I used to train all the kids I babysat how to do it.
They'd go, "I can't sleep!"
And I'd go, "Oh, I'm so sorry, that's really awful for you. I love the dreams I get when I sleep. You're going to miss out on all the best dreams if you can't sleep!"
(dramatically thoughtful pause)
"I know! Maybe you can think up what kind of dreams you want to have, and pretend to have them even though you're awake! Start by telling me about your favorite dream and then tell me what you wanted to happen next."
And they'd usually bullshit something because little kids always want your attention, and they positively crave it when it's positive, so the thought of being able to tell you something that will please you is irresistible and even if they don't remember a single dream at all they'll make something up.
So they'd start.

And I'd keep prompting them, but I'd prompt them in quieter and quieter voices until we were whispering.
And then I'd hold their hand and close my eyes and tell them to close theirs "so we could picture their dreams properly" while they told me.
And I'd slow down my voice with every response and get quieter and quieter...

They usually fell asleep pretty fast.

And then when it was time to wake them up, I'd start out by softly calling their name and saying, "Are you done dreaming yet? Finish up your dream now and come tell me about it."

And by the time I'd babysat three or so times, all the kids would be telling themselves stories to go to sleep.

It's pretty easy to train into a kid.


Adults now, those are harder. I dunno how to do it for an adult.

Akili Li wrote:

That just sounds absolutely amazing. I think you'd be a quite frankly superb person to meet in real life. :)

Amura wrote:My brain goes into story-making mode just so often, not only at sleep time.
And it's inheritable!


Quite a rude cat indeed!

I now have gerbils, and I can't take those to bed

Why am I suddenly imagining either sleeping under a veritable army of gerbils at night instead of a blanket or having a single giant gerbil serving as a body pillow...? Sounds kinda comfy, ngl.

And anytime my brain gets even a whiff of an idea it goes into full-blown story-making mode. Sometimes I'll be working and my brain will be like "Stop, hold the presses. What if...?" and then I have to contend with continuing the story-thread for a bit (while working) so as to implant the idea for when my work day is over and I can continue the storyline while taking my daily walk.

memoriam wrote:Wait, whoah, hold on, am I not the only one that goes into story-making brain at any time its bored or just doesn't feel like cooperating? I've been putting myself to sleep by making up stories since I can remember! I do that every night! Omg, I'm shook. And happy af

Absolutely not, lol. Story-making in my brain is my bread and butter! I can keep a story-line going for weeks to months on end. Every night before sleep, I'll add bits and pieces (or hours-worth, depending on if I can sleep or not), then sprinkle events here and there during the day, and then some more during my daily walk, anytime I find the time, really, and sometimes even when I don't have the time! (My stories are totally worth procrastinating or ignoring work for, and I will die on this hill.) Sometimes I'll even run out of steam on one story, so switch to another for a few days, and then switch again because I just had the perfect idea, and so on and so forth, such that I can have up to five stories going on near-simultaneously, or even completely forget one of them for a month and then revitalize it randomly because my brain got a new wind for it, lmao.

Ooooh, you're really good at continuity, then! I'm impressed at your ability to hold so many threads of stories at once.
I bet if you created a visual image of it, it would be an incredible weaving!
Five at once, that's awe-inspiring.
So... have you posted any of these stories to the writing/novel/poem area here? Can we read them?


(Kuuki those cats sound very imperious and demanding! I laughed at the thought of them carefully positioning themselves in the middle of the house first, to be sure they were heard)

My husband loved saying I trained them well ^^

But yeah those two things were absolutely annoying but also absolutely adorable while they did it.
Wouldn't let me sleep until they had their fair share of pets either.

Kuuki wrote:

I neglected to mention it in my earlier reply, but I absolutely adored the kitty anecdote about screaming in the middle of the house. Undeniably hilarious mental image right there.

Akili Li wrote:Ooooh, you're really good at continuity, then! I'm impressed at your ability to hold so many threads of stories at once.
I bet if you created a visual image of it, it would be an incredible weaving!
Five at once, that's awe-inspiring.
So... have you posted any of these stories to the writing/novel/poem area here? Can we read them?


(Kuuki those cats sound very imperious and demanding! I laughed at the thought of them carefully positioning themselves in the middle of the house first, to be sure they were heard)

It's pretty easy to hold them together when most of them just involve random nonsense events that vaguely fit into my fanfic-slash-world. I just make things happen that I want to see happen. Very Mary Sue-ish. Oops.

And noooo. Like I said, they're mostly just stories of things I imagine I'd want to experience if I were in an anime world or a specific fandom (and they all happen solely in my head, never on paper). The few original ideas I do have written down will likely never see the light of day. :P

But now you had me curious, and the oldest written down story-idea compilation I could find was from 2018 (though I know there's older)... Very cringy stuff. Here's a cringy, cringy little snippet, with a very peculiar, yet intentional, tone to my writing. There's almost five pages of just this one idea...

So you reach for the images that resonate and bring them out fully in whatever form or snippet that turns out to be.... it's like you're doing the subconscious processing in a conscious artistic fashion.... that's so cool...

Also something about that snippet reminds me of Robin McKinley's writing style. Lots of vivid symbolism that manifests itself even in the seemingly ordinary...

So cool!

Thank you for sharing!

I can go for hours before I can stop myself. I'm sure I could go for days. Mine are mostly fan-fiction, rarely do they involve myself. The fanfic ones I have many going at once, but I couldn't tell you how many. Some of them are variants of each other or spin-offs. The ones with me in them are just snippets.

Do any of you pace while day-dreaming? I would pace a trail in a forest... I often whisper when i'm alone, too
Also I think the term is maladaptive day-dreaming

I try to pace whenever I can, since it's healthier to be moving, but I don't get much opportunity to, so....

Not as much as I'd like, Mem! But sometimes.


Mostly though when I'm talking to myself (or rather, muttering), it's very seldom about stories and much more often a constant stream of reminders of what it is I'm trying to keep track of, so I don't forget before I finish. If I can't write it down so I don't forget, repeating it over and over is the next best thing, see.
<- doesn't have the best memory in the world

Ooh, I used to do that, too, back when I was actively writing I'd keep repeating that one scene over and over again. But sometimes I don't write stuff down on purpose. It's bothersome XD
I have great memory for stupid stuff, not the important ones

You too? I thought it was just me! That's such a relief to hear!!

It's all these little completely irrelevant things that stick and not the important stuff I actually need.
I can remember the former front desk assistant's favorite tree even though she hasn't worked there for two years now, but I can't remember the combination of the lock to the office supplies, even though it hasn't changed in four years.
Stuff like that.