From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction

This is a how-to book about creativity. Talk about disparity! Contained in it is concrete information for those who are serious about their art, be it writing, music or other forms. What this book is not, however, is advice for the timid or dilettante. Author suggests becoming a morning person in order to take full advantage of the space indicated in the book's title, "From Where You Dream." Another strongly held belief is the idea that one must write nearly daily in order to remain connected to the creative space and be able to draw on it more easily. If one can manage these, do delve deeply. I sincerely believe this is a valuable book and am happy to have it.

Anyone interested in tapping into their subconscious for writing or painting should study this book. Robert Olen Butler is a brilliant professor and this book is based on his lectures to grad students. He's also a Pulitzer prize author who breaks down a difficult concept into easy to grasp information. I highly recommend this book.

Dream, yearn, write. Learn how to put yourself in the creative state of mind. Fiction is cinema... That's what I'm doing via this book and Bob Butler's online presentations, a bootcamp for creative writing. Going from nonfiction to fiction has not been the same since I picked up this book two months ago. Breaking intellectual tendencies and derive from emotions is key, easier read than done. This is THE book I will recommend to aspiring novelists.

"His self-declared obsessions have to do with the descent into the dreamspace of the unconscious in order to discover the yearning that is at the center of every person and therefore of every character, and with the moment to moment sensual experiencing of that character's story. He proposed fiction as the exploration of the human condition and the yearning as its compass. He conducts exercises to achieve the dreamspace. He offers insights into the nature of voice. He is eloquent on fiction as a 'cinema of the mind,' to be experienced by the reader as a sensual series of takes and scenes. And he has devised a system whereby revision is undertaken at the level of structure rather than sentence" (3). -Janet Burroway

This book is a cleaned-up presentation by the author, Robert Olen Butler. On that basis it's certainly worth a 5 star rating. But I would expect most people buying this book expect more of a traditional presentation. Still, the lecture format, with extemporaneous examples, helps you understand the process. It's like a form of showing rather than telling. I actually liked the format, but other readers might not. I can see how one reviewer states that the author is better in the short story form. The author evangelizes a right-brain approach of emotional writing that contains "no abstraction, no generalization, no summary, no analysis, no interpretation." I think this approach is excellent in short fiction. But, there are additional important issues that come to play in long forms of fiction. The book offers a detailed look at writing the "right-brained" and "emotional" way. And thus, we find the title: From Where You Dream. The author says all fiction should originate from your dreams, not from your mind. There are exercises that almost explain this process. The reader has to ponder and analyze a lot to get the full benefit of this book, which is not bad in itself. But this is greatly offset by following the link to the author's online video presentations. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT! Where else can you get a chance to listen to a noted author and watch him create a short story on the fly? This approach is so valuable, and the philosophy and the techniques presented so workable that this book will prove valuable for all readers. To become the "master of the sensual moment" will require repeated readings of this transcription of the author's workshops. He has put some of these presentations online and points you to his website. This is quite an addition and synergy to such a book giving a transcription. One warning: he's quite dogmatic with a logic that goes, "If you don't believe X, then you aren't an artist." But this just makes his book a little spicy. All in all, I found the reading most enjoyable and I have returned to it many times. The downside is that you have to expend a little effort prying out the key points. But I believe the results are worthwhile. The addition of the website lectures turn this book from very good to great. The author, an instructor at Florida State University, presents his ideas convincingly and clearly. I wish all authors would include online video presentations... like the extra trailers on DVD's. John Dunbar Sugar Land, TX