This is generally not recommended but needed...

[ForsakenMage_13]

I know editors and readers generally hate when the opening scene of a book is a dream. But, in my story the dreams the main character has affect his real life and some even come true in later parts of the series. Do you guys think I should just open with the dream or would you recommend i find a better way and then lead into the dream?

[The Mysterious Gunslinger]

Didn't Inception start with a dream?

The point is - if it's part of the plot, then keep it. If it's important to the plot, then keep it. It's necessary, so keep it. I'd write the entire novel with what you have, then edit and see if you could start somewhere else, really.

If you have a beginning, don't be picky - just roll with it. You can edit later. If there is another way you can approach the beginning, then, change it, but for now, unless the story is complete and you can't think of anything, I suggest finishing it.

And really, keeping it, if it's important.

[Starry Starry Fright]

Leave it in there. Write your story, the way you intended it. If you're starting off on the very first page by warping your entire storyline to avoid a single trope, the quality and consistency of your work will ultimately suffer.

Besides, there's a reason that tropes like "the dream" get over-used; they tend to effectively elicit a response. It's much better to include a well-written cliche than a cobbled-together Frankenstory that's "original".

If, by the second draft, you decide that it's a weak way to open the book, you will at least have an entire developed story to guide you in assembling a new beginning scene.

Best of luck!

[WishingTreeCreation]

Generally, I don't like dream openings. Not just because they are overused, but because they often have no relevance to the plot. I disagree that a character's dreams affect his real life or can come true in later parts of the story. Most people have very random and strange dreams that make very little sense at all. Sure, sometimes they might, but not very often. It just seems a little too-good-to-be-true to have the character dream something significantly important on the very day that the story starts and his life changes forever (or whatever the case may be.)

I also don't like dreams because you are (in most cases) introducing the main character in a setting we will probably never see again and possibly in a very unrealistic way. It tells us little about the character's real life and the real world he lives in (which is the one that is important to the plot and therefore the one we should be concerning ourselves with). And I don't think it's fair to have an amazing, exciting, attention-grabbing opening...then have the character wake up to a very mundane, normal life, which is something I see way too often.

Of course, there are exceptions. I know a writer who is writing a brilliant story about nightmares right now, and it was very appropriate for her to open the story with a dream. Why? Because she is writing about dreams and much of the story takes place in the dream world. And as The Mysterious Gunslinger pointed out, the movie Inception opens with a dream scene. Again, this worked because the plot revolves around dreams.

My advice: if you can think of a better way to start the story (and I'm sure you can), do it.

[Cogent Dream]

If it's part of your story, there's nothing wrong with it. The whole dream hating started because of those stories that turned out to be a dream in the end and thus NOTHING that happened in the story mattered - even to the characters. That's like me telling you that you studied really hard for a year for a subject that doesn't have an exam.

[ForsakenMage_13]

All right, thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

@WishingTreeCreation
The dream that the story starts with does come true, in the story the character is sort of like a prophet type person. I don't want to say main character because it switches POV and although he is the main plot's focus the story also revolves quite heavily around some of the other characters and a lot of it is told from their POV.

[WishingTreeCreation]

ForsakenMage_13

All right, thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

@WishingTreeCreation
The dream that the story starts with does come true, in the story the character is sort of like a prophet type person. I don't want to say main character because it switches POV and although he is the main plot's focus the story also revolves quite heavily around some of the other characters and a lot of it is told from their POV.

I still think you need to have a legitimate reason for the dream coming true, because, lets face it, most normal people's dreams don't come true. He's a prophet, so this works. I assume these types of dreams that come true are prophecies and that receiving them is normal for his character.

[Marshmlow1]

If it it important to the story, then go ahead..Plus, you thought of a beginning..Which can be VERY hard (would take me a good week or more to think of one, same with alot of people lol , so if you have that as a beginning idea, write it down, and if you somehow think of a different way to begin, then write that down..Beginnings can be tough to think of, so when you have one, it's a nugget of gold in a pile of rocks.

Plus, you could allways just start the book with talking about what his life is like..In my opinion, with beginning,a nd you start off with soemthing liek that, it's allways better if it's first person..And then you can write hte rest of the book how you want it, especially if you transition into a dream

[Grand JD]

I would work the character background before I just jump into his dream.
Personally, if I started reading a book where it just starts going into something where I have no clue what's going and can't make any connections I would get bored. There have been few books to actually capture my attention.

