Using sleep to fuel your creativity.
It seems like a cliché but the truth is that ideas come to many of us through our dreams. The world of sleep is a vast unknown – filled with possibilities and impossibilities. Writers, musicians, filmmakers and all sorts of artists have harnessed inspiration through the power of their subconscious mind, and you can use it to influence your horror writing.
‘In nightmares we can think the worst. That’s what they’re for, I guess. King
It came to me in a dream.
Do you remember your dreams? Sometimes an image can persist upon waking, or perhaps you stir in that slight haze of sleep where you can witness your dreams playing out in real-time.
Try keeping a journal and pen on your bedside table. If you wake in the night, jot down any ideas that have come to you before you go back to sleep. It will be very difficult to return to these ideas come morning, so ideally you should write out as much as possible in its raw state.
Alternatively, try noting down any dreams you have experienced when you wake up in the morning. Are there any themes, places or people that play a role in your dreams? Are there any recurring images or settings? Track your dreams for several days and review them to notice any similarities or differences.
Dreams can be a wonderful starting point for speculative fiction, giving an unsettling feeling that something is not quite right. Layer in different elements for a haunting, surreal effect.
Nightmare fuel.
What keeps you up at night? Emotions are intensified and our other senses become heightened, anticipating dangers that lurk within the darkness. When the witching hour is upon is magic seems real, and we awaken the fear of monsters under our bed, in the closet, watching us as we sleep…
Nightmares wake us from our safe place of rest and show us how fragile and vulnerable we really are. What fears come to hunt you through your bad dreams? Have you experienced any recurring nightmares?
Pick out the parts of your nightmares that mirror commonly experienced phobias, as this will seamlessly translate into any horror writing. You can also use distinct and specific details to embellish your horror scenes and add to your own unique style of writing.
Mental health.
Mental health and horror have deep-rooted connections. Anxiety, dissociation, paranoia, a feeling of otherness are all embedded within horror storytelling. Writing can be a place for you to explore your own identity and share your lived experience. If you struggle with mental health, use this as an outlet to fight your demons.
Sleep itself offers so many ways into the world of horror. Falling to sleep begins with a feeling of slipping away and losing control, and carries with it the underlying fear that you could never wake up again. What if sleep was no longer a place of peace and rest? Conditions such as night terrors, sleep paralysis and sleepwalking create a feeling of empathy in readers.
On other side of the coin is insomnia. Sleep deprivation is in itself a form of torture, and can have extreme implications for both physical and mental health. The disturbing effects of insomnia can be added to deepen the horror of your scenes.
Rest and self care for writers.
Healthy habits and routines will support your creativity.
Follow your natural energy levels – if you are not getting enough rest then you can easily end up heading towards burnout. Make sure you are allowing yourself time to nourish your mind, body and spirit with things that will replenish your well of creative ideas. Spend time in nature, meditate, move your body, spend time with friends and family.
Consider your sleep cycle and body clock so that you can follow your natural energy levels. Are you an early bird? Give yourself a relaxing night routine and wake up refreshed so you can start your writing in the calm of morning. Are you a night owl? Have yourself a balanced day of activities and stay energised with regular movement so you can write into the small hours of the night uninterrupted.
Sleep on it! Take a nap if you need one. Problems can often seem smaller after a good night’s sleep.
Final thoughts.
Sleep is a wonderful thing and you can harness it to improve both your overall wellbeing and your creative energy.
Let your mind do the work for you. Pick out ideas from your dream diary and reclaim your nightmares by passing them on to your readers!
Dreams and nightmares do not need to make sense, try using them to play with experimental writing styles.
You do not need to sacrifice sleep to be a good writer. Prioritise rest, good sleep hygiene, and healthy habits to support your creativity.
Writing prompts:
Write a story about a nightmare creature.
Create a character who has a sleep-related condition e.g. somnambulism, insomnia.
Write a scene with a dream sequence. How do your readers know if this is real or a dream?
Recommended reading.
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Iðunn is in yet another doctor’s office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause.
When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same — have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps.
Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .
What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?
Nod by Adrian Barnes
Dawn breaks and no one in the world has slept the night before. Or almost no one. A few people, perhaps one in ten thousand, can still sleep, and they’ve all shared the same mysterious dream. A handful of silent children can still sleep as well, but what they’re dreaming remains a mystery. Global panic ensues. A medical fact: after six days of absolute sleep deprivation, psychosis sets in. After four weeks, the body dies. In the interim, a bizarre new world arises and swallows the old one whole. A world called Nod.
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze.
If they are awakened, and the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place.
The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease.
Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied, or is she a demon who must be slain?
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