Dream journal prompts
A dream journal is a race against about four minutes. Write the images first and in fragments, and only ask what any of it meant once the details are safely down.
How to use these
Do not write in sentences at first. Nouns, names, colours, and the feeling, then go back and fill it in.
The first four minutes
Fragments, not sentences. Answer these before you sit up if you can, because sitting up is usually when it goes.
- What is the one image still here?
- Who was in it, and were they themselves?
- Where was it, and was it a real place?
- What were you doing, or trying to do?
- What was said, word for word if you can?
- What happened just before you woke?
- What colour was it, if it had one?
- Was it loud or quiet, and what could you hear?
The feeling, and the strangeness
Once the details are down. The feeling usually outlasts the plot, and it is the part worth having in writing.
- What was the feeling, separate from the events?
- What was strange that seemed completely normal at the time?
- What did you wake up feeling, and how long did it last?
- What rule did the dream follow that does not apply here?
- Were you yourself in it, watching it, or someone else entirely?
- What were you afraid of, and did the dream ever show it?
- Where were you trying to get to, and what kept getting in the way?
- What did the dream seem to be about while you were still inside it?
Patterns, over time
These only work once you have a few weeks of entries, which is the real argument for keeping the journal at all.
- Have you dreamt this place, person, or situation before?
- What was in the dream that came from yesterday?
- If the dream were about one thing, what would you guess?
- Which building, road, or room keeps coming back, and has it changed?
- Who turns up most often, and what are they usually doing?
- What was going on in your waking life the last time you dreamt like this?
- What has changed in your dreams over the past year?
- What would you like to dream about, and have you ever?
No ads. No trackers. Nothing trains on what you write. Export everything as Markdown or Day One whenever you like. How privacy works.