Clearing your mind...

So, the other night I had this dream and it was so freakin' insane that I couldn't shake it and I have no idea what inspired it but, well, as dreams play out I had it anyway so it's inspiration doesn't really matter. The only problem is I'm having trouble untangling it and actually putting it to words. Every time I do all that comes out is crap. It's like craptastically epic fail every time I write lately and I'm just looking for a way to break the block - if that's what this.

Are there any particular methods you guys out there use to get 'in the zone' or to help clear you head and help make you think straight? All ideas would be much appreciated as I'm like about to overload here.

Doodle something. Get yourself a pencil and paper, fuzz your eyes, and let your hand scribble away to transfer your dream imagery as sloppily as possible onto the page. Then explore deeper, and think of ways to piece it together.

Use the dream as a starting point, and let it build. Once you have some images you can refer to, describe them in words. Don't worry if they start out crappy--that's what revision is for. Just keep writing more and more about it until everything solidifies. It'll probably feel a bit like sculpting. You can use a computer, or a pencil and paper some more for writing, or some combination.

Produce as much material you can about it, no matter how bad it is. Then go to work on it. That's your clay--you can now mold it into something really cool.

Well more so my character's came out as actual people...some would say that I'm being unoriginal if I actually pointed them out but I don't know. It's hard to explain. There's this one particular part of the dream that I don't even know how I came up with it but just piecing the story together would be the part I'm having problems with. Like how we got to this point, or more particularly how this point became as insane as it did.

And I suck at drawing...it would just frustrate me even more. >_<

Yeah, dreams can do that. I've dreamed up techy devices sometimes that I have no idea how I could possibly know that. Or books with stuff in them that I have no idea where it could possibly have come from. Then when I try to look deeper, the dream shies away, like it knows it's just a smoke-screen. =P

Anyway, the point of doodling is so you don't forget anything from the dream. It doesn't have to be good--it's just a reminder.

Also, don't be afraid to make up stuff to add to the dream. Use the dream as a starting point, and fill in the rest. That's what a dream is in the first place--conglomerations of your experiences and impressions throughout life.

How much of the dream do you remember?
I guess, where the dream ends, let your imagination take over.

Quite a lot actually. When it comes to my dreams I have a haunting habit of remembering them quite well.

My dreams play out like movies, cause that's how I think. I have a very vivid imagination, so I see things kinda of like through a camera lens when I dream rather than actually taking part. This dream I can remember had a middle as well as an end which is quite strange in itself. Of course the ending wasn't all hashed out just the particularly key scene. It's hard to explain without writing it out...

Try outlines. Make fragmented sentences. Anything. Just do lots of it. Eventually, you'll be able to pull it all together by selecting which bits sound the best and elaborating on those.

There's a "just do it" factor to writing. You can't try to think about it too much. Just write and write and write, and don't worry one whit what it sounds like to start with. Just produce material to work with.

I listen to some super chill music, like from producers Kettel or Nujabes. Or I go play a video games or something of that nature, but everyone's mind is different.