u/Low-Transportation95

What's your approach?

I generally put in a lot of bizarre crap but make the dream thematic and somehow relevant to what is happening to the character currently.

The important part (since I'm writing in first person) is that the character takes what's happening completely seriously and treats it like the most normal thing in the universe?

I'm talking to a mustachioed owl who dispenses wisdom? Why yes, that's Mr. Owl. It's not weird at all!

Of course the talking grandfather clock has a bad back! He's a grandpa!

Adequate ones of course.

In my experience people tend to thumb their nose at such characters, usually out of elitism or that snobbish idea that using such tropes is a cheap crutch to make one's writing "better" by 'stealing' from 'their betters'.

And yet in real life almost everyone I know uses pop culture references in everyday life.

We decided on our permanent base island and I made an inn.
There will be more buildings along the shore for sure.

https://preview.redd.it/r289ccssmyxg1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=9cf451e96002392ebc5850a2e083c5e2d1021585

https://preview.redd.it/bzoacessmyxg1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=bb11230d73bce10731f0c0e7b530e5a9ce75048c

https://preview.redd.it/8bf10dssmyxg1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a7125b7adeaac21631de08124f084a7e81f9b00

https://preview.redd.it/o3miccssmyxg1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=c555fa6fd29cc30a15aa1030354540d780a77d50

https://preview.redd.it/t7ayjkssmyxg1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=04222d4d68c4babf97438b08bc5ee1f99272922a

https://preview.redd.it/mu24acssmyxg1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=b7c22f39444e146ab7f626e38bbc645aa1574f2f