[Ginny Potter I]

Open with the dream. Generally you will find that there will be people who will be 'haters' and criticize you without understanding the full story. Writing, at it's core, is not about grammar, punctuation - or if you're into poetry -, rhyme or meter. All that stuff comes later, if it comes at all. At it's core writing is raw, emotional, unstructured, unstable, and a free expression of beauty. Don't be afraid to think outside the box, but also don't be afraid to stay in the box and just redecorate. Start with the dream and then make it real in your character's life, like you planned. Your story, from your brief description of it, strikes me as something that is familiar even to the point of being comfortable but then turns into something that is frighteningly real. That's where it's brilliance lies. I encourage you and wish you the best of luck.

[Marble Eyed]

I'm not so sure readers hate dream openings. At least, I don't. I do hate it when it all ends with, "Then she/he realized that they were safe at home in their bed, and it was all just a nonsensical dream from the start." If fact, I've never read anything that tried that and actually thought it was good. Only seems to be really doable in movies (MirrorMask, Wizard of Oz). But that's when you end the story by having the character "wake up".

I say go for it. As long as the writing is engaging, I don't think it'll be much of a problem. And somehow (though I've never dealt with them) I don't think an editor would be shy about letting you know which bits they'd liked alter/deleted. However, if it has significance later on in the plot, then I think it's a perfectly valid device.

[Mishteh]

I believe one of the main problems with dream chapters is that most of the times it feels like you've been cheated of a chapter. If you have a crazy dream about flying and super powers, and the character wakes up to his normal beat, normal life, normal EVERYTHING, if feels like you've got a taste at a different story completely. This can sometimes make the reader set the story down. You don't want the reader to set it down. I've bought a handful of novels that cheated me out of what it portrayed and gave me something completely different so I set them down.

Conversely, there is nothing wrong with starting a story with a dream if the story is about dreams. You just have to get across in the writing and narration that dreams are what you're doing.

[Prince Trase]

As some have said: if it is imperative to the story, then by all means keep it. No sense taking out the real essence of your story.

[Navean]

WishingTreeCreation

ForsakenMage_13

All right, thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

@WishingTreeCreation
The dream that the story starts with does come true, in the story the character is sort of like a prophet type person. I don't want to say main character because it switches POV and although he is the main plot's focus the story also revolves quite heavily around some of the other characters and a lot of it is told from their POV.

I still think you need to have a legitimate reason for the dream coming true, because, lets face it, most normal people's dreams don't come true. He's a prophet, so this works. I assume these types of dreams that come true are prophecies and that receiving them is normal for his character.

In real life, no. In storyland? Depends on the genre. Just sayin'. The fact that the dream comes true lends to its own legitimacy, don't you think? It seems like a genre element to me, so it seems a little silly to try to force a reason on something that may simply just exist in the world it takes place in. Not that you're wrong, necessarily - there are definitely way too many cases of random s**t happening that are just tacked on for the hell of it that are just terrible cat_gonk

[WishingTreeCreation]

Navean

WishingTreeCreation

ForsakenMage_13

All right, thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

@WishingTreeCreation
The dream that the story starts with does come true, in the story the character is sort of like a prophet type person. I don't want to say main character because it switches POV and although he is the main plot's focus the story also revolves quite heavily around some of the other characters and a lot of it is told from their POV.

I still think you need to have a legitimate reason for the dream coming true, because, lets face it, most normal people's dreams don't come true. He's a prophet, so this works. I assume these types of dreams that come true are prophecies and that receiving them is normal for his character.

In real life, no. In storyland? Depends on the genre. Just sayin'. The fact that the dream comes true lends to its own legitimacy, don't you think? It seems like a genre element to me, so it seems a little silly to try to force a reason on something that may simply just exist in the world it takes place in. Not that you're wrong, necessarily - there are definitely way too many cases of random s**t happening that are just tacked on for the hell of it that are just terrible
cat_gonk

Yes, I know the genre is important and I'm not at all trying to force anything. That's why I said, since he's a prophet and dream revelations or dreams that do actually come true are probably normal to his character, it's fine in this case. I was simply wary of the idea at first, without knowing more about it, because I see dream beginnings written poorly way too much.