From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

by Robert Olen Butler (Author), Janet Burroway (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

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The Pulitzer Prize–winning author “shares his insights into—and passion for—the creation and experience of fiction with total openness” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Robert Olen Butler, author of Perfume River, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, and A Small Hotel, teaches graduate fiction at Florida State University—his version of literary boot camp. In From Where You Dream, Butler reimagines the process of writing as emotional rather than intellectual, and tells writers how to achieve the dreamspace necessary for composing honest, inspired fiction. Proposing that fiction is the exploration of the human condition with yearning as its compass, Butler reinterprets the traditional tools of the craft using the dynamics of desire. Offering a direct view into the mind and craft of a literary master, From Where You Dream is an invaluable tool for the novice and experienced writer alike.

“Incisive and provocative, Butler’s tutorials are a must for anyone even thinking about writing fiction, and readers, too, will benefit from his passionate exhortations.” —Booklist

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Robert Olen Butler, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, teaches graduate fiction at Florida State University — his version of literary boot camp. In From Where You Dream, Butler reimagines the process of writing as emotional rather than intellectual, and tells writers how to achieve the dreamspace necessary for composing honest, inspired fiction. Proposing that fiction is the exploration of the human condition with yearning as its compass, Butler reinterprets the traditional tools of the craft using the dynamics of desire. Offering a direct view into the mind and craft of a literary master, From Where You Dream is an invaluable tool for the novice and experienced writer alike.

About the Author

Robert Olen Butler is the author of ten novels and two collections of stories. In addition to a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 and a National Magazine Award in 2001 (both for fiction), he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction and an NEA grant, as well as the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches creative writing at Florida State University.

Janet Burroway is the author of plays, poetry, and seven novels including Raw Silk, runner up for the National Book Award. An NEA recipient, her most recent books are a collection of essays, Embalming Mom, and the texts Imaginative Writing and the sixth edition of Writing Fiction.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Pulitzer-winning novelist Butler (Had a Good Time, etc.) teaches a creative writing class at known as "boot camp" because of the intense creative demands he places on students. This series of lectures (edited by Burroway, a graduate of the class) deftly conveys the intensity of the class as Butler exhorts students to get out of their heads and into the world of the senses ("Artists are not intellectuals. We are sensualists...."), which he posits as the seat of the emotions. Butler's emphasis on sense memories recalls Method acting, and like Stanislavsky, Butler most highly values work with deep emotional connections and rich "organic coherence" at every level. Identify your character's yearning, he says: plot "represents the dynamics of desire." Butler has little to offer anyone hoping to write the sort of commercial fiction he regards as "non-literature." But in illuminating his approach to fiction, Butler can be equally hard on his own work, and discusses various issues by analyzing its faults—for instance, that good dialogue isn't expository, it has subtext. To illustrate his positive points, he draws on works ranging from Margaret Atwood's to the Old Testament. The book also features works by students and thoughtful class discussions of them, and closes with Butler's story "Open Arms," discussed in earlier sections. Butler shares his insights into—and passion for—the creation and experience of fiction with total openness, and seriously aspiring writers should receive this text/manifesto in the same light. Agent, Kim Witherspoon. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Booklist

There's no doubt that Pulitzer Prize winner Butler, whose many fictional works include Had a Good Time [BKL My 1 04], knows how to write literary fiction, and it comes as no surprise that his approach to teaching fiction writing is intense, given the venturesome nature of his work. Butler taped his lectures, thus preserving their dynamism, and the edited result is a remarkably candid, clarifying, and profoundly demanding how-to. Butler's credo is, "Art does not come from the mind. Art comes from the place where we dream." Consequently, he teaches wanna-be fiction writers not how to brainstorm but how to "dreamstorm," and explains why fiction must be rooted in sensual experience, how cinematic techniques create narrative flow, and how "yearning" must be the driving force in every story. Butler's electrifying theories are backed by illuminating examples and startling practices (you'll never look at index cards in the same way again). Incisive and provocative, Butler's tutorials are a must for anyone even thinking about writing fiction, and readers, too, will benefit from his passionate exhortations. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN : B008RZKOQU
Publisher : Grove Press; Reprint edition (December 1, 2007)
Publication date : December 1, 2007
Language : English
File size : 604 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 211 pages
Lending : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #121,561 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #51 in Fiction Writing Reference (Kindle Store)
- #78 in Psychology of Creativity & Genius
- #169 in Creativity Self-Help

Customer Reviews:
135 ratings

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4 star		18%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Lunarian

I wish I hadn't wasted my money

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2019

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I read about 60% of this before I gave up. There is some good advice in there (particularly about not being too intellectual when writing a story), but the snobbishness of the author and his dogmatic approach to writing are so off-putting. His smack-talking genre fiction is also just so stodgy and annoying. If you need good writing advice, go for James Scott Bell's books.

13 people found this helpful

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Sky-blue

Excellent teaching on yearning with the idea of the “inciting ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016

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Excellent teaching on yearning with the idea of the “inciting incident” which upsets the equilibrium and “challenges whatever it is the character deeply yearns for.” This can occur before the story begins or simultaneous to the point of attack. He also connects yearning to the next step which is the “point of attack which introduces the conflict—the particular manifestation of a character’s yearning…” and “conflict can be internal or external.” It is important for yearning to be expressed in images and “moment-to-moment sensual experience” while avoiding abstraction or analysis. Yearning also relates to the concept of the “cinema of the mind.”

