read write prompt #17: dream prompts for a long winter’s nap*

by Christine Swint

A lot of writers try to develop an authentic, original voice. We read the work of other poets for inspiration and guidance, but when it comes time to call forth our own words, we want them to come from our own inner spring.

Dreams can provide the writer with a never-ending source of original images, feelings, characters and conversations. Your nightly dream stories flow from you. What better way to find unique material? By remembering even one dream a week, countless personal and archetypal themes can be explored in the form of a poem.

If your life is hectic, and you barely have time to whip through Starbucks, let alone remember and record your dreams, don’t despair. Tarot cards can provide a source of dream-like inspiration through their symbolic, intricate drawings. The following writing prompts work equally well with your own dreams, or with a tarot card.

Writing prompts

• Recall a character from a dream. Sit quietly for a few minutes – go back into the dream space in your mind’s eye until you have a strong impression of the character. Ask your character questions, and free write the character’s responses, without censoring. Your poem can be the whole conversation, or part of it.
• Write a letter from your dream character to anyone you choose. Or you write a letter to the character.
• Have your dream character show you an imaginary world.
• Remember an object from a dream. What importance does it have to you? It might be a car, a train, a wallet, a key, whatever you remember. Write a poem describing the object. The poem might explore the relationship between the object and another person.
• What worlds do you dream about? Maybe your dreams inhabit the modern world of highways, malls, classrooms or a version of your own home. Are there secret places you’ve discovered, rooms you never knew about until your dream revealed them to you? Maybe you dream about underwater worlds or mountain lakes. Travel back to your dreamscape in your mind and free write about the place. Turn your free writing into a poem.
• Do you have super powers in your dreams? Maybe you can fly, jump very high or breathe under water. Write a poem about this super power and the significance the power implies.
• Do you ever dream about a celebrity? What does that person mean to you? Why do you dream about that particular person? The answers to these questions can form the foundation of your poem.
• Record the essence of a dream as an American Sentence. Group a week’s worth into one poem or list them individually.
• Turn a dream fragment into a haiku, also known as a dreamku. Patricia Kelly’s website, Roswila’s Dream Poetry, provides insight and inspiration about dreamku.

Collaboration ideas

• Agree with a friend at the beginning of the week to dream about the same place, object or event. Record your results, and write a poem. Then combine the two poems, alternating verses or stanzas.
• You and a friend, or even several people, choose the same tarot card and free write about it for ten minutes. Phrase your free writing into a poem. Don’t read what the others have written until you combine your results. You can write about how the tarot card relates to your present life, or simply describe what you see in the card.

* Or summer, if you happen to be in the southern hemisphere.