Elliot:
If the character is nothing but a projection of one's own wish fulfilment, it is certainly not likely to appeal to others. Dreams are very personal things, after all.
Hm, but the reader's dream is personal, too. So, couldn't both match then in certain cases?
Example:
I personally start to get aggravated if I meet a certain female type in novels => the one fixed on men in a devote fashion - or the one fighting down her emotions and pretending to be indifferent. Why? the outcome is predictable, and as a reader I like to be surprised. Looking at the bestseller statistics I see these 2 types very often. So, these types seem to fit a lot of dreams. Take Marion Zimmer Bradley e.g.: her books are full of cliches, paper dolls. Even those from the Darkover cycle, where a bit of matrilinearism or independence is propagated => the outcome is always the same. And she is very successful; meaning: she has a lot of female readers. Dream matches dream. So, these readers react totally different than I do.
Another example: I like adult books where the child view is transported in a convincing and believable manner. Example: Alice Seybold, Gudrun Pausewang. No, it does not match my dream, but I was intrigued in which consistant manner this view was written. And I'm sure, a lot of readers would not touch these books, because they wish for other dreamworlds.
So, if a dream is written in a manner surprising me - where I can't already guess what will happen in 30 pages; where I don't know what the protagonist is going to say or do; where I don't start yawning, because the main char always reacts in the same manner => does it matter if the author's dream matches mine?
Reading and writing is done for various reasons - I don't think, rules will fit all possibilities.
Kiya
