Thread: Is it possible to have strong dream recall & frequent lucid dreams without writing your dreams down?

Echoing all above, I think its pretty essential for concretising the experiences in your mind. And it certainly gives you a focus. If nothing else, the benefit is that in the morning you are actively reviewing the dream, rather than not at all or just doing so passively. In expressing it, you probably also trigger memories of seemingly inconsequential aspects, like a facial expression, or the colour of a DC's hair, and being aware of these little things probably train your critical mind to look for dreamsigns.
Myself, I haven't kept it up well for a few years, but before that I was writing 2-5 dreams, or what bits I could remember, every morning. I think you'd be surprised at what you wrote down, the details, even a day later. I often look back after a week, and halfway through the record am thinking 'I can't remember this dream, where is it going?' But I still remember the end of the dream vividly, and it all ties together nicely.
As a part-time writer, I have trained myself to be able to write more concisely, whereas when I started recording dreams, I was putting down excruciating detail. For those who feel their diaries are too long and detailed, experiment with putting less down, describe action less, and focus on dialogue, and on unusual details.
eg, I would often describe a house, its walls, the colour of the roof, the number of windows, and so on, whereas now I will just write "a house", and add unusual details if necessary, eg, no windows, or yellow roof.
It's amazing how well we can recall once we learn to use the right combination of details and action.
Hell, if nothing else, it makes you a better writer

I have used a tape recorder to record my dreams, and it works just as well. When I get to the end of the tape I start over and record over my old dreams. I don't really feel a need to keep them long term since I will never read over them again, I just do it for the process of helping me remember the dreams.