Lucid dreaming & writing

[SolarRay]

I am a chronic/super lucid dreamer. By that I mean: all dream activity that I can recall is to some degree lucid in nature. I didn't always have this condition, it started more or less abruptly back when I was in college (probably triggered by certain life events). It has its pros and cons. On the one hand, I don't even remember what it's like to have a nightmare anymore. On the other hand, it can sometimes feel less than restful to spend dream time being consciously aware of various matters, rather than having time to just let go and escape.

However, one interesting outcome is that I get a lot of work done overnight. It's not uncommon for me to mentally work through tasks required for work the following day, so that when I'm awake I can just mindlessly execute them. I also write overnight, a lot. I've written whole chunks of stories I've posted on this site while lucid dreaming, watching the plot play out in front of me like a hallucination, fast-forwarding or rewinding, swapping out characters or pausing to redesign them, deciding what I like or don't like, editing, and then resetting the scene, making mental notes for myself. When I have time to write the following day, the task becomes a lot more fluid because I've done a fair bit of the work in advance.

Granted, I know this condition is on the extreme end of the spectrum, but most people lucid dream from time to time. Does anyone have any experiences or thoughts about using it as a writing aid that they'd like to share?

 

[NotWise]

Granted, I know this condition is on the extreme end of the spectrum, but most people lucid dream from time to time. Does anyone have any experiences or thoughts about using it as a writing aid that they'd like to share?

That happens to me now and then, but not regularly. It does not make for a restful night. I sometimes have whole stories done by morning, except for that pesky writing down part, or construct new methods to approach old problems at work.

 

[SimonDoom]

Granted, I know this condition is on the extreme end of the spectrum, but most people lucid dream from time to time. Does anyone have any experiences or thoughts about using it as a writing aid that they'd like to share?

My episodes of lucid dreaming are less frequent, and not as lucid. Usually, they happen right before I wake up, or during a very brief bout of sleep.

I can't recall ever really getting anything done during dream time, but the fact of lucid dreaming has given me some ideas for erotic stories I'd like to develop. If you can think lucidly in a dream, then you can direct your actions in your dream world, and presumably do whatever you want without consequence, because you'll wake up and the dream world will never have existed. That has many implications for erotic stories and living out one's fantasies.

 

[SolarRay]

That happens to me now and then, but not regularly. It does not make for a restful night. I sometimes have whole stories done by morning, except for that pesky writing down part, or construct new methods to approach old problems at work.

That sounds about right. I wonder if this is the central reason for my ongoing sleep issues. Yeah, there's always the writing down part. The challenge of crafting what you planned out in your dream into something well-written still lies ahead, but at least you have some pretty complete ideas fully rendered out as a guide.

 

[SolarRay]

My episodes of lucid dreaming are less frequent, and not as lucid. Usually, they happen right before I wake up, or during a very brief bout of sleep.

I can't recall ever really getting anything done during dream time, but the fact of lucid dreaming has given me some ideas for erotic stories I'd like to develop. If you can think lucidly in a dream, then you can direct your actions in your dream world, and presumably do whatever you want without consequence, because you'll wake up and the dream world will never have existed. That has many implications for erotic stories and living out one's fantasies.

This sounds like a fun idea. Would like to see the result if it does end up becoming a story. I'm laughing at the idea of Nightmare on Elm Street, but sexy instead of scary. I say go for it.

The funny thing about the "cool factor" of lucid dreaming is that the lucidity and all the power that results never seems the least bit remarkable to me during the dream itself. It's only when I'm awake that it occurs to me that it's fascinating. While I'm actually sleeping, the fact that I'm conscious and steering the ship just occurs like an ordinary fact of life.

 

[SimonDoom]

This sounds like a fun idea. Would like to see the result if it does end up becoming a story. I'm laughing at the idea of Nightmare on Elm Street, but sexy instead of scary. I say go for it.

The funny thing about the "cool factor" of lucid dreaming is that the lucidity and all the power that results never seems the least bit remarkable to me during the dream itself. It's only when I'm awake that it occurs to me that it's fascinating. While I'm actually sleeping, the fact that I'm conscious and steering the ship just occurs like an ordinary fact of life.

I have had lucid dreams that are just lucid enough that I can think to myself "I can do what I want. I'm going to have sex with somebody." And then I go looking for somebody in the dream world to have sex with.

But it doesn't usually work out. One of two things usually happens. Either the lucidity fades away, and the dream takes over my ability to control what I do, or I get on the verge of doing something, and my excitement causes me to wake up. Lucid dreams usually are right on the edge of waking up, anyway.

I've thought about a sci fi concept with a machine that allows one to enter a lucid dream state.

