Originally, for this blog post, I thought I was going to write about the three-act structure, but it turned into something else. And, for a few reasons, I don’t feel like writing about crunchy techniques and tools of writing today.

I feel like writing about nightmares.

A nightmare inspired my first completed manuscript—novel.

I enjoy nightmares.

Dreams can be interesting, but never as interesting as nightmares. I especially love the nightmares where I wake up, and I’m paranoid. So paranoid that the nightmare clings to the real world—a shadow of the terror that was in my nightmare is now in my bedroom.

I get out of bed after nightmares like that and make sure the garage door is closed, the house doors are locked, and my children are sleeping. Sometimes I go into the basement. No one there, I turn on the deck lights to make sure there are no tracks in the snow.

But then, reason and logic take over, and I sleep just a bit less easily.

Those are good nights.

I look forward to them even though I’m just a bit more tired in the morning. But, they’re also peaceful nights. Nights where the house is quiet. There are no or few cars on the streets. And the house makes its own noises.

Sometimes I read.

Hopefully, I have it in me to sit in front of my computer and write that nightmare down.