Do you have fun daydreaming AND writing at the same time?

[writerspeak]

Hi,

 

I've been a daydreamer for as long as I can remember. For years I've been told I could use it creatively, such as in , but never bothered because I didn't know how to use daydreaming in my writing- at least in a way where I enjoyed the daydream. I love writing, and aspire to script or even novel writing one day. My first question is for those out there that use this both blessing and curse called Daydreaming creatively. Is it as enjoyable to do it while/for writing than it is to just simply sit and daydream? what advice would you give someone wanting to use daydreaming with writing? Do you have fun while writing using daydreaming? what are the differences in daydreaming while writing and just daydreaming?

 

Thanks

 

FYI- I posted this in one of the groups, but its not as active as this forum so I figured I'd get quicker responses via the form.

[taffle]

I enjoy writing about my daydreams. Usually my daydreams consist of separate skits or events in my head. My daydreams are easy to write about since I have them pictured in my head already, but the hard part is incorporating all my daydreams into a coherent storyline. Most of the time I find myself struggling to fill in plot holes and coming up with reasons to explain why this or that happened.

Daydreaming is easy requires little or no effort, but writing about your daydreams is definitely harder, especially if you want to write a good story.

[Timothy Parry]

I've been daydreaming extensively since I was about 12, I only realised they were becoming a problem when I was around 16 years old and have since been plagued by my distractions. Often, I struggle to get even mundane tasks like washing up done in the day, this can also affect how much writing I get done in one day because I'll be more content to sit there daydreaming than actually writing. However, as a writer, I turn this problem to my advantage by creating elaborate and detailed stories inside of my own mind and putting them to paper. Once I've fixed on a story I can get passionate about, I start thinking out every character, event, relationship et cetera whilst I daydream. This develops into an entire fantasy world, as I'm sure most of us (I'm new here) do, that is so in-depth that it is novel worthy.

To answer your questions, I would say that it is neither more enjoyable to write whilst daydreaming or just sit and dream because either way I am submersed in my world. The trick is finding a way to slow down your train of thought and getting details down. If you wish to use your powerful imagination for writing a novel or a script, I recommend keeping a book specifically for your daydreaming world. Write down your characters, ideas, events and so on. I personally find that my daydreaming is rather haphazard, rather than imagine a structured set of events, my mind will choose to create something different depending on whatever triggers my daydreaming. I find music is often useful for developing a tone in my head, but I have to be careful how long I spend in there rather than writing something down. I write these down and then see what I can string together into a story. Then I select a theme and overarching story to weave into my daydreams.

Maladaptive daydreaming is almost like my co-writer, throwing out a million ideas for me to pick from.

I would say that I have fun whilst writing and editing my work because my characters have come to life on the page, rather than in my own head. You feel the satisfaction of translating a fantastical character/world into something anyone can experience. 

However, the biggest key to writing with MD is taking it one small step at a time. I keep a book with everything written down so that I have a flagstone to return to (I have three well-developed fantasy worlds inside of my head that I like to switch between depending on what mood I'm in, but it can be a struggle sometimes). I do my best to get 1000 words a day done, however I don't care if I don't get any down. If you can just write something down anywhere for your novel, whether it was an idea or research or practice et cetera, you should feel good about it.

I often find that my attention waxes and wanes depending on how badly I'm doing in the day. On a good day, my daydreaming will actually empower my writing and I can get 6000 words done easily. On a bad day, I might not get anything down and do very little in the day, however my daydreaming will have developed the story further inside of my own mind.

So, in conclusion I'd say that my curse is also my best friend. It helps me write, but it also limits me throughout the day. But, we who have this disorder have the most powerful imaginations on the planet. So, I recommend using whatever you like to daydream about and take small steps to record them. Wrap yourself in them and use them as a writing tool. If you don't enjoy your daydream, you won't enjoy your writing.

Hope this has been of some help, as I say I'm new here. If I've gone off-track at any point, again I apologise but I have slipped into daydreaming repeatedly throughout writing this. Sometimes, silence keeps the daydreaming at bay, no external stimulus can be for the best.

Good luck

[Rashomon Effect]

That is great, Creative Writer. What writing contest have you won?

Creative Writer said:

Yes. Hence my user name, Creative Writer. I've won writing contests and everything. It can be used to your advantage if you channel it correctly.

 

[writerspeak]

That's interesting. How do you channel it?
 
Creative Writer said:

Yes. Hence my user name, Creative Writer. I've won writing contests and everything. It can be used to your advantage if you channel it correctly.

 

[writerspeak]

Thank you Timothy. Those were really good tips. I'm wondering if anyone daydreams and writes simultaneously?
Timothy Parry said:

I've been daydreaming extensively since I was about 12, I only realised they were becoming a problem when I was around 16 years old and have since been plagued by my distractions. Often, I struggle to get even mundane tasks like washing up done in the day, this can also affect how much writing I get done in one day because I'll be more content to sit there daydreaming than actually writing. However, as a writer, I turn this problem to my advantage by creating elaborate and detailed stories inside of my own mind and putting them to paper. Once I've fixed on a story I can get passionate about, I start thinking out every character, event, relationship et cetera whilst I daydream. This develops into an entire fantasy world, as I'm sure most of us (I'm new here) do, that is so in-depth that it is novel worthy.

