Everyday Canvas

Hooks and Recurring Dreams

Prompt: "I had my recurring dream last night. I guess I should have expected it. It comes to me when I struggle--when I twist on my own personal hook and try to pretend that nothing unusual is happening." Octavia Butler
What's your take on what the author is trying to say? Do you consider this a great opening to a book? Why or why not?

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I think it makes a wonderful opening. First, the author’s words are clear, straight to the point, and they sound sincere. Then, her first two sentences are very short ones that make an impact and grab the readers’ attention. Then the last sentence in the quote adds an effective, mysterious aspect.

Although the writer's name sounds familiar, I don't recall reading her books, and the funny thing is, when I read in the prompt, “when I twist on my own personal hook,” I immediately thought of the literary hook in the opening of a story or the first chapter of a novel. I guess we always connect to what we first think of the most. On second thought, however, I realized she’s talking of a real hook as a metaphor.

I am guessing the speaker here knows she is in an extraordinary situation but refuses to face it, and that is her struggle of twisting on the hook. Again I am guessing that she had a dream that warned her, as some dreams clarify the situations we don’t dare to confront. These are usually recurring dreams. I am also guessing that this writer chose a female as her main character because recurring dreams happen to women about 75% more than to men. I know this statistic because I somehow picked up a thing or two from my tiny bit of training in psychology.

What I can’t guess is the main character’s situation that is troubling her so terribly. Crazy though it is, my imagination shows me a girl at the end of a fish hook twisting on a fishing line, but I don’t know who the fisherman is or what kind of a weather or fishing situation is cast in this story.