Hello! This is another episode of how to use writing devices and today we're going to be talking about the dream or vision that full-boats Okay, okay, if you've ever read any fantasy book We all know this one The main character has a dream or a vision that either starts them on their journey Set up a puzzle for them to solve or four shadows Some mysterious destiny that awaits them Yeah, I don't hate this one that much. I mean, it's really really common and it's quite useful as a writer I've used it as well So it's not so much that I hate it. It's more that it's become cliched as a device in fantasy writing This devices become sort of a way for writers to do some indirect Exposition it indirect Exposition Sorry about that it's become a way for a lot of young writers myself included to do indirect Exposition and that's not really what the device is supposed to be about. It's not supposed to be about you Info dumping through a vision or a dream just so that you give yourself parentheses within your story to do these kinds of things so this device is used by Game of Thrones In the series bra in the video in the in the Taylor series brand has a vision that forbodes a whole bunch of stuff um and it's used in the wheel of time several times there All three of the characters and I of the needle brand and matte and parrot and Pippin or whatever his name is they all have the same dream that all about For boating a whole bunch of bad shit. That's about to happen um Another example of this happening is in the Stormlight archives where the vision is a means to solve where Dalana has a whole bunch of visions and there a means to help solve the puzzle and to help the plot unfold And it's pretty much used by any epic fantasy book that you've read since the 70s all the way up until now haha Someone that did it well Sanderson in the Stormlight archives he built the visions and dreams of Dalana Into the plot in an a really immersive and integrative fashion He didn't use it as a As a layer on top in order to help him do his writing instead. It was a way for him to Insight puzzle and foreshadow all at once But not but in a way that was much more intelligent much more integrated into the plot Dalana's visions and dreams More dreams Dalana's dreams become a means for him to interact with himself and with others as opposed to just a pantheer for Him to for Sanderson to try and move the plot along in some semblance of pace and timing this writing device Let's not let's not cross here This writing device represents convenient writing It makes the writers life a lot easier to be able to implement this kind of device It not only allows us as writers to break from traditional pose as well as to jump out of the plot Essentially or out of the narrative But it also provides us a chance to Step up the pace and prevent new and important information without having to worry too much about whether it makes all that much sense Right away because it gives us more time to make sense and to expound on that new information But as convenient as it is If you're not careful it can come across as a really really shoddy and really amateur writing I've definitely used the foreboding dream or vision in my own writing. It's a staple in epic fantasy And the following are how I've learned to use them appropriately properly and a way that doesn't seem like I'm trying to rehash all of the old but powerful epic fantasy writers Instead These learnings might help you think of how to do how to use this device in a more interesting and modern way number one Do not use the foreboding dream or vision as a cure all for a bad writing If you need to have a vision or if you're inserting a foreboding dream into your writing Really question the value that you're inciting incident or that your puzzle moment or that you're foreshadowing has Does it actually need this vision? Can you Transform you can you get the pace started? Can you get the plot started without this vision and if the answer is no Then it might be a good opportunity for you to actually question the value that you're inciting moment Has for the reader one thing. I've seen a lot from the foreboding dream or vision is that it will happen The author will talk about it a couple of times and then it will completely disappear If you're going to incorporate a foreboding dream or vision into your writing make sure to integrate it into the plot Clevverly and in a way that makes the plot move forward in a smart fashion and for fuck sakes Remember the setups that you create in your dream Because that's what makes it interesting if you're going to be using a dream. It's your opportunity to create Interesting moments that your plot moves along to and that sets up payoffs that are going to come and if you forget about those Those setups that you create it's going to create really really blaring plot holes or story holes That your reader is going to pick up on quite easily use your foreboding dream or vision to really dig deep into the character or into the plot Don't make it try to stop it from being the surface kind of level device and make your character interact with it In a way that reveals who they are and what their core motivations are or Make it make the dream really really interact with the plot So make it reveal key things without being too obvious and make it set up things that are quickly paid off If you're going to use the foreboding dream or vision as an inciting incident to then make it deeper By having your character interact with it in a very very meaningful way So this inciting incident is literally a change in your character's life that's sitting them on a journey That's going to be difficult and it's going to be Hectic and it's going to involve a lot of violence or sadness or anxiety so Don't keep your make sure to not keep your vision at a surface level But keep in keep your character interacting with that vision in a way that reveals their character Or their motivations or the plot that they're on if you're going to use your foreboding dream and vision as a puzzle Or as a riddle Then make damn sure that it pays off and even better make sure that it pays off at least in part really really quickly If you don't make it pay off then as I said earlier It's going to come across as really really shoddy writing and that kind of non-pay off really kicks your readers out of immersion So make it pay off as soon as possible If you're going to use your foreboding dream or vision as a foreshadowing event of what's to come so Sitting up really really early feelings and Red intricacies that are going to happen that are going to be expanded on later Then also use it as an as an opportunity to Create an integrative plot. So is this your chance to lay the groundwork for a An Easter egg that all of a sudden reveals itself later or a Character reveal that make that gives more depth in meaning to your writing Don't just make your dream be surface layer Make it mean something. It's a device that's been overused again and again and again and the way you make it original is by integrating it into your plot In a way that makes people go that makes your readers go Ah, I read about this in chapter two That's so fucking clever and also that did this really well was JK Rowling I mean people can say what they will about her But one thing that she was really good at doing was using visions to foreshadow and then ensuring that that foreshadowing Was integrative and had pay off in the long run as well as she used them to Come back to earlier chapters that had interesting Easter eggs that made you feel like you were a part of the mystery You were a part of the world Thank you so much for watching this episode of how to use writing devices This one was on the foreboding during the foreboding dream or vision If you have any inputs or if you think that your opinions are like if you have opinions that are different from mine Please comment in the in the comments below hit the like button subscribe and follow me on instagram I Update on when I post new videos every week. 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