The more people I talk to about dream journals the more funny stories I hear. Now that I am trying to be more consistent with my own dream journal I'm starting to have funny experiences of my own. At the beginning of the month I started writing in a new dream journal. For the first few days I was very consistent, but it has been a challenge to keep it up. My latest trick is to balance a pen on the snooze button of my alarm. the other morning I had a dream that I was writing in my dream journal, when my alarm went off it was kind of spooky to wake up with a pen in my hand.

Does anyone else have a creative way to motivate diligent dream journaling?

I usually do the recording on my laptop. I keep the memories in my mind so as to recall at a later time period with my computer. It works out really well - I awake to a dream and recall as many details as I can, then even if I fall asleep again (rare as I have insomnia), I can recall the details.

I started keeping a dream journal about five years ago. When I first started, I couldn't get myself to write in it first thing - usually because I'm always running late. So I kept the journal at work and wrote in it first thing. It probably helps that I'm so asleep in the morning, my mind doesn't get too distracted and I remember my dreams well even though I'm not recording it immediately. I got into the habit of writing faithfully, and now it's become like that morning cigarette I used to have with my coffee. Now the smoke has been totally replaced by my journal. Because I enjoy writing so much (and referring back to my dreams), I've done better at keeping my bedside journal in which I write first thing in the morning, and when very diligent, also in between dreams in the night. I still have a notepad in my day planner, for when I'm running late, or also because sometimes I remember parts of my dreams throughout the day. Then I just attach any additional notes to my main dream journal. I like handwriting my journal because I don't have to wait for my computer to boot up or get distracted by typos. I just write, exactly as I remember. How I write usually tells me something about the dream too - my writing changes according to the intensity...MiCHellE.

I have found that if I talk about my dreams, I store them in a part of my memory that is like a journal. If I tell of "story" of the dream, and as I paint the image with the feelings, my recall memory stores them close to the surface. At second class meeting, I starting listing my favs and by the end of class, many,many of my most vivid and lucid were all present. It was kida neat now that I note it.