There was a movie in the 80s with Dennis Quaid, Dreamscape, that explored this idea in a political thriller context. I think it would be interesting to explore it in an erotic way.

 

[ElectricBlue]

IGranted, I know this condition is on the extreme end of the spectrum, but most people lucid dream from time to time. Does anyone have any experiences or thoughts about using it as a writing aid that they'd like to share?

The problem is how to record the dream content. I kept a dream diary for several years in my teens/early twenties. It's a curiosity now, because as soon as I started trying to consciously recall the content, it vanished.

This early training possibly explains the stream of consciousness writing style I now have, where 98% of my content is there, first go.

 

[MistressCassy]

What a blessing and a curse at the same time...

You are definitely not alone. I have unfortunately never done anything constructive whilst lucid dreaming, I've mainly just floated around in a very strange realm. I have used some of my experiences to write about though, but I've thrown most of them out.

 

[SolarRay]

Sounds like experiences are pretty varied, but I can definitely relate to many of these. Especially electricblue66's stream of consciousness style that relies on having primed the ideas beforehand. MistressCassy -- I think if you work at it, you can probably increase the control you have and make it productive, if you wanted.
Also, this all ramped up for me during a period of my life when I happened to be on some powerful medication known to do a little brain rewiring, and I've long suspected that it might have been prompted by that. Who knows at this point...

 

[Privates1stClass]

I also write overnight, a lot. I've written whole chunks of stories I've posted on this site while lucid dreaming, watching the plot play out in front of me like a hallucination, fast-forwarding or rewinding, swapping out characters or pausing to redesign them, deciding what I like or don't like, editing, and then resetting the scene, making mental notes for myself. When I have time to write the following day, the task becomes a lot more fluid because I've done a fair bit of the work in advance.

Granted, I know this condition is on the extreme end of the spectrum, but most people lucid dream from time to time. Does anyone have any experiences or thoughts about using it as a writing aid that they'd like to share?

Funny you should mention it, I've had the same happen to me. Three stories I've posted on LIT resulted from dreams I had. All I had to do was some editing after I'd written them down.

Several times I've had serial dreams which lasted over a few nights. Some were work-related, others were erotic. There's no way to select which ones will appear.

Many years ago, I had a kidney stone and the pain was terrific. The doctor gave me some pain pills for it. The dreams I had while on those pills were memorable. One night my wife woke me up because I was laughing out loud at the hilarity occurring in my dream. The next day I sat down and wrote the entire story as it played out in my dream. I wish I knew what was in those pain pills.

 

[SolarRay]

Funny you should mention it, I've had the same happen to me. Three stories I've posted on LIT resulted from dreams I had. All I had to do was some editing after I'd written them down.

Several times I've had serial dreams which lasted over a few nights. Some were work-related, others were erotic. There's no way to select which ones will appear.

Many years ago, I had a kidney stone and the pain was terrific. The doctor gave me some pain pills for it. The dreams I had while on those pills were memorable. One night my wife woke me up because I was laughing out loud at the hilarity occurring in my dream. The next day I sat down and wrote the entire story as it played out in my dream. I wish I knew what was in those pain pills.

Wow, sorry about the kidney stone... Glad something good came out of it though. Yeah drug-fueled dreams take it to a whole new level. All we need now is for someone to contribute an ayahuasca-inspired erotica piece!

 

[rae121452]

i don't know if i qualify as a lucid dreamer. very often, when i'm either mulling over a plot or in the act of writing a story, the characters will take over my dreams. i then either dream plot developments i hadn't consciously thought of or i dream an ending to a story that i hadn't resolved. the last can be especially annoying. i had been doing a series of stories that i really enjoyed.....until i dreamt the end to the series. now, i'm so upset at how it all turns out that i have trouble even thinking about continuing it. i rarely dream new plots and characters, that usually happens when i'm in the hypnogogic half asleep state.

 

[Hypoxia]

Lucid dreaming never works for me. I focus my mind on something as I slumber. But when I wake up to pee a couple hours later, I know the dream was about something else, and then I forget it. Sucks to be me, dream-wise.

 

[SamScribble]

I have very lucid dreams. Most of them take place in London - but not quite the London that I know. Go east along Oxford Street, turn left just past Tottenham Court Road, and there's a golf course. How did that happen?

 

[49greg]

I never knew it had a name, but I guess I've had lucid dreams now and then all my life, at least as far back as I remember.

I have gotten some stories, or at least scenes for several stories from dreams, and some I have definitely 'adjusted' as the dream took place. The problem with me is that while I do wake up with great stories or parts of stories in mind, by the time I've gotten back from the bathroom I've often lost major parts of them.

I wonder if there's something in toothpaste that kills the memories of dreams? Or maybe a full bladder helps memories, and they 'flow' out of the brain as the bladder empties?