dream journal is bad for recall??? maybe

i started losing all of my recall from writing all the details of my dreams. what i mean is, i would have a ton of details upon waking, but the very act of writing in the journal caused me to lose many of the details.

well i gave up on my journal. instead, i wake up and without moving i replay the dream over and over in my head with my eyes closed. i memorize as much of it as i can and then fall back asleep. i do this each time i wake, after each dream. now at the end of the day i can still remember all the details of all my dreams ive had the night before.

i think this is much better than writing in a dream journal physically. it works better if i do it mentally it seems. because the speed of thought is faster than a pen? i will never use a DJ again. :o

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Originally posted by jay dawg
i started losing all of my recall from writing all the details of my dreams. what i mean is, i would have a ton of details upon waking, but the very act of writing in the journal caused me to lose many of the details.

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Then you're the opposite of most. When I write in my DJ (which I haven't in forever), the act of writing causes me to remember more details. And I've seen many other members say the same thing. But, everyone is different, so whatever works for you. :P

Umm. you're not supposed to start up in bed after you woke and just start writing. When you wake up, lie still, keep your eyes closed and go through the dream multiple times, filling all missing pieces. If you're sure you remember it all, start writing it down in keywords.

Hi jay dawg,

You might wish to think about new creative modes of reporting your dream, like recording them in a tape or drawing them, or simply putting some representative titles.

You can remember a dream at the end of the day, but I think that having some physical record woul help you for the weeks/months to come.

I find that when I write down my (few) dreams I interpet them more easily; sometimes it's like their meaning emerge from the pen.

(By the way, thanks Korittke for your observations: when I wake up I anxiously "rush" to recall my dreams, with no results. I would follow your suggestiojn to lie down and still, trying to remember what I've dreamt).

eXistenZ

I find writing them down helps, but I don't use long descriptions, just a few keywords as was suggested. I can usually remember a particular dream for several days if I mull over it mentally as I wake up, but subsequent dreams kind of 'overwrite' them, as if it was a cassette tape. I find the dream journal, as others have said, helps in long-term memory. just a glance at a word or two brings back the entire thing, and sometimes just the very action of opening the journal brings it back.

The only time i jolt out of bed to write down a dream like that is if it's really vivid, and i know i can remember it.
Other than that, i have to use the same method i used this morning, which involves lying in bed and thinking about the dream in a detached manner if you like.
Sort of like, concentrating on what happened, but not so hard that i get stuck on one particular detail. Even so, i still can't remember what happened in the second dream that i had...:P

yeah for me, i used to write and then get more details to pop in. but now it seems to have the opposite effect. im not sure why but its all good.

Are you sure you're not just looking for an excuse to not journal?

Cuz, wow, I've been looking for excuses for quite a while now... "I'm the memory master! I don't need no stinkin' journals! I'll only only remember the good dreams! That dream? That dream sucked. No way am I gonna write that one!"

Hmm. I just of something. A subconscious desire to not write in a dream journal, invariably connected to subconscious desires affecting dreams...

Profound!

Does anyone else find that if they are lying in bed recalling a dream, that if they move, the dream starts to fade?
I know that happens to me...and i have to tell myself to just lie there and not move.
Even so, it takes me a good quarter of an hour to figure out a dream in it's entirety, before i can even begin to write it down!
I wouldn't say that a journal is bad for my recall, i think it helps my brain immensely.
I was thinking the other day, about how much more 'in tune' i am to when i am dreaming. I might not necessarily go lucid, but usually these days when i remember a dream, it's pretty vivid, i remember it with almost the same clarity as i would remember a conversation with someone i know IRL.

Use a dream journal, but write the dreams down *after* you've run them through your head a few times. That should satisfy both the long-term record and the short-term recall goals.