I used to be very good at writing in my dream journal, but after a while I got lazy. I still had excellent dream recall, but sometimes I wouldn’t write down my dreams or wouldn’t put enough detail. I stopped having LDs. I wondered why, and tried many different techniques to get back my LDs. Finally, I came to one conclusion: it was the dream journal. I started writing in it every single day, waking up a few minutes early so I’d have the time to record my dreams. The next night, I had an LD. Ever since, I’ve again started to have more LDs.
So if you think dream journals are just a nuisence, don’t. They help you express your interest in your dreams and tell your SC that you want LDs. Dream journals are waaay more important than you think.
I didn’t have a LD yet (I started just a week ago trying) but what can I say without doubt is that since I started writing in the DJ I have perfect dream recall! I can even remember the dream I had since I wake up for WBTB and the dream I have after it!
I usually have pretty long and detailed dreams, and it takes me a while to write them down, too. So, I set my alarm for around 10-20 minutes earlier than usual so I’ll have time to write them all down. If I can’t do this, and I don’t have enough time, I jsut write the basic summary and then, underneath the dream, write ‘notes’ and quickly jot down the rest of the details in point form.
If you’re having trouble getting motivated to keep your dream journal going, start an online one, also. First, write your dreams in your DJ. Then, when you have a chance, write them in your online one. Think of it this way: If you don’t enter a dream in your online DJ almost every day, people will notice and think that you’re not a true LDer… and you’ll feel like you’re not a true LDer. SO get writing!
If that doesn’t work, either, make a story out of your dreams. Put all your dreams from your DJ together and change them so that they make sense and fit in together. Then, every day, add more onto your dream story. This way you’ll always be waiting to see what happens next in your story.
Not a insanely helpful tip, but I always write down the date (the date that it’ll be when I wake up, at least) before I dream.
I also write down what I’m going to try to dream about before I dream, in hopes that it’ll help me dream of that… and because that often helps to jog my memory of my dream when I wake up and open my DJ to that page, though I’m not sure if that works for everyone…
Being the lazy bum I am, I usually tell myself to remember the dream I just had and write it down later that day. Just so everyone knows, that attitude is total BS! One may be able to recall every dream one had in the morning, but until one writes them down, one might forget about half of them again - at least that’s my experience.
So writing your journal entry ASAP is of utmost importance, even if it’s just scribbled into your DJ with terrible handwriting and just in keywords (as many keywords as possible, that is).
After reading this thread I promise myself to write down my dreams as soon as I wake up!
I completely agree, I’ve forgotten quite a few dreams with this attitude.
I’d also add that it’s better if you make sure that your DJ entries are readable (if it’s written, of course). I go through phases (I’m in one now actually) where I wake up really tired and end up just writing stuff down quickly, don’t go back to expand on it, and then a few days later I have no idea what I wrote. It looks like I had a series of muscle spasms with a pen in my hand, and just happened to hit the paper some of the time.
For me i started my dream journal and the second night i had a very vivid dream that i can still recall now (even though that was only a few days ago about 11 now i think). for me i don’t normally have time in the morning to write them down so i do when i can if i cant i retell it to my self over and over until i get to school and can write it down if i can remember it after i get out of bed i have a good tendency to not forget most of it there are rarely any holes in them except the starts of them which are always blurry for me ;.;
for organization im just using a normal notebook and i lable each day when i wrote it down time wise and the date i had the dream works well enough for me ^_ ^
I use a computer to keep my DJ, on notepad so I can get to it easily. Is there any dignificant downside to typing? I’ll easy switch to a notebook if it’s stopping LD’s.
I’m sure opinions on this vary greatly, but in my experience there isn’t a downside to typing your DJ. The important thing is that your mind recognizes writing in your DJ as a special ritual. That’s why it’s often recommended when you have a handwritten journal to use a special pen.
However, there’s no reason why typing it on your computer wouldn’t work. You could even set up for it by opening Notepad before going to bed to make it more “ritual”-like.
I personally write down keywords and short sentences after I wake up from a dream in a notebook, and then later write up the interesting dreams in more detail when I have more time (when I can read what I originally wrote about them of course. )
Yeah, your so right! I used to write in my DJ every single morning, during that time I had at least 1 LD a week. But then school got in the way, and I lost focus on LD’ing altogether and didn’t write in my DJ at all, and I haven’t had a LD in Forever. So I’m going to start again. I’m looking forward to many LD’s this summer
I do remember the time between 15-17 years old, I would write about 5 pages of details of every dream every morning and because of this(I didn’t know it at the time) was the reason for having plenty of LD’s.
Now I skip lots of details and just record the big picture but I should go back to writing down every single detail. This helps with memory and you just get so into your dreams that you are bound to have much more remembered LD’s.
Like become a serious Dream Journalist!
with this I imagine many of those who do start to take this seriously will have many DJILD’s (Dream Journalism Induced Lucid Dream)
Alright back to reviewing my scribbled-on-paper dreams.
I’m pretty lazy and impatient, so I’ll start my DJs back up and then slack off after a week or two. I usually can recall at least one dream without a DJ or at least a fragment. There aren’t many nights I don’t remember at least something. However, I tend to forget as the day goes on if I don’t apparently consider it “worth” remembering or if it doesn’t have references in RL. But it’s 5 pm here and I still remember some of a dream where I was in some store right before closing trying to hurry to find what I wanted before it closed. It just depends on the dream, I guess.
However, when I’m keeping a DJ, I usually remember 3-4 or more dreams plus fragments. I also tend to have a lot more LDs, whereas they’re rare when I’m not keeping some sort of one. It usually still works some if I write down keywords and then outlines, but maybe not quite as well as all my details, though I get frustrated if I do that since each dream that I remember most of takes up several pages in my little 3 1/2 x 5 inch notebook. I’m gonna need a bigger one so I don’t hurt my hands as much from the writing, as I’m looking to start back up tomorrow on it. Might as well not waste the summer before college.
But just saying, my LDs are much more rare without my DJ. I do agree that DJs have a big effect.
For the first week I`m all doing great jobs with pages long dreams,
then it goes to a three sentences and
in a few days to “I think it had something to do with a dog…”.
It`s so hard to get the job down.
And I know what the price is.
This actually works really well. For the past three weeks I didn’t have any.
I had an LD two nights ago, an decided to record it in a DJ, then had an LD the very next night, and recorded that too. And I wouldn’t be surprised if I had a LD tonight too. And they all lasted a good time of over 10 minutes.
Works. Being organized and planning really works. Dreaming is actually pretty logical.
Last night, I re-read some of my dream journal, even fixed up some messy writing to make it more eligible. I wrote down what I wanted to dream about too. then I wrote down my awakening date. Before I slept, I looked at the page I would be writing in, and just “knew” that I would be writing down my dream there soon. I place the pen in the page that I will have to open up to write on. Well I did dream of what I wanted to! And better, I got lucid.
Btw, I always sleep with my Dream Journal right next to my head in bed with me.
My dream journal is like my teddy bear.
)