To answer your questions, I would say that it is neither more enjoyable to write whilst daydreaming or just sit and dream because either way I am submersed in my world. The trick is finding a way to slow down your train of thought and getting details down. If you wish to use your powerful imagination for writing a novel or a script, I recommend keeping a book specifically for your daydreaming world. Write down your characters, ideas, events and so on. I personally find that my daydreaming is rather haphazard, rather than imagine a structured set of events, my mind will choose to create something different depending on whatever triggers my daydreaming. I is often useful for developing a tone in my head, but I have to be careful how long I spend in there rather than writing something down. I write these down and then see what I can string together into a story. Then I select a theme and overarching story to weave into my daydreams.

Maladaptive daydreaming is almost like my co-writer, throwing out a million ideas for me to pick from.

I would say that I have fun whilst writing and editing my work because my characters have come to life on the page, rather than in my own head. You feel the satisfaction of translating a fantastical character/world into something anyone can experience. 

However, the biggest key to writing with MD is taking it one small step at a time. I keep a book with everything written down so that I have a flagstone to return to (I have three well-developed fantasy worlds inside of my head that I like to switch between depending on what mood I'm in, but it can be a struggle sometimes). I do my best to get 1000 words a day done, however I don't care if I don't get any down. If you can just write something down anywhere for your novel, whether it was an idea or research or practice et cetera, you should feel good about it.

I often find that my attention waxes and wanes depending on how badly I'm doing in the day. On a good day, my daydreaming will actually empower my writing and I can get 6000 words done easily. On a bad day, I might not get anything down and do very little in the day, however my daydreaming will have developed the story further inside of my own mind.

So, in conclusion I'd say that my curse is also my best friend. It helps me write, but it also limits me throughout the day. But, we who have this disorder have the most powerful imaginations on the planet. So, I recommend using whatever you like to daydream about and take small steps to record them. Wrap yourself in them and use them as a writing tool. If you don't enjoy your daydream, you won't enjoy your writing.

Hope this has been of some help, as I say I'm new here. If I've gone off-track at any point, again I apologise but I have slipped into daydreaming repeatedly throughout writing this. Sometimes, silence keeps the daydreaming at bay, no external stimulus can be for the best.

Good luck

[Timothy Parry]

I do sometimes but I rarely notice it, and I find there are usually a lot of mistakes in my writing because I've just tried to get everything major down whilst my mind moves on. Editing is a big thing with my writing style.

Sorry for the ridiculously long reply by the way. I tend to get carried away with things like that because my mind takes over :)

writerspeak said:

Thank you Timothy. Those were really good tips. I'm wondering if anyone daydreams and writes simultaneously?

[Wish Upon A Wish]

Kind of? Like, for me, when I'll want to get a repeated scene out of my head, I'll write it down, but (especially when I start) I'll sort of sit there and suddenly realise I'm just staring towards the paper, pen poised. But when I'm writing, I mostly just scribble it down, barely able to write fast enough and get a page done in mere minutes, and I like when that happens.

I haven't written for ages, though.

[Johnna Hotchkiss]

Hm, I don't usually write, but sometimes I make song lyrics for what happened, or about a character I came up with for my daydream. If you like to draw as well like me you could draw characters or scenes from one of your daydreams, I find that to be enjoyable and productive. 

[April Dawn Hale]

I write as a hobby and something that began happening just as soon as I got into writing, was that I would DD about specific scenes of the story, often with particular details being slightly different.

 

I also often fall asleep by DDing about characters falling asleep or being nearly unconscious or something.

[Rose]

All my art and writing is based on my world. I write songs and make posters and CD covers for my imaginary band. Some of the songs I use in my real life band, others I keep for my pretend one. I guess it's a way for me to write songs if I get my pretend band to play them for me in my head first. Everyone sees my art and writing, if anyone saw my band posters and CD covers I'd be mortified.

[Ana Suau]

For me DD and writing fiction are two completely different monsters.

 

Right now I'm not on speaking terms with my writing hobby (that after years of temptation finally materialized around two or three years ago sporadically, so I'm not a pro), but during our time together I found out it was another beast altogether.

 

It was actually DD and the usual comment among us that it's great for writing that finally pushed me to try it, but for me it became almost a technical thing (because I'm a bit of an order freak for some things, writing being one): planning, structure, detailed outline, character development, plot, grammar, etc. Even if the writing sucked (which it did), I became obsessed that at least on the technical side an hypothetical reader (I'd never let anyone actually read anything I write) couldn't complain, that at least formally it would be decent (I bought almost 200$ on books about writing and spent around two years of slowly learning the craft in theory, with the books and on forums).

 

Sure DD helped inspire some scene or moments, and "play" in my head the scenes I had planned, to get familiar with them before writing a first draft of them, but it was really a minor tool for me, even though the main story began as what was supposed to be a punctual DD, and just because I dreamed of it and when I woke up I was still lingering on it (this "method" is actually great for me to spice things up a little bit with plots I wouldn't have thought of or dared to in). So DD was related to the story I was writing, but it was more like a job, a hard exhausting job for me, nothing like DD.

 

But of course, it's different for everyone I think.