12 people found this helpful

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Words are Journeys

Absolutely Critical if you wish to learn how to get into the skin of your character and follow the movement.

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2016

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An amazing book--written with a style directly to the reader. Informative, understanding, and directive. The concept of writing from a place where you "dream", is a way to apply character to movement moment by moment writing. For me, the reader, it simply is stating n a new way, just how to get into the skin of your character and follow their moves in a more concrete way. Rereading, or as the author calls it, "re-dreaming" as you go over sentences before moving forward to the next platform of your story, novel, etc.
I would recommend this book to all writers, particularly short story writers.
Mr. Butler also has a Creative writing video session in 17 videos on you tube. Very interesting to say the least, and challenges you to think and employ realism into any fiction story. Well worth the view, if you are patient.

13 people found this helpful

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SheReads

Changed the Way I Write!

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2020

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Robert Olen's book, "From Where You Dream" is a game-changer if you are a fiction writer - I can't say enough about how much I LOVE this book. I am an MFA student and this was recommended in one of my workshops.
Butler's approach is so creative and makes so much sense. He takes you into one of his classes and actually teaches you how to write a scene! I will have this book next to me like a bible every time I sit down to write!
If you are serious about becoming or improving your writing skills, this is the book you need!
Highly Recommend!

2 people found this helpful

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Marianna

Not bad; some excellent insights

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2020

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The first half, or even quarter, of this book was the best part of it. Later there was a lot of material from the author's writing classes - including the stories by his students - which was mostly useless to me, but perhaps it may be useful to somebody else. The first part of the book does have some excellent insights about writing and reading books.

2 people found this helpful

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Carolyn Stewart

Intuitive-strength writing. A new way to enter the process!

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2014

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Best help for creative writing since I can't remember when. I have a brand new way to configure my "getting ready" and the semi-consciousness of my right brain is a lot less self-conscious than the ego-writer of my left brain. I have a writing future once again!

I was so intrigued with this teacher and his process that I bought his Pulitzer Prize winning short stories "A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain:Stories" and was enchanted as I watched in awe the same creative process come out of him.

I am so very thankful for the labor of love it was to record his lectures. So very grateful.

11 people found this helpful

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TC Gal

Very Helpful Reminder

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2016

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First half of book is very informative and something to think about. If you are an experienced writer at all, you might find the second half of the book a repetition of other writing books over the years. But you can feel his enthusiasm for what he found, and what he found is true. He is reminding all writers of why books resonate with the readers. Most of us know what he is saying, but he is bringing it to the forefront to help other writers make it a priority. I am keeping his book in my library.

6 people found this helpful

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bookman

Fantastic book for the writer/novelist

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2015

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Fantastic book for the writer/novelist. I felt like I was in the class. I have always used a version of this method (most likely because I was not an English or creative writing major.) However, this book was more than worth reading for its wit, insight, and valuable instruction on the subject of writing from deep within your creative center. I actually graduated from the FSU College of Business with a double major in management and marketing. I am now a writer/independently published author of fiction and nonfiction and this book has helped me in many ways. Go Noles.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

G. Cole

Very good on the imaginative process of creating fiction.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2020

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A good and reassuring analysis/description of the way imagination conjures fiction and then shapes it to provide a fuller, more satisfying experience for the reader or potential reader - from first moment of inspiration to a finished, fully crafted piece. Only criticism I have is its concentration on fiction as art as a kind of exalted calling, which it is, but it's also a craft, learned by practice and hard slog and a growing appreciation and knowledge of the techniques of story telling. But, then, there are plenty of other writing primers and manuals covering that.

Klaus H. Frederiksen

Especially good if you haven't already watched his online videos

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2013

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Well - I like his basic idea a lot. The book is structured in a way that may comes across a little unpolished maybe, but his method and philosophy and observations on, arguably, the hardest part of the craft are there, easily accessible. If you have watched online seminars or talks by this author or the long but thoroughly wonderful internet live-authoring of a short story over 16 days, you may not find much new stuff in here, especially seeing as his quotes seem to be most likely based on the same lectures - but the book does add some depth and context that I enjoyed. And his observations on yearning, the unconscious and the organic art object are radical and finely chiseled. As a book in itself I might be inclined to give it 3 starts - but I like the whole concept too much

6 people found this helpful

Aimee Cezon

I am currently working my way through this essential guide ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2014

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I am currently working my way through this essential guide to freeing up your mind in order to write from a visceral level. Compiled with material from recorded lectures that allow you to attend without paying the course fees. It guides you through the descent into the basement where your hopes and dreams are hidden.

2 people found this helpful

Jedd

Ugh.

Reviewed in Canada on January 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

I abhorred (what I read of) this book. I found it next to impossible to wade through as the tone was consistently patronizing or felt 'above' the student or casual person who was reading it or in his classes. It's almost as if Butler goes out of his way to find a vague or purposefully high brow way of describing how to write or how he writes.
From where you dream reads more like a nightmare in this person's humble opinion. Avoid like the plague!

One person found this helpful

Bücherwurm

Wonderful, insightful book for every writer

Reviewed in Germany on May 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

Wonderful, insightful book.

Highly recommended, if you're not the 'plotting' type.
Just as highly recommended if you are ...

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