New guy with a question!

**d0urd3n** · 05-26-2011 05:34 AM

Hey guys glad to join finally I have been looking on here a lot recently so I figured it was time

. So I have been attempting some of these techniques and have been starting to see an increase in dream recall and found out that dream journals are critical.

However I am wondering how detailed I need to go into the dreams to help with recall and lucidity. Will a short paragraph summary do with a few sentences? Or should I write everything I recall? I would obviously write down quite detailed if the dream stuck out or was revealing in some aspect. But for the normal dream what say you?

Thanks in advance and I hope to see you all around on DV!

**Ferret** · 05-26-2011 05:41 AM

I would recommend writting absoloutly everything you remember if you have the time. It will be much better, for remembering even more detail next time

**d0urd3n** · 05-26-2011 05:43 AM

Thanks for the reply. And I see you are a fan of the Drizzt Do'Urden books. My user name is Dourden with some numbers in case you didn't know.

Why does writing dreams give you better recall by the way?

**d0urd3n** · 05-26-2011 05:59 AM

Also what do you guys recommend? Using like a notebook, typing on this site, a different site, voice memos, or anything else?

**Ferret** · 05-26-2011 07:30 AM

Oh true haha awsome man drizzt is awsome, I turn into him in my dreams and cut shit up! I dont know exactly how it works but I guess when you start writing down your dreams your mind gets used to remembering them and allows you to remember more. I Use a notebook next to my bed and write down my fav dreams on the online journal. If you have time do both but its completly up to you. I would recomend the journal though because by the time you get outa bed and go to the computer to write down your dream you can easliy forget in that time.

**pepsibluefan** · 05-26-2011 08:23 AM

Welcome to the site! and I agree, wright everything down that you can. Experiment with the technique and see what works best for you. Looking forward to hearing more from you!

**d0urd3n** · 05-26-2011 02:47 PM

Thanks Ferret and pepsibluefan! Appreciate your responses and see ya around! (If anyone else has something to say please do though

)

**Spyguy** · 05-26-2011 08:29 PM

Well, this i what i do:
I keep a notebook + pencil next to my bed. Whenever i wake up, i write down the dreams and fragments i remember in keywords (whenever i read the keywords, i remember the dreams like a 'movie' again, even the dreams i wrote down months ago). Then somewhere during the day i type it all in my DV Dream Journal and erase it from the notebook afterwards (that's just a way of saving tons of paper). After a few days of writing and erasing the page will become unuseable, so i tear it out and throw it away.

**d0urd3n** · 05-27-2011 01:00 AM

This may seem like an odd or obvious question but what date do most of you use? The day you went to sleep or the day you woke up? And also is the time I fell asleep important? I know some people have said when you wake up is important for later WBTB.

**frenchblablabla** · 05-27-2011 05:46 AM

I keep a dream journal right near my bed. I date it for the morning I wake up on.
This is my general dream journal layout:

TITLE DATE

VIVIDNESS: _/10 LENGTH: __ days/hrs/min/sec it felt like in the dream
EMOTIONS: (ex: happy, sad, jealous, depressed)
SETTING: (ex: my house, the park, my school, france)

then I write down my dream.

**Spyguy** · 05-29-2011 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by d0urd3n

This may seem like an odd or obvious question but what date do most of you use? The day you went to sleep or the day you woke up? And also is the time I fell asleep important? I know some people have said when you wake up is important for later WBTB.

I mention both (for example, last night would've been 28/5 - 29/5). I write it in the notebook like this:

28/5
*dreams*
29/5
*dreams*
30/5

etc.