A dreamer’s world is right when they feel right.
And dreamers can drive everyone nuts ...
They are always reading deep, profound meanings into every act and event. Many times they are absolutely on target. They see and understand things that no one else sees or understands.
Dreamers want to know the meaning behind it all. They want to consider all the what-ifs, ponder all the possibilities, and dissect all the hidden messages ... there are messages, you know ...
And in their mind’s eye, they can “see” those essential and invisible things.
Maybe the things they tell us are true ... in that case, we need to listen up and learn important things.
Maybe they're getting carried away and they need to tone it down a little ... in that case, we need to love them enough to tell them and help them come back to earth with the rest of us mortals.
Stand on a beach at sunrise with a dreamer, and while you’re taking in the grandeur of the panorama before you, they’ll just as likely be sitting in the surf, feeling the sand sift through their fingers and studying the colors and markings on a crab’s shell as up-close as they can get. They are seeing and experiencing the same scene as you, just as in awe of the beauty around them like you, but dialed way, way up.
All five senses are firing at once. Then they flip the switch on to that sixth sense – the part of them that’s tuned to those invisible things – and they’ll ponder it and think about it and chew on it and turn it over and think about it some more ... and it becomes part of them. A memory, for sure, but much more than that.
Then they’ll have to act on it ... maybe that same afternoon when they go back at home ... maybe next week ... maybe in five years ... but act on it, they will. Because the dreamers are the creatives among us.
If they are professional- or hobbyist-type of creatives, they might paint it or sculpt it or write a song about it or tell it in a story. But not all creatives are artists per se, so that experience may get reflected in the way they dress or decorate their home. They may not even remember the actual experience, they just “know” they like soft, beachy colors, because when they wear those colors, they subconsciously remember those feel-good emotions and sensations. So they will, knowingly or not, recreate those good feelings in their surroundings.
Dreamers aren’t oblivious to the necessary daily tasks of life. They know that, while there is meaning to life, they also know that it is important to make that bed and pay those taxes. Being the free spirits that they are, they can quickly get into trouble when daily routines fall by the wayside and too many tasks go undone for too many days in a row. All that deep thinking isn’t so charming and interesting to family, friends, bosses and co-workers when a dreamer is always running late, is perpetually unprepared, and always distracted.
Dreamers will eventually crash into reality if they don’t make a concerted effort to be a bit more disciplined in daily life. Walking around with your head in the clouds is a lot more fun when your life isn’t totally out of control and everybody’s not on your case!
When you’re writing stories, dreamers make fun and interesting characters.
Perhaps your main character is a dreamer ... they sense or know something that none of the other characters sees or knows, and the story is all about the journey and quest to prove and defeat an invisible enemy.
Or maybe they’re the important, distracted sidekick: going off in some seemingly meaningless direction, maybe providing a little comic relief from some serious plot. They see and notice things the other characters overlook. When they take off on some crazy tangent, follow them and see where they go ... just when you (and a reader!) think they’re just wasting time, they might be the surprising one who solves the mystery or stumbles upon a solution or discovers the hidden treasure.
The villain or nemesis in your story is most definitely a dreamer, in a distorted sort of way, of course. These guys generally have delusions of grandeur that make them want to control and rule everything ... all the glory, all the money, the whole world ... or, in children’s books, all the candy and the playground!
The dreamers are usually the more flamboyant and fun characters who are getting all the attention in stories. When you’re writing characters who are dreamers, build a bit of doing and practicality into their personalities along side their dreaming tendencies. Or help them stay balanced with some doers in the characters around them.
If you don't balance out all the dreaminess with some practicality, reality will crash in on them, just like in real life. Even in adventure and fantasy stories, there needs to be some built-in reality and limits that your dreamer-characters will crash into if ignored.
Dreamers provide the meaning and adventure ... doers provide the order and structure …