Journals?

[Nay]

Hey Kozzi!

I have kept a Journal for years..but of course, not consistant..I started typing it, and then saving it to a floppy..but my floppy drive is fried and I haven't been able to go back and read them..arrgghh..Sooo back to the hand written..I really don't like doing that cause it takes alot longer. And I tend to have some really long dreams not to mention at least 3 a day.
My recent ongoing problem is when something weird happens in a dream..for some reason I am not questioning it!!  This makes it hard for me to go lucid, cause I am not finding anything strange to alert me..it's getting quite frustrating!!  I guess I need to be more analytical...

Nay. []

[kromeknight]

Hello Kozzi
just a thought but couldn't you use one of those hand voice recorders and then at.. say the week end you could typ it all up at once.

[MosesB]

why dont you try keeping a journal in the astral and see what happens.

[Links Shadow]

I started out using a pen and paper for about a month and got irritated with how long it took to write everything out and I started typing it out on my computer, and about 6 months after that I started using a voice recorder and have not noticed any difference in the effectivness of all 3 of these.  I have recently began just using mental notes, and just memorizing my dreams, and have found this has had a much greater affect on my having lucid dreams.  I am convinced that by using my brain to remember the dreams it becomes easier to notice when I am having one.  Just try what ever you want and you will eventually find what works for you.

[no_leaf_clover]

i dont really mind writing out my dreams with pencil/paper, and for me there are some advantages to pencil/paper.. like for a lot of dreams i draw little sketches to go along with what i wrote, and i find the sketches help me recall the scenes in the dream a whole lot more easily and vividly than the words alone do. and i record my dreams in a little pocket notebook, which i find more reliable than, say, a floppy disk like nay used. i might have to go back and trace everything over in pen, though, because the pencil lead's starting to wear off.

probably just a matter of your opinion.

[Euphoric Sunrise]

The only problem i have with keeping a journal on a computer is that in the time it takes to get from my room to the computer, wait for the computer to start up, and open up word or notepad or something i might have forgotten something. With pen and paper, it's right there by my bed. I can just reach over, flick to a new page and start writing, and hopefully not forget too much that i remember from the dream. Plus, as no leaf clover said, you can sketch different things out with pen and paper.

It does get tedious after a while, but don't make the mistake of stopping. I did that and now i can hardly remember any dream, let alone if i have a lucid dream. Plus then you get into a slump and you have to try and be bothered to start again. I keep saying i'm gonna start again, but i haven't yet. I'm so weak []

[kozzi]

Links Shadow, how exactly do you go about memorizing your dream?  Do you simply wake up and think about them and try to memorize them this way?  This sounds really interesting...   I will try it sometime if that's the way you really do it.  Let me know!

Kozzi

[Lain]

I've been writing for a long time in my journal, but I still need to set aside a personal dream journal.  I like to write it on the computer, since my hand cramps easily when I write for a while.  I seem to have an easier time remembering what the dream was for at least a while, unless I get completely distracted (and thus have no time to think about it).  In that, if it's the morning and my parents are out, I'll run downstairs and start typing it up on my computer.  I tend to leave my computer on all day and night, so it's set for me if I want to type it up in the morning.  Im not sure if it's really helping with the LDs though.  I'm really just starting up (despite that I used to be really interested for short spurts).  I dont think effectiveness would be affected by the medium, but I suppose handwriting may have a minor advantage if you tend to write slower or type faster.  *shrug* Meh.

Also, for the drawings: if you have a tablet or something, you can always draw onto that and insert it into the word document.  Or if your hand is really steady. *shrug*  And memorizing: one way could be to simply write it down and review it a lot, or think about it a lot.  Heh, thinking of that it would be a good idea to start remembering them.  I seem to only be able to remember recurring or ones that definitely stand out well.  -.-;

[cainam_nazier]

I use a journal for many different reasons/topics.  I preferr to write every thing out by hand.  I do this for a couple of different reasons.  The first and formost being time.  The time it takes to write allows for me to reflect more on the event or thought in question.  This helps me to pull greater detail out of the experience.

The 2nd reason I use pen and paper is emotional content.  Much of the emotional content of what you are writing will show in the writing itself and not so much in the words used.  By simply looking at my writing I can tell you if I was happy, sad, angry, excited, or in quiet contimplation.  I don't even need to read what is on the paper.  This gets lost when a person types something out.  For instance how many times has a small disagreement broke out on the forums because some one did not understand the emotion behind what was being typed?  If all of this stuff was hand written I can garentee that there would be fewer arguments over misunderstood emotional context.

For those who don't buy that one a small test.  Think of your best friend.  Then take a pencil/pen and write on a piece of paper and quickly write down, "I hate (insert name)!"  Now fold the paper in half so that what you just wrote is on the outside.  Place it writing down.  Now think of the person you dislike the most in this world and do the same thing.  Quickly write out "I hate (Name)!"  Now unfold the paper and look at it.  You should be able to see the differences in the writing because you don't really hate your best friend.  Ofcourse if you do, well then that not going to help the excersize.

Moving on.  The last reason for using pen and paper would be that I simply enjoy sitting down and writting.  Sure sometimes it seems more like a chore writting out certain things but iver all I enjoy it.

[Lasher]

quote:Originally posted by kozzi

The first time I tried keeping a journal I had a lucid dream within 3 days of starting the journal.  I was amazed!  Unfortunately, it gets rather tedious keeping a journal by hand.  Does anyone use journals to help LDs, and has anyone noticed a difference between the effectiveness of a laptop computer vs. hand writing?

I have flip-flopped between hand written journals and computer journals.  I even tried a special digital recorder that works with a "voice to text" computer program because I am on the road all day for my job.

Ultimately, I have to agree that writing by hand works best, for all of the same reasons mentioned.

Lasher

[kozzi]

Yeah, I believed that writing by hand would have worked the best.  There are apparently studies showing that we remember things much better when written down, and even better when they are written by hand.  I think my question originally stems from the same laziness that keeps me from having as many LDs as I'd like.  What I mean is that I keep telling myself that I want to have more LDs, and I know exactly what to do to make myself have them.  But I keep trying to find shortcuts; using a laptop would be one of those shortcuts.  However, I'm also one to believe that having a journal you're proud of can help induce LD.  I believe that I would be so excited about even just typing my dream on my new laptop that I would look forward to dreaming everynight.  

Kozzi

[kozzi]

The first time I tried keeping a journal I had a lucid dream within 3 days of starting the journal.  I was amazed!  Unfortunately, it gets rather tedious keeping a journal by hand.  Does anyone use journals to help LDs, and has anyone noticed a difference between the effectiveness of a laptop computer vs. hand writing?

Kozzi