Thread: Fake Dream Journaling?

Hey guys,

I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so I'm only remembering partial dreams per night. So I don't normally have a whole lot to put in my journal in the morning yet.

What I'm wondering is if writing about fake dreams could help or not. If a part of the effectiveness of journaling comes from showing your mind that remembering dreams is a priority for you, couldn't fake journaling do that as well?

Another use I was thinking of was fleshing out dreams that you want to have. Perhaps by writing them out in detail would help to set them in your mind more securely?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this!

That's an interesting question. I really don't think it would hurt. I would suggest that if you can't remember any specific objects or actions, just write down any emotions you remember from the dream, or, worst case scenario, "No dreams" or something like that. I imagine that fake dreams mean essentially the same in your dream journal as "No dreams", so it should have the same effect. It might even help in the way that you said - helping to set them in your mind and maybe give you fuel for your next lucid.

Hmm.

At first glance, the thought of making up your dreams seems unhelpful, if not counterproductive. But then, a couple of glances later, it sort of makes sense.

After all, dreams are all about imagination; a little conscious imagining couldn't hurt. Also, writing things down has a lasting impact, in terms of memory, so by writing down imagined dreams -- and/or hoped-for dreams -- you might be helping create some expectations and day residue for future dreams.

So this may be a good idea after all. Just be sure that you indicate in your journal which dreams are fakes and which are real (when they are finally recalled)... unless of course you don't care, because either way the story was yours...

Here's another odd thought: Because (non-lucid) dreams exist as memories only, and fleeting ones at that, I often wonder how much of what we recall and record of our fading dreams actually happened, and how much we add to the record, either because we're trying to fill in blanks or are inadvertantly embellishing the memory as we rerun it in our heads... Who knows? We might all be recording fake dreams already, at least partially!

I did this a few times.

Oddly enough, I would have those dreams soon enough.

Probably wouldn't hurt.

Not sure if it would help, either.

Thanks for all the thoughts guys!

I figured that making up dream entries really isn't much different than just creative writing, a workout for the imagination.

I'm a bit of a hobby writer anyway, so creative writing is an interest of mine to begin with. Just yesterday I read a post on the forums about dream cartography, which I found interesting, though I still don't understand it completely.

My ultimate goal is to come up with a complete dream world and then write a story based on the locations, dream characters, and events that take place there.

I've always been obsessed with recording my dreams as accurately as possible... but of course, that's kind of a lost cause to begin with. Here are some ways that I've found that the nature of dreaming itself can distort attempts at complete accuracy of recollection and recording:

1. I can often remember dreams in great detail, but from time to time as I'm recording some complex dream narrative I'll run into a part that is vague or uncertain, and when an idea suggests itself, I can't always be sure if I'm definitely remembering what happened in the dream or if the idea only just now occurred to me as a possible solution.

2. Sometimes dream logic makes it impossible to write about what happened in a way that makes sense to the waking mind, and I can tell that my mind is trying to rationalize and simplify things to make them more comprehensible.

3. Occasionally I'll recall a moment during the dream itself where I "remembered" something very distinctly, but after waking I find that I can't be sure if it was actually an event that occurred earlier in the dream, or if it was a false memory that only manifested at that point where I "remembered" it.

4. When I wake up slowly while still dreaming, I can sometimes feel that the dream narrative is being perpetuated by my increasingly wakeful mind, sometimes to the point where I am pretty much fully awake but still continuing the story until some satisfactory resolution. At times like these, the transition can be so gradual that it is impossible to tell at what point the dream ended and imagination took over.

So "making up" dreams isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for the sake of your own better understanding of your imagination versus your dream life, it couldn't hurt to clarify in any given entry whether it was something you dreamed up with your sleeping or your waking mind.

I like this idea and I can certainly see it aiding you skills in some manner. Perhaps, the anticipation you might get while wanting to write your next dream journal might genuinely trigger a lucid dreamer. It's worth a shot.

....I might even give a go. I've written it down, I'll tell you how it goes in two months

Why not try chaining small bits of dream fragments together in one cohesive story? Or even link up complete dreams to create one large adventure?

Originally Posted by LDman

Why not try chaining small bits of dream fragments together in one cohesive story? Or even link up complete dreams to create one large adventure?

I would do this, but at the point that I'm at now there isn't enough of each fragment to really chain together.

My dreams on average tend to be fairly boring. Things like me walking along somewhere, people in my house, etc etc.

I am always jealous when people say they have dreams that are real adventures where they are in some magical land, pitted against some terrible enemy. That just doesn't happen for me on average.

@dutchraptor: I look forward to hearing back from you!

Originally Posted by Darkranger85

I am always jealous when people say they have dreams that are real adventures where they are in some magical land, pitted against some terrible enemy. That just doesn't happen for me on average.

