How To Start Your Own Dream Journal

1. Place a notebook and pen ..... preferably new ones .....by the bed, and keep them there.
2. If you're using your daily journal, find a way to differentiate dreams from daily entries: start at the back of the book, use another color, or highlight.
3. Get a flashlight, too: your writing will stay legible and you won't disturb your partner or roommate.
4. Set up the journal with page numbers, an index, etc. A ribbon or other bookmark will be especially useful.
5. Record a memorable dream or two from the past. What made these dreams  important to you? What do they mean to you now?
6. Before you go to sleep, remind yourself to remember your dreams. 
7. When you wake up -- during the night or in the morning ...try to recall dreams before you open your eyes.
8. Record dreams immediately whenever you can.
9. If you  are hurried ,take a quick note or two.
10. But don't wait too long before writing out the whole dream.
11. Note recurring dream symbols. You might record them in an index Try to find the consistent meaning in them .
12. Re-read your dreams once a month or so.Do you notice any patterns?
    

Tips:

1. Spiral notebooks can be kept open, and allow you to write lying down.
2. Look for imaginative leaps or connections. For example, does a place represent a person, or vice versa?
3. Write dreams in present tense/first person, but notice who you are, and when.