Thread: Dream Journaling and remembering small details

It is ok. The smaller parts of the dreams will come to you once you get a bit better at recall. If you keep recording then you're recall will get better.

You might also want to try spending attention on small details in real life (especially when doing an RC). I sometimes just admire the beauty of real life when I think how it'd be like if I was having an LD. If you do that in RL, you will propably learn to pay some attention to the surroundings in dreams too. And when you recall any details, I suggest writing or drawing them all down. I also make maps of my dreams. It helps you to recall the dreams in 3D.

Originally Posted by Harakka

You might also want to try spending attention on small details in real life (especially when doing an RC). I sometimes just admire the beauty of real life when I think how it'd be like if I was having an LD. If you do that in RL, you will propably learn to pay some attention to the surroundings in dreams too. And when you recall any details, I suggest writing or drawing them all down. I also make maps of my dreams. It helps you to recall the dreams in 3D.

Thanks for the tips. I haven't tried making maps, but that sounds like a good idea, although I'm not much of an artist .

You don't have to be a great artist to draw down something simple like a map. Just draw some boxes, arrows, general shapes so that you remember them. Being good at drawing helps if you're trying to convey that idea to someone else, but if it's just for yourself, do what you can.

Originally Posted by kingofclutch

It is ok. The smaller parts of the dreams will come to you once you get a bit better at recall. If you keep recording then you're recall will get better.

Excellent advice!

In addition, you could also make a small list every morning of some things that you noticed were out of place that should have made you question whether or not you were dreaming. They can be as obvious as "I was flying over the Grand Canyon" or as simple as "I saw a friend of mine, but they didn't look like who they usually do." Just try to get in the habit of looking at the world around you and that will drastically help your ability to LD.

Indeed, memory works through reconstruction processes and cued recall. By writing down the general plot, your mind shall endeavour to search for the missing links. However, just take note, that the mind tends to impose order on 'chaos' by inventing information. Thus, a sudden transition from one scene may be transmuted to a smoother more natural transition in the morning.

Good luck, and continue recording!

I like to draw maps. It helps me remember things much better when I read over it. Sometimes they can be confusing, but oh well.


A bit of advice would be to read over what you've written to see if it makes any sense, because I have many run-on sentences that make no sense, or just descriptions that make no sense that could've been avoided simply by re-reading them.

I find that the best way to remind myself to look out for the smaller details are drawing maps. I just drew up one of my dreams. It was pretty sloppy, but I could add notes and stuff. And when it came to stuff like what people were wearing, I kind of forgot that stuff. But at least that reminds me to be on the lookout for those more specific details. Thanks for all the advice guys! It's really helping me out!