Writing: How to Keep a Dream Log

The brain is one weird biological machine.  When the body is unconscious, the mind still runs, constantly churning through a huge amount of sensations, memories, thoughts, and experiences.  It all gets compiled into dreams, and no two dreams are ever alike.  Dreams are strange (especially for me, but I think most everybody will agree that all dreams are surreal to some extent).  Sometimes, they are so vivid and immersive that they feel just like reality.  I swear, I've had many dreams that felt so real, I invested my whole mind into it, trying to solve some problem or get through some odd dreamscape, only to come out of it with the disappointing realization that it was all just in my head.  Sometimes, the dream can be so intense, that I can actually control it.  There's nothing more intense than a lucid dream:  a space the subconscious where you, the dreamer, can actually say, do, or think things that literally alter the outcome of the dream.

Whether it's a passive or active dream, chances are that it'll be an experience unlike any other.  Chances are that it'll have imagery, scenery, or events so fantastic that they'll stagger the imagination and you'll want to share them in some form.

Chances are that you'll forget all about them, every single morning.  No matter how hard you try to remember a dream, it always slips away.  Dreams are just naturally designed to dissipate, so that the body can go on with its regular course of business.

Thus, if you really want to remember all those dreams of yours, I recommend keeping a Dream Log.

Why Should I?
Key advantages to keeping track of your dreams could be:

• A potential source of literary inspiration.  This may apply most directly to fiction, especially fantasies or stories with really fantastic things.  Maybe you'll have a dream that's so intense, you'll want to recapture that experience in a story.  Or, maybe there's a specific thing you saw in a dream that you'll want to incorporate into a story.  Either way, keeping a log of dreams is another way of keeping a directory of possible surreal images and experiences to be used in whatever project you have in mind.
• A potential topic of conversation.  If you're a regular blogger, blogging about your dreams could be just another series of posts in your repertoire.  If you're a non-fiction writer, perhaps keeping track of your dreams could directly correlate to an ongoing project.  Maybe you're writing non-fiction about dreaming.  Whatever the case, everybody dreams, and everybody can make a topic worth writing about from dreams.
• Insight on your own subconscious.  If you find yourself dreaming constantly about certain things, maybe those things mean something.  Symbols in dreams often have a real-life basis, alluding to your own emotional state.  It might be a good idea to write these symbols down, look them up, and see what they mean.  For example, I had quite a few dreams about tornadoes.  Turns out that tornadoes are a symbol of emotional turmoil.  Imagine that:  I had emotional turmoil.  If you're dreaming about tornadoes too, maybe you're having turmoil yourself.

How Do I Do It?
It's not all that hard or sophisticated, and I doubt that there's any one specific way to do this.  Simply grab yourself a notebook, and write down your dreams as they come.

I prefer to use a physical notebook and pen.  I specifically have a kindergartener's style notebook, half of which is lined and half of which is left blank for pictures.  I use the top blank portion to roughly sketch any memorable images from a given dream, and use the rest to describe the dream.  You don't have to go all-out with the details of the dream; just describe what happens in a concise manner.  Feel free to describe who was there, what you saw, what happens, what symbols appear if any, how you felt, whether or not it was lucid, etc.  Sketching is purely optional; I just do it to get a more accurate representation of a given dream.

The hardest part is, of course, remembering the dream.  Thus, it's best to record the dream immediately after waking up.  It might be a grudging task to crawl out of bed and get up the motivation to grab a pen and write; in which case, it may suffice to take a shower first, eat breakfast, drink coffee, etc, get awake and then write it.  It's do-able as long as you can keep it in your head.  The problem is, the dream will start to vanish from your memory as soon as you wake up, and holding onto it can be hard.  So, if you can, make an effort to write it all down as soon as you can.

A physical notebook is, of course, not the only tool at your disposal.  I did see other folks using blogs as a dream log (or rather, a dream blog).  Heck, I might have to post my own dreams here too! Either way, a blog makes sense, because you can keep track of your dreams online in a chronological order, and share them with the rest of the world.  The problem is privacy; if you have dreams you don't want to share, blogging about them may be a bad idea.  Some dreams might hit too close to your heart to share with the rest of the world.  I certainly wouldn't post dreams that specifically name close friends or family, or expose something sensitive concerning my life.  So, whether or not you want to blog your dreams will depend on how private your dreams are and what your stance is on sharing your private life.

I do see that there are websites that allow you to log your dreams.  I have no idea whether you share your logs with others or not, but it goes to show that online alternatives are available.

If you don't want to post your dreams online, that doesn't mean that logging dreams isn't possible on a computer.  You could certainly use any word processor, or even something simple like notepad, to jot down your dreams.  You could make a new folder for your dreams and save your logs there.

For all I know, there could be apps for dream logging.  It couldn't hurt to look (but I don't see the point in paying for any specialized software when a simple word processor can do the trick).  Chances are also good that there are online forums where you could discuss your dreams, and maybe you can post your logs there (I assume there are, I don't know for sure.  If you are really into your dreams, then it may behoove you to google for dream websites and see what's out there).

The bottom line is, regardless of whether you jot it down in hardcopy or softcopy, keeping a specialized journal of your subconscious experiences can provide an alternate source of inspiration for your writing.  I do recommend keeping track of your dreams, because dreaming is probably your best source of surreal images and experiences, and they're often so unique that you'll want to go back and remember what it was you dreamt about.

Yes, you too can make up your own notebook to keep track of your crazy dreams!