Ashen asked Shelley Sackier:

Not a question. Just to say, I love your blog posts. They're like a breath of fresh air ♥ Oh dear, now I'm not allowed to post this message unless I include a question mark. So then ... how do dreams influence your writing?

Shelley Sackier Firstly, thank you, Ashen--your comment is getting reprinted in 48pt font and going up-- poster-sized--onto the fridge. I shall keep it there until my family covers it all in grocery list needs (but only behind my back because I shall fiercely defend it!).
Secondly, it is rocking horse manure rare for any of my dreams to influence my writing. My therapist says I should leave all that dream interpretation up to her, as my guesses are always some version of, "So, this means I'm not getting enough iron, right?"
That said, I do enter a "dream state" that is HIGHLY influential to my writing, and that happens only when I am walking (forest bathing, Cankama, Kinhin, Zen mindful walking meditation, etc.). It's here that all the bits come unstuck, all the characters take shape, and all threads are sewn together. It happens all the time, and it's likely the happiest moments of my day.
It's also where I have most of my real life conversations (because, of course, many writers are hermits and have no true friends). If pastured cows, or nesting birds had the ability to gossip, no doubt I would be the source of a great deal of facepalming and head shaking between them all.
A thousand thank yous for reading my drivel!

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