Do you play video games? I typically play late at night just before going to sleep, and I wonder if that helps explain why my dreams frequently feature plots of tense conflict or thrilling escapes. Also, my dream character is often not "me" but someone else entirely, of either gender, and I suspect a lifelong gaming habit might contribute to this as well.

Oh yes, I'm an obsessive video game addict. Doesn't normally filter into the dreams that I remember.

The last 2 nights though I can say for sure cause I haven't remembers a single dream. Which is really frustrating since I've been focusing on it.

Never thought of it, I'm gonna try this as well, my dream recall needs improvement.

About the video games, horror games made me experience many terrifying nightmares, usually they were all similar - about me being chased by some psycho and I always ended up very scared with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. But in strange way, these nightmares helped me to get more lucid dreams because I started to recognize that terrifying fear: ''Damn, again this stupid psycho and I am tired of running...wait, what? Oh, god, this is a dream!''

Originally Posted by Mellanhavande

But in strange way, these nightmares helped me to get more lucid dreams because I started to recognize that terrifying fear: ''Damn, again this stupid psycho and I am tired of running...wait, what? Oh, god, this is a dream!''

There's definitely something to this! To the point where I thought we could introduce the acronym "FILD" for Fear Induced Lucid Dream, but googled it first and discovered that there's already a thread on this forum with that very title, lololol.

http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...cid-dream.html

Originally Posted by Verre

There's definitely something to this! To the point where I thought we could introduce the acronym "FILD" for Fear Induced Lucid Dream, but googled it first and discovered that there's already a thread on this forum with that very title, lololol.

http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...cid-dream.html

Not to be confused with http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...ream-fild.html.

But I'm glad to see others taking an interest in this. I can't wait to hear if anyone has any luck with it.

It can look counter productive. But strengthening a strong imagination can certainly bring dreams to you, even if they may not be exactly what you've written about. Just be sure the reasons why your doing it are to help yourself attain dreams and hopefully lucid ones.

I also think that it is probably a good idea to note what is a dream and what is a WL story that is made up. When you just wake up you are often not thinking clearly. At least I am. So I can imagine that, if you get into the habit of making stuff up, at some point it might be hard to remember what you made up and what you dreamed. If your habit is solid enough, you will probably start making things up while you aren't even fully awake yet.

I do think this is a good idea. It is always a good idea to write some cool stories as it is a good way to incubate future dreams. Also, you are setting a habit of taking quite some time to write down whenever you wake up, which is obviously a good thing as well. Though, whenever possible I would suggest you build on whatever fragments you have. It is always a good idea to focus your attention to dreams.

Last thing I would personally do. I would probably chop it up into 2 pieces. First really try to remember anything you can. Make sure you lay still in bed and keep thinking about the dream. Think about random things that could have something to do with the dream. I often find that thinking about random similar words or Dream Signs or just common themes can spark some more memory. You just have to hit the right word. Only after you are very sure that you cannot remember any more, then start to make stuff up.

This last part is because of one thing I think you should be very careful of. When you just wake up it is really easy to just go back to sleep. It is easy to not give a crap about dreams. Because you are not thinking clearly. What I find myself doing in the mornings is making excuses. "I have remembered 4 dreams already, I can just go back to sleep this time" Stuff like that. You want to be careful for those kind of thoughts. I can imagine that the thought, "I can't remember anything more, I'll just make some stuff up", is one that can easily slip into you when you just woke up. And it can become counter productive. I'd say be careful for that one.

This is how I would personally do this. Hope it helps you

I don't believe that making up dreams helps, but that's just my first bold opinion, go for it, because who can tell without having tried...

Apart from that, I understand that your main issue is perfecting your recall and journaling process. Regarding that I want to suggest (it helped me a lot): READ some of your previous entries in the DJ before you go to bed and re-experience them actively in your mind. This will, as you put it, show your mind that rembering dreams and recording them is a priority for you. Also, it will make the effort of writing worth it, because who likes to write an endless report that will never be read anyways?

You may find that reading previous entries is enjoyable and thus you become excited about writing them down. So the proces of journaling itself suddenly becomes an enjoyable part of the whole journey, instead of just being merely a grim duty to get over with. Then it improves automatically by being so rewarding. I found that my hand writing improved because of this.

Originally Posted by MrPriority

...

Last thing I would personally do. I would probably chop it up into 2 pieces. First really try to remember anything you can. Make sure you lay still in bed and keep thinking about the dream. Think about random things that could have something to do with the dream. I often find that thinking about random similar words or Dream Signs or just common themes can spark some more memory. You just have to hit the right word. Only after you are very sure that you cannot remember any more, then start to make stuff up.

...

Yes! I think this is the key here. Give it at least some minutes before you jump to the conclusion 'no recall' prematurely.

I might try writing fake dreams just to kill time. This sounds like fun!