“To sleep, perchance to dream…” (Writer’s Prompt)

Pick one of the following situations, preferably either something that immediately sparks an idea or something that seems outrageous or unusual for that character, and, with as little thought as possible, put your character in that situation and just start writing the scene:

• Your character hasn’t slept in three days.
• Your character refuses to fall asleep.
• Someone won’t allow your character to sleep.
• Your character is terrified that falling asleep will cause him to lose something vital.
• Your character has had the same dream every night for the last week.
• Your character spends every waking moment wanting to fall asleep so he can get back to his last dream.
• Your character doesn’t remember ever having had a single dream, until last night.
• Your character is certain last night’s dream portends something drastic and important, but he can’t remember the details of it.

Dreams come up over and over again in literature, and with good reason. We spend much of our lives asleep and dreaming. Dreams can reveal or illuminate our innermost thoughts and feelings, or fuel our creativity. People have connected them to omens and portents for thousands of years.