in the detail of the scent. I think it's ok to describe it in a more realistic way though. I wouldn't feel cheated as a reader.
Hi, I'm not sure whether or not dreamers can dream that they're smelling things in their dreams, but in actuality your sense of smell shuts down when you're asleep. So you can't actually smell anything in your dreams. Cheers, Greg.
To respectfully disagree, I once had a dream I was with my granda in his old Citroen CV and we were sitting having a chat when I suddenly said, "Granda, can you smell bacon?" He said he couldn't, there was no bacon in his car. I then searched around the dashboard for this bacon I could smell as clear as day. I woke up to discover that my mum had been frying bacon for breakfast.
I haven't ever smelled anything in a dream, so this question is incredibly interesting. Then again, my dreams are also really kind of messed up. I do know if I focus on finding a clock, I'll wake myself up because they usually don't have any hands on the clock face. I'm kind of interested in doing research on this. Might look some stuff up and come back.
Dreams are like movies but in true full 'Sense-Surround"—you can dream of all the senses, though it's fairly rare to dream of smell and taste. I know from experience in lucid dreaming that they can all be dreamed about. In fact if you want to make your dreams more vivid the recommended way is to activate all the senses by eating things, sniffing them, and running your hands over the surroundings. Whereas a movie consists only of visuals and sound, dreams contain all senses plus memories (real and false), thoughts and feelings. And yes, a powerful smell can definitely make its way into a dream, such as frying bacon or flowers outside an open window, just as if it's cold in your bedroom you may well dream of walking across a tundra. Some body signals do penetrate beyond the veil of sleep, such as the way you'll dream of peeing if you need to wake up and get the the bathroom before experiencing an 'incident'. As I understand it yes, the signals from the senses are 'switched off' while dreaming, but there's also a failsafe system so that in the event of an emergency (like someone breaking into your room or a fire in the house) you can wake yourself up. So it seems if a smell or a temperature becomes extreme it can get through the filter system and work its way into your dream. This often is followed by waking, since the mind considers it a warning sign that some emergency might be happening. This explains why once when my dog jumped on my bed in the night i woke suddenly dreaming that a werewolf was attacking me. But some smells or sounds are more 'borderline'—they make it through the filtering system and show up in the dream, without fully waking you. If sensory information truly couldn't get through while you're dreaming your alarm wouldn't wake you up and nobody could wake you by kicking you etc. The mind does take it in but keeps most of it out of the dreams.
Were you to write a dream sequence wherein you describe smell, I wouldn't even pause to question. Doesn't matter if your actual sensory input equipment is up and running while you sleep. Dreams happen directly in the brain without need of input from peripheral equipment. We "see" images in our dreams. Our eyes are closed. We talk to people and they talk to us. Doesn't matter if our actual ears are sending signals. Just ask my terrible tinnitus, which is sourced directly from my coclea without benefit of any detectable vibration.
^ Exactly, When you stop and consider, everything taken in by all sensory organs is converted to electrical impulses that run along the nerves to the brain, which then assembles them and creates your inner realtime map of reality, complete with what we call smells, tastes, sounds, visuals, and tactile sensations. So the brain is fully capable of creating all of them, from nothing in a dream, or in response to external stimuli in waking life.
Makes me wonder about the entertainment media potential of dreams in the future. Who wants movies when you can experience all the senses via brain implant?
I've never smelled in my dreams. If something smelled in one, I'd assume that something about the dream was wrong -- like I'm (as the MC of a story) being forced into some mental prison by an outside force. That said, if I were to put a smell into a dream, it would be the smell of an emotion -- like a wispy cloud that brings energy and joy. I dunno.
Most of my dreams are sight, sound, and touch, but I do have dreams with all senses. I've tested it too. I've eaten one food after the other and they taste right. Not that I dream about eating all the time. For me, touch is really common. I always assumed everyone had this, but I guess they don't. I had this awful dream the other night where my kid was killed by a bat (he just disappeared, which was somehow worse than dying) and so I caught the bat and killed it in my hands as revenge. The bat kind of collapsed into brittle bones and then that's what I was holding. They weren't a bat at all anymore. I had my hands cupped around them and could feel them rearranging themselves into something new. It was an awful feeling, just feeling them scratching at my palms. I couldn't kill the damn thing and I knew it was going to turn into something worse. I'm sure there's some metaphor there. (Please don't analyze.)
Hi, Don't know but it's one of the reasons that fire is so dangerous when you're asleep. Cheers, Greg.
I hadn't noticed (or paid attention to) touch in my dreams then last night I dreamed I dropped something on my foot and I felt it in the dream. Nothing really hit my foot.
