How a Dream in the Himalayas Inspired me to Write The Jar of Dreams
The Dream From The Himalayas That Became A Novel
I sat bolt upright. Blackness, nothing but an impenetrable darkness surrounded me.
Somewhere close a deep crack filled the icy air, as the once-great glacier of Namik carved her way downwards from the hunchbacked peaks of the Indian Himalayas above.
My dream flickered in front of me, replaying like a movie on the black canvas of the night. I scrambled for my pencil and paper and began to scribble under the beam of my head torch, hoping not to wake Gauri, my great friend and guide.
A young boy cowered under a dark djinn. His dreams, sparkling like strands of blue light floated in front of him. They had been ripped from him and were dangling from the calloused claws of the hideous, hooded spirit that stood over him.
Outside our tent, Namik glacier groaned, inside I had been sucked into a different world.
The boy cowered, powerless to stop the evil djinn as it dropped his dreams into a jar and roared ‘Dream no more boy. The world no longer needs your foolish dreams. It is time for you to grow up and be like everyone else.’ The djinn looked deep into the boy’s eyes. Its burning hatred was the last thing the young boy saw before the djinn dissolved back into the darkness.
As the sun rose across the old city of Xhadur, the boy desperately searched the dusty streets for the shadow-like creature and his dreams. The djinn though was nowhere to be found, and inside the boy, a dark weight took root, strangling his child-like spirit.
I scribbled furiously, trying to capture the textures and feelings as the boy felt the dark mist of fear growing inside him. A mist that was implanted by the djinn and that will take over his mind when the next full moon rises.
Somewhere in the depths of his pain, the young boy found hope, and in the hope, he found courage. The courage to leave the world he knew, and his family that he loved, and step into the unknown, step out with no certainty of return, in search of the dark spirit and his dreams.
Tiredness soon gripped me again and I drifted off to sleep, unaware of the journey that I had just stepped out on. I was not an author. I was barely a writer, other than my daily scribbles in my journal. Somehow, the act of writing down the dream that night sparked something to life. And now, twenty years on I have written almost every morning, stepping through portals into the lands of Xhadur, Duzkah and Umlak following Tarun’s epic journey in search of his stolen dreams.
Your Dreams Can Come True If Mine Can
Today that dream from the Himalayas has become a book, and more than that it is becoming a series. Writing has become a daily dream for me and I hope that, as we get close to publishing, this story helps you, or someone that you love, to water the seeds of a dream that lives inside of you.
Because if I can become an author, I know that you can achieve your dreams. I’ll share everything that I can in this blog to help you water the seeds of your dreams and bring them to life. We all feel the weight and the dark mists of fear, but like Tarun, we can loosen its grip through courage, hope and walking forward each day, even if we are not exactly sure where the path is leading.
Let’s live our dreams together. I am here for you if you need any support.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. How Can I Get Inspiration for My Fantasy Novel?
Ideas for fantasy novels can come from so many sources. From dreams, travel and adventures, from spending time in nature, reading about history or cultures that interest you, from personal experiences, or even sitting quietly reflecting on a single question or thought. I find that inspiration comes most easily for me when I have turned off all forms of technology and any other distractions. It is in these moments, when our busy mind stills, that the magic happens. Good luck finding your inspiration.
Q. What Inspired The Jar of Dreams?
The Jar of Dreams was inspired by a vivid dream I had while trekking in the Indian Himalayas. I was sleeping next to Namik Glacier when the dream came to me. I saw a young boy confronted by a dark djinn that stole his dreams, replacing them with a dark mist of fear that would slowly take over his mind and spirit. I woke in the darkness, grabbed my head torch and journal and scribbled down everything I could remember. That image became the seed from which Tarun's story and the Lands of Vaniya eventually grew.
Q. Can you Write a Novel if you have Never Written a Book Before?
Absolutely. Every novelist has to begin their journey not knowing how to write a novel. One lesson that I have learned is not to let self-doubt get in the way. It is natural to have limiting thoughts like 'who am I to write a book?' The trick is to not allow those thoughts to define your actions. Just pick up your pen and write whatever comes to you. Write because you love it. When the idea for The Jar of Dreams came to me, I didn't consider myself an author. I mainly wrote in my journal. I filled books and scraps of paper with parts of the story as they came to me. What made the difference wasn't suddenly knowing how to write a novel. It was returning to the story and writing consistently. Over time, pages became chapters, characters became real to me, and an imagined world became the novel that is now making its way out into the world and into fantasy readers' imaginations.
Q. Can Travelling Inspire Creative Writing?
Travel can be an extraordinary source of creative inspiration. New landscapes, cultures, sounds, smells and experiences can disrupt familiar ways of thinking and stimulate the imagination. The Jar of Dreams provides a very literal example: its original idea came to me while trekking beside a glacier high in the Indian Himalayas. The physical landscape and atmosphere surrounding me became intertwined with the dream that started the story. Since that night 25 years ago, I have been inspired by nature, people and experiences around the world in places that I have been lucky to live in or spend time in.
Q. How do you Stay Motivated when Writing a Novel?
One way is to create a habit where you write every day. Some authors, like Stephen King, famously write 2,000 words a day. I am not as prolific as that. Some days I may only write a handful of words, or I may sit and scribble the idea for a character or scene in my book. Even a small amount of writing moves a story forward. I made writing part of my mornings, before work every day, and kept returning to Tarun's journey. Some days brought major breakthroughs; others brought only a few words. What mattered was continuing to walk down the path.
