Topic moved from the Quest to Lucidity subforum
I only have a few more pages left in my old DJ, Ive had it for a year, and a half. Ive got my eyes on a leather bound journal, that will coast about 20 dollars. I think its well worth the money after all the DJ is the tool of the trade, plus Ill get a nice pen to go with it. What is your DJ like?
My DJ used to be anything I could get my hands on - very haphazard stuff, and I would similarly write in whatever pen/pencil I could locate for that night. I know this is bad because ritualization makes your subconscious take note and all that - but now I just hook my laptop up to the AC adapter, open up my DJ .rtf file, put it on standby and fold it up and leave it there on my nightstand all night. Now when I wake up I just slap it on my lap, open it up and WordPad opens right up and I can start typing away. This is way faster than writing, requires less effort to get to the position in the mornings (hence less memory loss), and I can just copy/paste right into my forum dream journals later if I think it’s interesting enough to share.
It’s the wave of the future, man.
Right now I’ve just got a spiral notebook with a bunch of staples on the cover. It’s not much, but it gets the job done.
I went with a hard-cover journal, didn’t opt for leather since I just scribble the entries in messily before I forget them (plus I like the design on the front, it’s a painting of an antique globe in a dreamy environment). I write entries in with the most comfortable/durable pen I have, which would be a stainless steel fisher space pen (I just love it for some reason). I chose to go with the pen and paper approach for a couple reasons: 1) I can make a physical connection with the page which aids me in creativity (more on that in the last one), 2) It’s an instant hard copy that I can keep on my dresser next to my bed without the fuss of the occasional computer problem and eyestrain (via the screen), 3) It is somewhat personal so I like to keep it away from the computer and internet, 4)lastly I can easily make my little illustrations of “dream objects/ideas”; that would be any perculiar objects/locations/people/ect. that I happened to come across while dreaming and want to capture visually.
Well there you go that’s my DJ. 
Right now I’m using a cheap “tesco A5 notebook” which isn’t very nice but it’ll do for now. Before that I bought a pack of 5 (I think) little black spiral notebooks which were a bit nicer, but I used them all up 
and before that I had another spiral one, which was bright orange, although theres still some blank pages left in that for some reason.
I made myself a dream journal website as well, but I haven’t updated it much (I’m lazy). The idea was that it would be easier to read than the handscribbled versions, but I like to keep them too.
Also I just bought one of those light up pens so I can write in the dark, but I haven’t had much chance to test it yet - it’s usually light outside when I am sleeping 
I use a hard cover A4 notebook, and write dreams on the right pages, and notes on the left. A difference between the IRL book and the online journals is the fact that the dreams have titles in the book. If i am travelling, i usually buy a small notebook where i am and write in that.
I have a small leather-bound journal, which is very fancy, and I feel bad scribbling illegibly in it - but what else am I going to use it for? (It’s also nice for when I want to illustrate something I saw in a dream.) I try to go back and write out a neat copy of what I remember after I’ve taken notes, but I often end up just typing it out on the computer and putting it somewhere online.
I just use small A6 notepads with plastic covers. It is just a way to preserve my dream memories until they are typed up. So i don’t keep the wriiten dreams afterwards.
I always buy the same type though and would feel odd using a different notebook now 
I used to have a large “notebook” with 23-rings, with pages you could easily tear off, but I had a hard time writing on the right page (I’m left handed), and now I have a schoolnotebook… 
I just feel like arbitrarily defending my techno-inclination: you can always make backups and print copies if you want a hard copy and you can reduce monitor brightness and increase text size to reduce eyestrain, you can always password-protect the file or keep it on a USB drive if you don’t want any chance of it meandering onto the I-net, and simple illustrations can be squeezed of a mouse/touchpad and MSPaint and if you have a tablet then you can go as detailed as you like… anyways, I’ve yet to see a good reason to stay on paper other than some tangential physical quality it has that computers can’t match.
Actually, howsabout this: install some voice recognition software on your laptop and all you have to do upon waking up is start talking! It’ll automatically record your monologue and translate it into a text file for you. That would be the ultimate in convenience; maybe I’ll try it sometime.
BLAPHEMY! Your technology is an instrument of SATAN! 
lol yep I went there. 
i have a mental journal…i ten to remeber all my dreams while at work as work is boring and after ive thought of taekwondo and everything else dreams that ive had start popping up…
My DJ consists of a few peices of paper stacked together. I’m actually considering stapleing them!
People, people, people… What is this? I see these post, and learn that some of you have nothing more then a few sheets of paper for your DJ. Some dont even have that, they just use there memory. What are we? We are explorers of the dream world, we are LDers. We may not even make up one percent of the population. The great thing about any hoby is the tools envolved. Like a fisherman… Do you think he just uses a line, and a hook, and calls his hobby fishing. No!! Alot of the reason a hobby is enteresting is the physical connection of the tool envoved. It helps us become better at what we do. If you want to be good at pool, go buy yourself a pool stick. DJ is a LDers best friend. LDing isnt just something we do while were asleep its a full time hobby. Were recording our dreams, were checken our reality, were talking, and readen. When we see a man with eyeys in the back of his head, we know that something isnt right about that. We may not get it the first few times, but with the help of our DJ will get it, and become lucid. It helps us become fermilar with our dreams, and pick out dreamsigns. So go out spend some money, on a good journal, and a good pen, and be proud of it, then watch your LDs become easier to have. Feel the hunger, feel the passion, feel the connection. So go out my fellow dream explores with your DJ, and if you see the Old hag, ask her… Why are you so damn ugly. No fear,
Amen, halajuia, and good night!!!
I’ve always been able to remember my dreams, so writing them down completely seems sort of excessive, and so I don’t really have a proper dream journal. If I’m afraid I’ll forget something, I just write it down on the nearest thing and find it later. This means that literally every notebook I have has some sort of dream fragment written in it, even my school ones. During school I often had to maneuver my note-taking strategically, so that people wouldn’t ask questions about the junk I had written. Tricky, because I have very large and uneven handwriting in the dark, so each ten-word dream pretty much lost me a whole page.
Whatever I can find around the house, so far. Currently, my DJ is one of those small, black-and-white-speckled notebooks. Nothing fancy.
About digital DJs–everything you said was true, Spamtek. Including the last part: “I’ve yet to see a good reason to stay on paper other than some tangential physical quality it has that computers can’t match.” That’s just the thing that keeps many people away from only DJing on a computer. However, if this isn’t an issue for you, I’m happy for you–I know typing the dream as soon as I remember it would save some effort later on. But it just doesn’t feel the same, and I don’t currently have a laptop anyway.
My first jurnal was looking like a brown book who I got from the same store as my first and second dream pen (they are of thowes penes with inc you can erase.
My second DJ, I got for my birthday and it lookes somewhat like “saitan’s bibel” or someting like that.
I just use this website lol!
(well when I get back to shcol I’ll probably use a notebook but still it’s quite funny how different I am from all of you)
The first DJ I used was an exercise book I stole from school. whisper Don’t tell anybody. whisper
The second DJ I used was a black notebook with 200 A5 sheets in it. Each sheet was a different colour. I stopped using it though because the sheets look like they’re going to fall out or something.
Now I’m using an A4 sized red notebook. Just today I copied my most interesting dreams from my old DJ, to this new DJ. It that was so boring, but it had to be done and now it means I have a nice looking and stronger book. 
I don’t know what it’s called but it’s hard, as in hardbacked or whatever.