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Once in a while I wake up with the feeling that I have dreamed a whole intricate fantasy novel during the night; and if I could only get it down on paper, I'd be the next J.K. Rowling...
So far, I have always failed miserably on the last bit.
A couple of mornings ago, still only half-awake, I did make an attempt to scribble down a few clues before my last impressions of the dream faded away. I scribbled in Swedish (except for the last sentence, which for some reason I wrote in English) - but it goes something like this:
Family travels by train. Children discover mysterious things aboard. Train car full of books gets emptied during the journey. "Staff" wear belts with jewels. Something about language and keys to that language. Evidence removed during the journey.
Feeling in a generous mood today, I decided to give away the idea for free - with the only condition that I get to read the full story before it goes to print!
The image shows a Jacquard machine at our Textile Museum. This is a device fitted to a loom to simplify the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns. Invented in 1804 by a man named Jacquard, the mechanism is controlled by a chain of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. It is also considered an important step in the history of computing hardware.
"We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning." ~ Henry Ward Beecher
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." ~ Sir Walter Scott
This machine makes such gorgeous patterns! Too bad it can't STAY that way for us to wear!! Your novel is a lot more than I could think of!
ReplyDeleteYour book idea is intriguing! Maybe you can start working on the characters and rough outline of the story here, and we'd be your first readers.
ReplyDeleteI did not know Jaquard patterns were named after a man, so I have learned something new today from your blog - thank you,
Meike, while I was asleep it seemed to make some kind of sense - but once I woke up, I'm afraid I could not make head or tail of it... I guess the best I can hope for is to pick it up again in another dream! ;) (Somehow it did not seem to involve "myself" at all, so in that way it really was more like reading than dreaming.)
DeleteI tried to figure out what the machine was and failed until I read your post. I never thought about using my weird dreams as a story line, now I might. if I do get ready for a lot weireder than this one
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that, Sandra ;)
DeleteI have enough problems remembering my own dreams (and nightmares) and when I do I have no chance of interpreting them. The idea of writing a story around one is quite beyond my capabilities.
ReplyDeleteGraham, I've never yet managed to dream a story that actually survived the test of daylight... What was different about this one (and a couple of other recent ones of similar kind) was that it did not seem to involve "myself" at all. I suspect it's just my brain trying to sort impressions from books I've been reading + my ongoing efforts to learn multiple languages...
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