Dream Incubation and X Responses/Interpretations (Book Series Title)

French exercise book on the table. One exercise says to group all the like words on the page together.#dream

— Dean Clayton Edwards (@deancedwards) December 26, 2019

Last night, I asked for a dream to help me title my dream fiction collection/series.

I was going to call it 90 Dark Degrees. Like Armoured Car, which is what I call the publishing part of this enterprise, 90 Dark Degrees is from the poem Sleeping Standing Up by Elizabeth Bishop. It's about the power of dreams to transport us. And it has dark overtones relating to the Second World War and the Nazis too, not unlike many of my dreams. 

I created an email address based on ninety dark degrees. I designed a logo and everything. But, while I like the darker dreams and turning those into stories, it's not all about horror. I need to get away from misconceptions that leave me feeling like a fraud, and that might turn off or disappoint readers. I love my horror roots. And I write dark, but not that dark.

So, I'm looking for a new title. Since it's dream-based fiction, it seems reasonable to have a dream-based title. 

In my lucid dream diary, I wrote: "What shall I title my dream fiction series?"


Response/Interpretation One

That night, I dreamt I was performing an exercise in French textbook. I had to group like words together.

Which gave me the idea that this is a good place to start. I used to do it sometimes when writing poetry.

• I'll collect titles in a dedicated place.
• I'll collect words that are relevant or resonant regarding the project.
• I'll look for a french component/element.

The Call of the Void

Regarding the French component, I followed the suggestion and read a blog post Google pushed my way called: "Nine French phrases that English really should have too." L'appel du vide spoke to me. It translates as the call of the void or the call from the void. Also known as the high place phenomenon, it's that feeling you get when you're high up and start to think about jumping. You may not be seriously interested in breaking your legs or committed to dying that second, but nonetheless, the voice starts whispering and there's a tug. 

As a title, The Call of the Void sounded good at first, but I think:

• It's too close to horror.
• It sounds a bit pretentious as a title, especially if I go for the French.
• It's about the urge to act but resisting. My stories and my cultivating of dreams are more about succumbing to urges.
• The article suggests that l'appel du vide involves the risk of self-destruction, which is far from my beliefs about the benefits of opening up to dreams. 
• It's a well-known scientific phenomenon and there's a correlation with suicidal thoughts. While mental health is a topic that's important to me, it would be misleading to give my stories that connotation. 

So this might be the title of one book out of several. Or it might be a signpost that leads to other titles and other ideas. I've brushed up on my dream incubation techniques to generate more suggestions from dreams and to learn to read them better.

If you have any thoughts about The Call of the Void as a title or if you have other ideas about titles, I'd love to hear them.

Email me or leave a comment. It will make a difference.


Response/Interpretation Two

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A dead body hangs from the ceiling. It's wrapped in grey plastic. We're just talking around it, like it's an obtrusive light fitting.
I push it out of the way and it swings, swings, swings.#dream

— Dean Clayton Edwards (@deancedwards) December 30, 2019

Waiting for an interview. In the dream, I've written a sequel to The Chair, in which there are two murderous chairs. In the third part, I imagine an army of chairs, communicating silently, clattering as they gather in hidden rooms.#dream

— Dean Clayton Edwards (@deancedwards) December 30, 2019

My friend shares how she talked to her baby while it was in utero. I see her on a bed, surrounded by researchers. They were studying the interaction but now they are studying her because, for days, she's been talking as if she's still dreaming.#dream

— Dean Clayton Edwards (@deancedwards) December 30, 2019

I explain to a friend that my current project is not exactly a diary but that it is personal. After a short discussion, he asks if he can read it and I say it's not finished yet. He gives me a look that I interpret as:
"So why are we talking about it? Go finish it."#dream

— Dean Clayton Edwards (@deancedwards) December 30, 2019