BadNarrator

I'm not gonna lie, I've been dragging my feet on the Mechanical Jellyfish project. but recent events, a recent DD not withstanding, have given me the kick to ass I needed to get back to work on this thing.

there's three basic steps to my dream writing process. first my sleeping dream needs to cook up the dream for me, then I have to write it down in my journal before I forget what happened, then I have to transcribe whatever I've scribbled down in my journal to electronic text where I can edit and revise and so on. with fiction the most painful part of the entire writing process is revision. but with non-fiction/dream writing I've found transcribing from journal to type to be the worst part of the process. I don't enjoy reading my shorthand writing. the stuff I've written in my tiny, worn out spiral notebook is raw data, much of it composed of notes and terms that would be unintelligible to anyone reading it. when I'm transcribing it to text I have to make sure it's coherent to the point that people can understand what's going on while at the same time avoiding making stuff up, since that would defeat the purpose. it's not easy to do and mind-numbingly boring most of the time because I have to read the same thing over and over again. but it must be done.

I first started keeping my journal in July of 2010. at the time it was just for fun and potential source material for my fiction. near the end of 2011 I stumbled upon a book called LSD - Lovely Sweet Dream by Hiroko Nishikawa. the book is a collection of Hiroko's dreams over the course of ten years along with a artistic interpretations by various artists. following the tradition of my favorite writers and artists I've decided to shamelessly rip off Mr. Nishikawa's idea by compiling a single year's worth of my dreams for publication. the source material is all there it's just the task of transcribing it that needs to be done. at the time of writing this entry I've transcribed every journal entry from the year 2012 up through the month of October. with any luck I'll have the rest finished and posted before the end of the year.

in the mean time if any of you reading this stuff has any feedback, suggestions or if you've noticed any errors please let me know. this is still a work in progress.

PS. you can find Hiroko Nishikawa's journal with illustrations here: lovelysweetdream.tumblr.com/pa…

in the year 2010 I began keeping record of my dreams. it was difficult at first, I could barely recall anything other than a few details, feelings and sensations. but as with any other skill the more I practiced the easier it became to remember my experiences. by the end of 2011 I was able to account for almost every moment of my dreams. in July of last year, around the time I first traveled to Alaska, I decided to write a non-fiction book of my dreams from the year 2012.

to say it's been challenging would be a tremendous understatement. in addition to the general difficulty that comes with crossing over from fiction to creative non-fiction for the first time, there's the cumbersome undertaking of writing about events which never actually happened outside of my sleeping brain.

when writing about dreams you have to suppress your natural instincts as an author to alter the details for purposes of story structure. at the same time the source material is often so jumbled or nonsensical that you pretty much have to fill in the blanks in some places just to make it readable. in some areas I've used unusual formatting, sentence structure and diction, not for style, but for the purpose of conveying the feelings and sensations I experienced within the dream. during the editing process I've had to make sure that any changes I've made were purely for logistical purposes. it's going to take multiple submissions but I intend to post all of my journal entries (give or take a few) from last year within the next couple months or so.

the first part of my year-long dream journal is here: badnarrator.deviantart.com/art… 

you'll notice that there aren't more than one or two entries per month (the month of June has no entries at all) until July. I've had many major life changes recently. between November of 2011 and May, 2012 I had left three separate jobs, fallen into financial debt, had a few bad experiences with drugs and alcohol, and for about two weeks there I was essentially homeless. it wasn't until July, when I went to Alaska and found regular work, that I began writing on a daily basis. my dreams from those months are somewhat more sporadic and nonsensical than later in the year. and I've found that some of the less than pleasant experiences from my childhood have manifested themselves as recurring characters and themes in my dreams. "the man whose face is a thumbprint" is a particular noteworthy example who I will write about in the next installment of Mechanical Jellyfish.

this is still very much a work in progress, but in the future I would like to send it to publishers, perhaps after commissioning a few illustrations from various artists. until then any feedback would be greatly appreciated. thanks

I've been recording my dreams for the past several years. I'm working on a collection of dreams which I plan to publish on here in the near future.

I've been a ghost around here the past few months. Went through some life changes, but it's good to come back and find out I got a DD on
Happy HollowLook:
I found him in Happy Hollow, the woods that's on the outskirts of the city. He was a little ways off the path me and my sister, Nahla, take to school, 'cept Nahla was sick that day so it was just me by myself. It's not the fastest way to get to school, but we can't go through Northampton or else the bullies that live there will throw dirt clods at us. After I found him I took him to this old shed out there. It's got a hole in the roof but I figured the little guy'd be safe there on account of it's a good ways away from the Northampton houses; plus you can't hardly see it through all the leaves and branches and stuff. His fur was real white and real soft, just like snow 'cept it wasn't cold. It was warm and fuzzy so it made you wanna squeeze him real tight. I liked playing with his ears cuz they was all floppy, 'cept when you made a weird noise, then they'd stick straight up and he'd tilt his head sideways and look at you funny. He had a long bushy tail and sharp little baby teeth

Thanks to and Definitely wasn't expecting that.

I live and work in the hood (ghetto) where everybody is on a fixed income and few can afford to buy life insurance from me. But they're moving me into a new office and into a new area where I'll hopefully make more money and thus have more free time to post more work and be more active on here.

for now. may resume again in the future, when I have more time on my hands.