Extreme Dream Surrealism

I am honestly not certain how I can ever write down my own dreams, not because they're uncertain, unrememberable or anything like that. But it's because my dreams are in such a manner where I can remember too much, I am unable to filter fluff from signs, I am unable to write such bizarre experiences because they verge on the grounds of: Epic, Fantastical, Science-fiction, Daliesque/M.C Esher dream worlds. They are not as clear cut as say, finding a 'key in the middle of the bridge' which is very easily interpretable. They involve extremely bizarre elements, such as a futuristic alien war in Europe but a subplot involving aristocratic dandies, witchcraft and 'stories within stories'. IE: Dance competitions, 10 interpretations of a certain event (like a photograph I see, my mind gets absorbed and attempts to recreate the photograph : IE child on a swing, child deepsea diving, Child being abducted by aliens, child being kicked about by a child, child parachute dropping). I'm sure you can get my drift, my mind works in serious hyperactive dream sequences which appear like non-sequitors and are too fantastic too put into words. What can I do? It use to be be alot more easier when I was younger before I became very proficient at dream, Im having sleep paralysis once or twice a week and lucidity once every two or three nights.

Hey Russ,

Well, no one's forcing you to write your dreams down right? Sounds like you have enough fun just experiencing them - why stress over writing them down?

Journaling helps with recall and finding dreamsigns to be able to lucid dream. You appear to have fairly good LD frequency - so really you don't need the journaling. You also appear to be a bit too preoccupied with interpretation. You should just let your pen flow and not analyse anything until you are done writting.

If you want to journal for amusement and to share your dreams, perhaps you don't have to physically write the dream down - you can maybe record it into onto a tape or straight onto your computer.

Lucid dreaming should be a fun and wonderful experience both during AND afterwards. If the journaling isn't really helping you at all, then take a break from it -- I won't tell the rest of the DGs ;)

I can relate. . . Trying to put into words some of the things that I've seen and done can be trying. I remember when I first started doing a journal, I litterally had to force myself to try and recall everything, in linear order. It was extremely difficult for me at first, and to tell you the truth, I have not gone back and read over anything just yet. I will tell you that my journal is only a few months old, but it is getting used. Every night I coerce myself to wake and write, whatever comes out, goes down on the paper. I know the nagging feeling that can form in your mind, like you're not doing justice to your dreams, like you're shortchanging or even altering your own memory of what "really" happened during your dream. But I think, in the long run, the memories in written form (or recorded, or any hard form) will prove worthwhile. If you're working on improving your creatitivity, especially when you're not in the dream world, tackling your dreams can be the most challenging form of improvement.

Just this morning I was struggling with a particularly violent dream that I had, questioning myself about whether I really wanted to remember it the way it happened, or if I wanted to forget. Now, this is not really the same problem you might be having, but it does have to do with journaling and the difficulties that can crop up from the decision to start.

One suggestion I have is perhaps you could write your dreams down in the form of a film script? That way you could separate scenes, describe settings, and write dialogue. Maybe try experiementing with different forms of writing. Surrealism exists not only in our dreams.

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Originally posted by reefer_thief


One suggestion I have is perhaps you could write your dreams down in the form of a film script? *That way you could separate scenes, describe settings, and write dialogue. Maybe try experiementing with different forms of writing. *Surrealism exists not only in our dreams.

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That sounds like it would be really cool. Try it. If it works for you, tell us. I'd love to hear how that new DJ form would work.

Ahh, as of late I have been having LD's almost every night. Some bizarre reason, there are a couple of things which make me trigger 'reality check' some of these are...

Dark looming clouds, dark shadows, dark anything.. IE: anything representing dark/evil it's time to recognise one is dreaming

Reading test: Reading details, see if anything changes when reading, taking time to 'read aloud' words, then attempt to cover and change them.

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Anyway - If school is starting and I am frequently known as someone who is late in the morning and oversleeping, my memory is going to be seriously jogged and I will be unable to have time to recall the 'Epic lord of the ring lengthed dreams' I have been having. Maybe I need to invest in a dictaphone, or try the movie idea. Or alternatively, enjoy the dream without recording anything.


I was reading a book by Dominic O'Brian, 8 year in a row World Champion of memory recalling, he was able to beat the man who could recite Pi to 20,000+ from memory with no assistance. Maybe I will stumble on a technique in the book to perhaps recall the memories later in the day (after school) and attempt to journal the dreams then. Of course, with events in the day there is a possibility of alterations of what you really remembered and what you would of liked too. I guess then, I should withhold on my analysing and interpreting of the dreams until after I intuitionally recalled the dream.

A brief summary of the first few pages of Dominic O'Brian.

He talks of mind maps and visual/imaginative ways of recalling facts and memories - He says the brain has difficulty to process information if it is 'word only' based or 'list based'. Ultimately, a mind map makes use of visual information. IE: A picture says alot more then a page of words. This can be done ever so quickly, mind maps reduce the tmie and innaccuracies, the mind is therefore organised using visual/spatial/logical branches and subbranches that stem from the centre.

So I will take upon this idea and before/during school I would take out my notebook and do a quick mindstorm with various images and key words, and like the film script idea mentioned in this thread divide the long dream into segments instead of written categorically.

I will keep you people informed

Sounds like a very interesting book!

Sometimes something similiar to this will happen to me. Sometimes my dreams don't stay as dreams... sometimes they turn into memories that I am sure that I experienced. Like once, I was -sure- that we had a sword fighting unit in P.E., where we practiced the art of swordplay with long sticks coated in a soft material. And I also have conversations in dreams where I am -sure- I had had them...