Thread: Tape Recorder V.s Written Dream Journal

Old fashioned written journal in my opinion is better. Only because if you jot down quick notes they tend to make more sense later on. And because on a recording I'd most likely struggle to find the right words in a good order so I'd hear, "Um...like...um" a lot.

I used a recorder for a while, but strangely I had a much harder time understanding what I mumbled into the recorder than intepreting my handwriting. I was always trying to be quiet, that was part of the problem. The drawback of writing is that I have to get up and go to the bathroom, where I keep my notebook and little clip-on flashlight (so I don't have to turn on the overhead and disturb my vision too much.) But it wakes me up enough so that I can be somewhat comprehensible. Also, if I write, I can go back and add a few details in the margin if I remember something else. With the recorder, I was always saying like, oh yea, this also happened, and I would lose the order. Now I keep the recorder in the car and use it to remind myself to do RC's.

When i keep a journal next to my bed i allways forget to wright it in, any hints?

Remind yourself before you go to sleep that you WILL remember your dreams, and you WILL wake up after one. Then you just have to have the will-power to make yourself wake up enough to do it. When I am lazy, I tell myself I will remember even if I don't write it, but I rarely do. I guess you just have to try to make yourself a few times and see if it is worth the trouble. I think it is worth getting in the habit of, because otherwise you could forget a lucid dream, and that would be a terrible thing to happen. I get up several times at night so I keep my journal in the bathroom. You could put it there, then drink a lot of water before you go to bed.

Good luck.

Written journal definitely. It takes more effort to talk into a recorder than it is to scribble on paper. Plus like Moonbeam said, sometimes it's hard to understand on tape.

But whatever works for you - try it both ways and see.

I've used a journal for almost a year, but I really wanna try the recorder, i mean, I REALLY want to -
My handwriting is terrible, and I usually don't want to lie in bed for the next ten minutes and try hard to think of the dream, when I should be getting ready for school.

Plus, for me, I have a much better time remembering things when I'm talking about them outloud. Like when I tell people stories of my dreams, they're always more in depth than when I scribble down the notes of it.

But I dunno where to get one of those recorder things. If I found out, I'd sure as hell buy one.

Tape recorder definitely. I keep it on the bedside, grab it when necessary, and speak my dream recall into the microphone. A day or two later, i will put my dreadful voice on paper.

I use a written journal, but mainly because I can't be bothered to go somewhere and buy a recorder. I really will get a recorder one of these days.... but not today

Toaster

What about a journal in a text file on my desktop ? I don't like to write by hand and I type faster than I write, and the first time I do in the morning is turn on my PC.

So ... what about Digital VS Paper ?

I say keep a written dream journal, because at least you can re-read certain parts as quickly as you need to (helps for finding links in dreams or dreamsigns), I keep one hand written and another online. The downside with a tape recorder is that I find myself mumbling and sometimes I can't seem to find the order to something until after I've recorded so then I re-record it to try to get the proper order and forget details, as well as waste a cassette or mp3 player space.

Originally Posted by sognoacolori

Tape recorder definitely. I keep it on the bedside, grab it when necessary, and speak my dream recall into the microphone. A day or two later, i will put my dreadful voice on paper.
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This is a good way too, especially when you're in a hurry in the mornings. You use a tape recorder and later that day, you put it in your dream diary (which is more helpful, as you might want to browse through it sometimes).