Patricia Stoltey

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The Grizzly Dream

May 9, 2009 By: Patricia

I have a lot of bizarre dreams, sometimes nightmares. I’ve plucked a couple of story ideas from those subconscious, unconscious mind pictures, even created a character for a short story that has grown into the fourth draft of a novel.

The dream I had night before last has curious possibilities. I was walking on a path very much like one of the natural area trails that are common in Northern Colorado. Without warning, I came upon a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Mama grizzly charged at me. I told her I would leave, and I turned my back on her and walked away.

In my dream, I turned my back on her and calmly walked away.

I can’t imagine where this came from. There are no grizzly bears in my part of Colorado. The only real bear I ever saw in the wild was a small creature somewhere in the Appalachians sometime in the 70s. And if I did run into a mama grizzly with two cubs, and the mama charged at me, I would freak out.

But it gives me an idea. What if a story character has no fear? Not the reckless type who feels the fear and does it anyway, but someone who was skipped when normal fight or flight responses were passed out. What if she does not feel fear and does not understand the concept of fear, similar to a person who does not feel physical pain and cannot imagine what physical pain feels like? Would such a person recognize danger? What would this character do if charged by a grizzly bear?

I’ll have to think about this to see if I can turn it into a story.

Or you can.

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Comments

  1. K. A. Laity says

    May 11, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    I often make a practice of writing upon first awaking, otherwise dreams do fade. It’s when I’m really tired that I end up waking in a dream, because otherwise I’m already floating up to consciousness when the alarm goes off. It’s amazing what happens in our brains while we sleep!

  2. conarnold says

    May 10, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Interesting idea for a story. It’s great when a dream can develop into a story, if you can remember it! Jotting notes as soon as you wake up is a good idea before it fades away.

  3. julielomoe says

    May 10, 2009 at 11:00 am

    A wonderful blog – I especially like your generosity in encouraging other writers to take the idea and develop it.

    Dreams are a wonderful source of inspiration. And if you keep a journal and/or other writing sullplies close to your bed and start recording the dream the instant you wake up, more and more of it will come back to you.

    In Native American tradition, a bear is an extremely powerful symbol. What if instead of walking away, you visualize standing your ground and befriending the grizzly mama? And/or write a dialogue with her. (These ideas stem from my former life as a creative arts therapist.)

  4. Marvin D. Wilson says

    May 10, 2009 at 6:35 am

    That is a captivating idea for a character’s makeup. Go with it, if you can “get inside the head” of such a fearless state of mind, it’d make for a great and different sort of read.

  5. Jina Bacarr says

    May 10, 2009 at 12:07 am

    What if your character was from another planet where the inhabitants had no need for fear?

    Shipwrecked on earth, they learn that having fear can be a good thing…I’m reminded of the fairytale, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, where the children blindly followed him into the enchanted mountain and we know what happened then…

    Jina

    http://tinyurl.com/BerlinSexDiary

  6. N A Sharpe says

    May 9, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    I knew a group of kids like that. Autistic. Totally unaware of fear. I remember taking a group of four to the park one day. I turned away for just a moment checking on one of the kids who had gone to the swingset. When I looked back the one I had been talking to had disappeared. Icy cold fear clenched my heart. He had seen a puppy across the street and was crossing a very busy street totally oblivious to traffic. One of the single most frigntening moments of my life.

    Good luck developing your character and story.

    NA Sharpe
    http://nasharpe.blogspot.com

  7. Enid Wilson says

    May 9, 2009 at 11:21 pm

    You sure have some strange dreams. The weirdest one I had was trying to fold up a car and put it into my pocket so there was no need to find parking! Maybe one day such a car will be available.

    In Quest of Theta Magic

  8. Gayle Carline says

    May 9, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    Great idea for character development. It would be interesting to do some research into human behaviors to see how this kind of person lives their life, choosing a career, socializing, etc. See how you’ve set a writer’s mind in motion?

    Gayle
    http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com

  9. Karen Brees says

    May 9, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    Nice twist at the end. Dreams can become good sources for writing ideas. Got to capture them quickly before they vanish in the light of day.

  10. Karen Walker says

    May 9, 2009 at 9:16 am

    Hi Patricia,
    I’m so terrified of encountering wildlife in nature, I can’t even imagine a character with no fear. But how fun it might be to write one.
    Dreams can be rich for ideas. I love yours. I’d be more apt to explore what the dream means for you, but that’s the memoir writer in me.

    Karen
    http://www.karenfollowingthewhispers.blogspot.com

  11. Elizabeth Spann Craig says

    May 9, 2009 at 8:17 am

    Sounds like an interesting idea to explore! Or the story character could become a psychopath (the mystery writer in me…)

    Elizabeth
    http://www.mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/

  12. Galen Kindley says

    May 9, 2009 at 8:01 am

    Yeah, I think this is a great idea around which to build a character, if not the whole story. Better hurry, or, I’ll just have to steal it! (Just kidding of course.)
    Galen,
    http://www.GalenKindley.com

  13. alexisgrant says

    May 9, 2009 at 7:36 am

    A dream become a story! Excellent!

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. Read More…

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