My Novel Idea

**Adagio molto** · 01-15-2007 05:44 AM

Hmm let's see, I got this idea partially from lucid dreaming (not from an LD, but the concept of LDing itself), and that Terry Schaivo case.

A boy is in a car accident (or any kind of accident really) and falls into a coma. His family is in complete shock, especially his mother (or any significant female, possibly sister, or girlfriend).

The boy is in an amazingly vivid dream, but he's not lucid, so he doesn't know it's a dream. The boy's dream is just like waking life, but there is one strange character in it (it's his spirit guide, but he doesn't know it). His SG keeps telling him strange things like "Who are you? Do you know who you are?" The boy doesn't know it, but once he can understand the "meaning of his identity", he will become lucid and awaken from his coma.

Meanwhile, in reality, his family is healing from the shock, except the significant female figure, who slowly sinks into depression, and insanity. She cannot accept this fact, and spends the entire day by the boy's bed side, holding his hand and talking to him. The more her insanity increases, the more the boy's awareness increases.

Finally, the boy realizes he is dreaming, thus becoming lucid. His SG says something vague like, "At long last, you, are you." At the exact instant he becomes lucid and awakens from the coma, the female's insanity takes over and she falls into a coma. He remembers what happened to him, that is, the accident, and the story ends in some ironic epiphany of his.

The point of the story was to question identity. Who are we? Can we ever really know who we are? Although this probably won't be answered fully, acceptance plays a large role. Can we accept our lack of identity? What is identity?

There's also a lot of irony, seeing as though the boy and the woman switched places. I thought the title might be "A Displacement Coincidental", which also touches upon fate - was this coincidental, or really meant to be?

So what are you comments? Is this just another cliche "it was all a dream" story?

**skyS** · 01-16-2007 03:46 PM

it's a great idea!

**Lord Toaster** · 01-16-2007 07:26 PM

Hmm very interesting. Some questions:

Do you (the reader) know that he's dreaming?
Is more of the story him and his dream, or more of it the family and the female
Are there going to be other things happening in the dream and are they going to affect the story?
Is it meant to be a short story or a novelette or a full novel?

**Adagio molto** · 01-17-2007 02:52 AM

That was the main thing I was debating with myself, whether the reader knew it was a dream. I think that would be the best idea, it would take away the cliche effect of "it was all a dream". It would be really difficult to write without the reader knowing it was a dream anyway, I think.

There would be an total equal amount of time spent on reality and the dream, but specific parts would be focused on the dream or reality.

Yeah, I didn't really plan specifically what happens, but a lot happens in the dream; it's just like waking life to him. His whole dream is about his "self-discovery", so it greatly affects the story.

A full novel.

**888** · 01-17-2007 03:05 AM

novel synopsis:
man has dream,
man visits forum,
man trys to control dreams,
succeeds to a point,
realises he cant achieve lucidity fully, not ever,
man gives up,
and dreams of uncontrollable butterflies and the odd wasp.

**Moonbeam** · 01-17-2007 03:51 AM

Originally Posted by 888

novel synopsis:
man has dream,
man visits forum,
man trys to control dreams,
succeeds to a point,
realises he cant achieve lucidity fully, not ever,
man gives up,
and dreams of uncontrollable butterflies and the odd wasp.
[/b]

Stop you're further depressing me. That could be my story, except for it being about a man.

Seriously, Adiago, that is a pretty good idea, except I don't think you can fall into a coma because of insanity. Maybe you could just change that detail a little; otherwise, I think it could be pretty good.

**DiegoDraw** · 01-17-2007 05:07 AM

It sounds like it could be a really cool idea. It could also turn out to be a bad idea if it's not written right (to me it sounds like if you did it in a certain way, it'd just sound kiddish and somewhat cliche).
Personally, I would spend more time outside of the dream and then reveal little bits and pieces of the dream as the outside world goes nuts, but that may just be a personal favorability, so you can do whatever you want.
Also, just wondering, how is the girl going to be put into a coma by her insanity? I'm not sure; can stress actually affect the brain so much as to put you into a coma by itself? Perhaps a heart attack or a stroke or something induced by the stress?

~D-Draw

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