tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8411041.post112073148275048504..comments2023-04-10T06:45:35.474-07:00Comments on Pooka's Tales: DreamsKHurleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10037210619121206845noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8411041.post-1121378651419649872005-07-14T15:04:00.000-07:002005-07-14T15:04:00.000-07:00Narrative fiction is a virtual reality, and a drea...Narrative fiction is a virtual reality, and a dream is a virtual reality of its own. Using a dream sequences in fiction is one virtual reality within another. It's very hard to write that without seeming diffuse and arbitrary -- a problem the trope shares with cyberpunk VR sequences.<BR/><BR/>-tnhAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8411041.post-1121248608521597492005-07-13T02:56:00.000-07:002005-07-13T02:56:00.000-07:00Yep, I agree completely. Y'know, Robert Jordan us...Yep, I agree completely. Y'know, Robert Jordan used a whole dream world in the Wheel of Time series. That was kind of cool, because instead of the dreams acting as a crutch for the plot, they were more of a communication device as well as an alternate plane to which the dreamers could go. It was interesting and I hadn't seen dreams used quite that way before.KHurleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10037210619121206845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8411041.post-1120869657953738872005-07-08T17:40:00.000-07:002005-07-08T17:40:00.000-07:00Just like POV shifts, passive tense, adverb speech...Just like POV shifts, passive tense, adverb speech tags, backstory, prologues and flashbacks (and all the other "bad" things) dream sequences have their purpose. If they're done well, they're fine. If they're done badly or used as a crutch, they're horrid.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I don't think dream sequences should be used to drag the plot forward. They can, however, be effective for showing character insights and giving an alternate/skewed viewpoint of a situation or happening. Good ones work, bad ones... well, they don't.<BR/><BR/>If it's not the easy way out - like, oh, I'm giving the MC a dream sequence so that they know to journey to the South Hills - then it can work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com