I’m not a mystical sort of person, but sometimes there are experiences like this one which make a person wonder.
But you know what? I’ll take good advice, however it chooses to present itself!
Transcript for FraeLea Conversations #12:
R: Hi, and welcome to FraeLea Conversations. I’m RaeLea and this is Frank. So, Frank, you recently had a story-telling obstacle and you found the solution in an unusual place. Tell us a little bit about that.
F: Okay, well, dreams are usually something that are only interesting to the people who dreamt them. I think in this case, this was one that you kind of insisted that our readers would find interesting. And, maybe you’re right.
R: I did.
F: A little tiny bit of background. I’m a lucid dreamer. And lucid dreaming just means that you’re aware that you’re dreaming, while you’re dreaming. And in my case, kind of I can manipulate the dream a little bit and other times, I’m just aware of it. Almost kind of like an observer in the dream. I was working on Ascending Mage 3, Buried Truth, and I had written the first few chapters. I ended up going to bed and had this dream. In the dream, I was a movie director and I was directing the opening scene. Ember Wright, our protagonist, and Barnaby Harrison, her …
R: Her mentor.
F: Her ghostly mentor, he was in it as well. We went through the scene, they read their lines. And in the middle of it, Ember turned to me and she broke character. I know this sounds mystical, but this happened. She turned to me and she said, ‘You know what, Frank, this isn’t working.’ And I was kind of like, ‘Cut!’ Like, what are you talking about? Why isn’t this working? She said, ‘you know, this isn’t strong enough. It’s too weak of an opening that you’re going to lose your readers and they’re not going to want to see anymore on it. And, we need to do something stronger’. And, I said, ‘well, what should I do differently?’ And, she turned to me and said, ‘I don’t know. You’re the writer! Figure it out!’. I woke up, and it was, I don’t know, three in the morning, I woke up and I thought, ‘Wow! Ember’s right.’ So, I went to the office, fired up the computer and pounded out a several hundred-word outline to redo the opening for Ascending Mage 3. And Ember was right. It was a much stronger opening. I’m kind of excited to show our readers what Ember came up with. Or at her insistence.
R: A little needling.
F: I’m not a mystical person, but sometimes there are experiences like that that kind of makes a person wonder.
R: Yeah, yeah, that it does. So, I have to admit, I am a little jealous. I’ve never experienced a lucid dream, but I’m checking to see if anybody else has strange, lucid dreams. And, have you ever found your answer to a problem in your life due to a lucid dream? If you have, please leave a comment at the bottom at frhurt.com. Thank you.
F: Thanks for watching.