: Re: Can dream reveals make good climaxes for a POV’s internal struggle? Dream twists just spoil our senses of disbelief. I can see how that can be excetuted carelessly, but if done for the need

@Sarah872

Vote Up Vote Down

I'm a big fan of dreams, in real life and fiction alike, and I think they they can definitely be deployed well... or poorly. The key is playing fair with the reader. If the point is just to fool the readers, and toy with their emotions, then they'll rightly feel betrayed. However, you seem well aware of that danger.

I think this dream could be very effective as a way of increasing the pressure on your protagonist. Does the fact that it is a dream need to be concealed? You could present it as a dream from the beginning, either in the narrative, or through the device of him remembering it or recounting it after awakening. Or he could have a sudden flashback to it later in the day.

If you are determined to conceal it being a dream, I think you can still make that work, given that it's meant to highlight and/or dramatize what for the protagonist is a very real danger, and not just to make the readers' hearts thump. William Goldman deploys a fake-out dream effectively in The Princess Bride for similar reasons. However, it's worth noting that he lampshades his use of the technique, that he's a very good writer, and that he still doesn't quite entirely manage to erase the sense that he's played a trick on you.

(0)

Login to post a comment!