Introduction by Brigid Ludwig
Did you know that Stephen King dreamed the entire plot of ‘Misery’ on a plane?
If you’ve ever been unable to put a great book down, you know how easy it is to get lost in a story. The interesting characters, the fascinating plot points, and enthralling description can keep you turning page after page. Authors work very hard to craft compelling stories that their readers will not only enjoy, but love. For many this takes years of hard work and planning. It may even mean hundreds of rejections, thousands of edits and loads of re-writing. For a lucky few, however, they don’t have to work so hard at all.
Authors of famous books like Frankenstein and Jane Eyre claim to have come up with the ideas for their novels in their dreams. And these aren’t the only cases, either. You’d be surprised how many famous books throughout history began as dreams. It makes sense. Dreams are often a reflection of what we most often think about, so it makes sense that authors who are trying to come up with fresh ideas and unique twists might have their best epiphanies in their dreams.
For a full list of books that began as dreams, or for some tips on how to leverage creative ideas for your own projects, check out this infographic below by Sleep Advisor:
Fictionophile 
Love this infographic, another great find! I must say, though, I think Robert Louis Stevenson’s “dream” of Jekyll and Hyde might’ve been… y’know… not a dream exactly, but an induced state. If I recall correctly, I read that he was using a lot of a certain white powder himself at the time of writing (not a great idea when he had a history of bleeding disorders, but that’s none of my business).
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LOL Sheree. You may be right…
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This is so interesting. Some of these dreams must have been nightmares though. LOL 🙂
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True Barb. Some are are certainly dreams I’d rather not have.
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Such an interesting post! The only one I knew about was Twilight, so I was surprised by books like Frankenstein and Jane Eyre. Makes a lot of sense about Metamorphosis though 😉
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So glad you enjoyed the post. ♥
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Didn’t know that Frankenstein was inspired by a dream but did read that it was written very quickly.
Did a little research after reading “The Stress of Her Regard,” a 1989 historical/fantasy novel by Tim Powers which includes Lord Byron, Mary & Percy Shelley – if you haven’t read this strongly recommend it.
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Thanks Joanne.
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Reblogged this on Leave Me Alone I Am Reading and Reviewing.
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What a cool post.
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Woww this is amazing
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How interesting! I knew about Frankenstein but didn’t know these other books were inspired by dreams.
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Thanks Nicole. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the post. 😁
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How awesome that they were able to remember their dreams, then write such a great book about it.
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True Carla. I only remember mine for a few seconds and then phoosh… they are gone.
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Nice! I will have to keep a note of my dreams, they could form a bestselling novel one day 😉
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You never know… ♥
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This is such a neat infographic. I didn’t know the inspiration behind most of these!
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Glad you enjoyed this post Christopher. (Sorry I’ve taken so long to reply – I found your comment in my spam folder) Of course I let Akismet know that it was NOT spam.
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No worries and thanks for marking it! Akismet has been having all sorts of problems lately, but I’m hoping they’re finally sorting it out for users who aren’t actually spam.
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