just write down everything you can remember. If the dream wakes you up, record it then (you might forget by morning).

The next day, sit down in a quiet place and look over what you’ve written. Dreams are metaphors, so the solution to your writing problem may appear as some kind of symbol. For ex

It has long been known that many great writers were inspired by their dreams (for example, Mary Shelley for “Frankenstein” and Robert Louis Stevenson for “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”). But now research suggests you can also use dreams to solve specific writing problems.

A study reported in the Journal of Sleep Research got 470 people to write down their dreams and rate them in terms of their intensity, emotions, and impact. The participants were asked to also recall various events that took place up to a week before. Then independent judges were asked to evaluate the dreams to see whether they contained possible solutions for problems arising from those events.

Their conclusion: dreams do offer insights and solutions in the week after the problem comes up. The solutions can appear in dreams as quickly as the night after the problem first arises, but also six to seven days later.

You can make it even more likely that this will happen if you focus on the problem just before you go to sleep. Don’t do it in the form of worrying, but rather as a question to which you expect an answer. Then go to sleep, and the next morning jot down any dreams you remember. Don’t analyze while writing, just write down everything you can remember. If the dream wakes you up, record it then (you might forget by morning).

The next day, sit down in a quiet place and look over what you’ve written. Dreams are metaphors, so the solution to your writing problem may appear as some kind of symbol. For exa

al of Sleep Research got 470 people to write down their dreams and rate them in terms of their intensity, emotions, and impact. The participants were asked to also recall various events that took place up to a week before. Then independent judges were asked to evaluate the dreams to see whether they contained possible solutions for problems arising from those events.

Their conclusion: dreams do offer insights and solutions in the week after the problem comes up. The solutions can appear in dreams as quickly as the night after the problem first arises, but also six to seven days later.

You can make it even more likely that this will happen if you focus on the problem just before you go to sleep. Don’t do it in the form of worrying, but rather as a question to which you expect an answer. Then go to sleep, and the next morning jot down any dreams you remember. Don’t analyze while writing, just write down everything you can remember. If the dream wakes you up, record it then (you might forget by morning).

The next day, sit down in a quiet place and look over what you’ve written. Dreams are metaphors, so the solution to your writing problem may appear as some kind of symbol. For ex

ntained possible solutions for problems arising from those events.

Their conclusion: dreams do offer insights and solutions in the week after the problem comes up. The solutions can appear in dreams as quickly as the night after the problem first arises, but also six to seven days later.

You can make it even more likely that this will happen if you focus on the problem just before you go to sleep. Don’t do it in the form of worrying, but rather as a question to which you expect an answer. Then go to sleep, and the next morning jot down any dreams you remember. Don’t analyze while writing, just write down everything you can remember. If the dream wakes you up, record it then (you might forget by morning).

The next day, sit down in a quiet place and look over what you’ve written. Dreams are metaphors, so the solution to your writing problem may appear as some kind of symbol. For ex

can make it even more likely that this will happen if you focus on the problem just before you go to sleep. Don’t do it in the form of worrying, but rather as a question to which you expect an answer. Then go to sleep, and the next morning jot down any dreams you remember. Don’t analyze while writing, just write down everything you can remember. If the dream wakes you up, record it then (you might forget by morning).

The next day, sit down in a quiet place and look over what you’ve written. Dreams are metaphors, so the solution to your writing problem may appear as some kind of symbol. For ex

just write down everything you can remember. If the dream wakes you up, record it then (you might forget by morning).

The next day, sit down in a quiet place and look over what you’ve written. Dreams are metaphors, so the solution to your writing problem may appear as some kind of symbol. For example, let’s say you feel your protagonist is too boring or one-dimensional. You dream about someone burglarizing your house. From this, you might get the idea that your protagonist has the secret that he once committed a crime. How might this affect his actions in your story? Would it be better if he got away with it, or if he was convicted but is keeping his criminal record a secret? If you let your thoughts flow, with the dream as your prompt, you may come up with several solutions to choose from.

ACTION: Keep a notebook by your bedside and jot down your dreams every morning (practice makes it easier to remember your dreams). Once a day, sit down with these jottings and see whether your subconscious mind is using your dreams to offer help for any writing problems you're encountering.