Thread: A few questions about dream journaling

Hey there,

In my experience, the more detail you can write down, the better your dream recall will become. But, you have to weigh this against how much time you want to spend being awake at night and writing down your dreams. So its a balancing act, that you have to find the solution to for yourself. This becomes especially true when you start remembering several dreams after each awakening.

Personally, I try to remember the details, but only write down the large thematic lines, unless some detail jumps out at me. I tend to go with my gut on what I write down and what I don't. Even just doing that, I often end up with a full large page of dream journal after each night. Then, each morning, I pick one dream that I found especially interesting or entertaining, and try to write that one in more detail in a second (digital) dream journal. This gives me the best of both worlds (all the more so because I really just can't read my own midnight handwriting from a few days back anymore ).

Just my 2 cents,

-Redrivertears-

Glad you decided to stay!

My suggestions:

Originally Posted by EdenAshe

how much should I write in my dream journal?

As much as you remember! I would say that it's more important to write more details in entries about dreams you remember only as fragments, and would advice to even write if you have no recall (just write "had no dream recall tonight"). Longer more vivid dreams can get very detailed, but still good to write it or at least to first mentally recall all of it, and then write a summery. By first mentally recalling all of it you show your brain that this is important to you - and this is a very important step.

Is it worth the effort to write down these dreams?

Yes, especially these dreams! The goal is to increase recall, so you need to "milk" your memories for as much detail as possible, and this is easier to do if you originally remember a more modest amount.

How detailed should I make the descriptions of my dreams that I write in my journal?

First recall them mentally - this stage should be as specific and detailed as possible. For very long dream, as I said above, you might decide to skip too much detail in the actual journal (but probably best to write slightly more than a brief synopsis).

By the way, maybe it would be easier for you to record your dreams? I personally use the recorder app on my phone. It also depends on what kind of memory is your best - the verbal repetition, or the writing kind, or maybe even the visual kind. Decide based on your personal preference...

My dreams can be really complex and confusing. How am I supposed to catalog these dreams?

When you wake up from a dream, just take a moment and stay in bed to organize your recall - the closer to waking up you'll do it the more things will make sense. Try to recall the major plot lines, and then focus on them chronologically, and usually the missing pieces will start to appear. Sometimes, parts of the dream will pop up later. For example when writing the entry or even later during the day. Try to get as much missing pieces as possible... Again, if it's too long it might be problematic to write it all, but at least mentally try to store the full picture (until the next night).

Hey there!
First: EVERYTHING (lol) You should write every detail down. This helps with dream recall.
Second: EXTREMELY This again helps with dream recall and will help you gain lucidity when you realize: "oh, ive had this happen before. I must be dreaming!)
Detail can awesome help with visualization, which helps with the WILD technique.
Third: As much as you can remember. If something is confusing, just write it down in a DJ entry, then post a thread about it! I've seen those before. Also confusing dreams are great because that means your advancing in LDing.
Best wishes,
-xSpidy

Originally Posted by xSpidy

Hey there!
First: EVERYTHING (lol) You should write every detail down. This helps with dream recall.
Second: EXTREMELY This again helps with dream recall and will help you gain lucidity when you realize: "oh, ive had this happen before. I must be dreaming!)
Detail can awesome help with visualization, which helps with the WILD technique.
Third: As much as you can remember. If something is confusing, just write it down in a DJ entry, then post a thread about it! I've seen those before. Also confusing dreams are great because that means your advancing in LDing.
Best wishes,
-xSpidy

This is true! Once I started recording my dreams in my journal, it's been improving my recall a lot!

A lot has already been said but here is what I've gathered from my own experiences.
If you are new to LDing and/or you have pretty poor recall (<1 dream a night), just like I was when I started, a dream journal can be extraordinarily useful. In those early stages it gives you a psychological reason and motivation for remembering your dreams, as you want to write stuff down. Writing it down also helps cement dreams in your memory and makes your brain think they are important and therefore pay more attention to them. In this early stage I would suggest writing everything down to try to supercharge your recall. You can write short little tags when you wake up so you don't forget when/if you go back to sleep and then write them up in full later on, at least that is what I do.
After doing this for a while you should notice your recall increase significantly. In December last year I underwent a bootcamp for LDing and my recall jumped from an average of about 1 a night in November due to lack of effort to around 2 dreams and 1 fragment a night in just 1 month. It is also showing signs of improving this month as well, so putting the effort in and writing down your dreams every day does yield results. Oooh I forgot to mention writing stuff down every single day is important, even if you remembered nothing jot hat down, writing every day will build the habit and help you recall without extra effort as you get so used to it.
Once you get to the stage of remembering 4-5 dreams + a night it does start to get a bit tedious to write everything down however, so in that case I would recommend writing down lucids and any other significant/interesting non lucids, and just writing tags or nothing at all for the rest. By that stage you can obviously remember your dreams in your head very well and shouldn't waste any excess time writing down boring or poor quality dreams as it wont really help your recall that much at that stage.
So yeah there's my opinion on the matter, but really it is your dream journal and you can use it however you like.
Good luck!

It depends on your goals as well. I'm very curious about all the content of my dreams. The more data I can catalog the more I have to work with. It's actually quiet enjoyable if you make it part of your daily routine.

I get up make coffee and listen to music while I sort all my dreams into the electronic journal on my computer.

The more energy you invest into recalling/understanding/observing your dreams the more times you'll be lucid I imagine.