For years, I thought everyone could return to a dream and carry on where they had left off. It never occurred to me that this might be unusual until I started talking about it.
I have very vivid dreams. I remember them well, including dreams I had years ago. Some are individual experiences. Others have a continuing storyline that develops over several nights.
I can wake up, go about my day, fall asleep again and continue the same dream. Sometimes I leave a particular dream for days or even weeks, have other dreams in between, then return to the earlier story. The plot moves forward, much as it would in a book or a TV series.
Sometimes I decide that I want to return. Other times, it happens without any intention.
Picking up where I left off
Sometimes, while dreaming, I remember what happened in previous dreams. The people and events already have a history. At other times, I only recognise the connection after waking up.
I can also sometimes recognise that I am dreaming and influence what happens. That does not mean I direct every scene. There are nights when I have some control and others when I simply experience whatever unfolds.
I know the difference between my dreams and my waking life. But the dreams themselves can be detailed and absorbing enough that “a double life” feels like a reasonable description.
My waking life is considerably more boring.
Turning dreams into scripts
I write scripts for Netflix under contract through HarperCollins. Some of the pilots and episodes I’ve written are based entirely or partly on my dreams. Dreams have also provided material for my books.
I used to keep a dream diary. These days, I am more likely to turn the material into a script.
Of course, I develop it for storytelling. Something that works within a dream does not necessarily work for a reader or an audience. I change details, work on the structure and decide what belongs in the story.
Some things are also too personal to include. Remembering a dream clearly does not mean I want to share every part of it.
What eventually appears on the page can therefore be quite different from the original dream, while still retaining the idea or experience that made me want to write it.
Waking up with an answer
I also sometimes find solutions to waking-life problems in my dreams. A question I have been considering during the day can appear in a different form at night, and I wake up with an idea to try.
I have also had dreams that seemed to anticipate something that happened later.
My own possible explanation is fairly practical. I have an analytical mind and tend to notice small details and consider several possible outcomes. Perhaps some of that continues in my dreams.
I cannot say how much comes from those observations, coincidence or connections I recognise afterwards. I find the experience interesting without needing to claim that I can see the future.
An idea that arrives in a dream still needs to make sense when I am awake.
What I assumed was ordinary
For a long time, none of this seemed worth mentioning. It was simply how I experienced sleep.
When I began discussing it, I realised that other people did not necessarily remember their dreams in detail, return to earlier storylines or recall dreams from years before.
That difference surprised me more than the dreams themselves.
I enjoy having this part of my life. Some of it stays private. Some becomes writing. Much of it is simply something I remember experiencing while asleep.
And yes, I sleep a lot, often for long stretches.
Do you ever return to the same dream and find that the story has moved on?
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