Who else HATES writing in dream journals?

Well, I don't think writing in a dream journal is supposed to be the most fun thing in the world. I type mine up on my computer, which I keep kind of close to my bed so that I can write on it if need be. When I wake up from dreams I usually feel pretty lazy for a minute. There have been times when I just went over the dream in my head and figured I would remember it in the morning––but usually I would end up forgetting it, or forgetting most of it, by the time I woke up again. So, now I try to force myself to write the dream down as soon as I wake up. Sure, I'm usually half-asleep and pretty grumpy when I write my dreams down––but it only takes a minute or two, and then I can go back to sleep. But, I think it's worth the pain. It has helped me to have more dreams and remember them more clearly. Even if you have a good memory, you're bound to forget bits and pieces of the dream if you go back to sleep after the dream. So, I'd recommend you keep journaling even if it's bothersome.

i used to but now i just write down my lucids and my dream recall's great.

Sometimes I just don't think of writing down my dreams or I don't feel like I have the time but I love making time for it. And my dream recall isn't as good as yours, I actually start remembering stuff just by writing it down, so I find it always interesting. I think maybe you'd lose your excellent dream recall if you stopped writing at down? Or have you had that all of your life? Haven't read all of the posts here sorry if I'm being repetitive.

Lol, I can never get my lazy ass up out of bed to write them down.

I hate writing in my journal. I always start again, then give up fairly quickly. It's so much effort and it can take seemingly ages to write only a minute's worth of action. I'll start looking at DJ software once I get my new laptop.

I only write in the dj on this site and I actually enjoy it :)

My situation is twice as painful!

I wake up, and think/record/write the dream in portuguese (my native language). But when I go to post it here in Dreamviews, I hate to write everything in english, so translating 1-2 pages every day is kinda a pain to me. I end up leaving 5-6 dreams and then one day I feel myself with courage and translate them all.

But yeah, one of the things that influences my recall is having to write so much lol.

I notice something about habits, they're easier if you keep them up and refuse to give into excuses. So I try to do a dream journal entry after every single dream but time is often limited and sometimes I'll misplace my journal or sometimes my computer is already on, right beside the bed which is preferable to trying to write it out by hand. Sometimes the dream feels very important and I don't want to forget it. It's often easier to come back a little while later and analyze the symbols of the dream in order to figure out the meaning behind it. Directly after the dream, I mostly just try to write it all out as best I can remember.

I find it to supremely beneficial, my dreams have a therapeutic value that comes with understanding the nature of the unconscious mind. That is to say an association does not have to be rational, it's just an association. Dipping into this irrational ocean of relationships and pulling out meaning about my life at the moment enables me to approach the world with a fresh set of values each and every day, and I am very grateful for my dreams. Writing them down is a way of showing them my gratitude.

I used to write in a dream journal, but then I taped a whiteboard to my wall.

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Originally Posted by Mzzkc

I used to write in a dream journal, but then I taped a whiteboard to my wall.

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Do you transcribe from the whiteboard to anything more permanent later in the day?

I usually think of the greater good when I start writing in my Dream Journal. To know how great it will be if it works and some extra nostalgia in the future to go with it.

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Originally Posted by Mzzkc

I used to write in a dream journal, but then I taped a whiteboard to my wall.

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But you'll have to wipe your old dreams off eventually, as you will have no room and then you will forget about them. If you write in the dream journal you can store every single dream you've ever had.

I keep forgetting that for most people here, having lucid dreams is the primary goal, and dream recall is a secondary goal if it is a goal at all, and not merely an annoying prerequisite to be able to remember the lucids. It's the other way around for me. Remembering dreams is my primary goal, and having lucids is a secondary goal. I probably wouldn't bother with trying to have lucids, except that since I'm already doing the whole dream journal thing, it really is not much extra effort to try to have lucids.

Even I find it annoying to write down my dreams, though. It's just so much effort to reach over and grab my dream journal first thing after I wake up. Once I've done that, the writing part is usually not much bother, though. The part that gets really annoying is when I've just put in a lot of effort writing down my dream, and then I wake up... And not only is my journal blank after all that effort, I've just missed a really easy way to have a lucid because I didn't do an RC while journaling. But I really do have to keep up with writing down my dreams, because when I don't, even if I just wait until that night to write it, I forget all but the most memorable details.