Writers Dreaming

Synopsis

On a spring morning in the early seventies, William Styron woke to the resonant, lingering image of a woman he had known before. She was, he recalls, "entering the hallway of this humble boarding house in Flatbush with a book under her arm, looking very beautiful in the middle of summer with a sort of summer dress on and her arm bared and the tattoo visible. . . . I was seized by this absolute sense of necessity - I had to write the book." Styron immediately went to his studio and, abandoning the novel he had been struggling to complete, wrote the opening paragraphs of Sophie's Choice. A remarkable number of talented artists find ideas and inspiration in the intermingling of dreams with their working life. The deep connection between the subconscious and the imagination has allowed these writers to solve problems, rewrite scenes and discover hidden truths in their writing. "Part of the beauty of dreams," explains Allan Gurganus, "is that they're eternally mysterious. And that's part of their meaning and power for us. They seem to have a kind of wisdom that we don't have in our waking lives." In this fascinating book, dream researcher and radio-show host Naomi Epel has compiled hours of interviews with twenty-six well-known writers to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the imagination. In their own words, they discuss the dreams that have had a powerful effect on their work and their lives, revealing in the process their philosophies, habitual rituals and ways of solving creative problems. Writers Dreaming is a unique anthology of wisdom from some of the most important writers in contemporary literature, allowing us to understand how they summon forth their ideas and fashion them into art. Its frank and revealing narrative provides a rare insight into the wellsprings of creativity.