How to Keep a Dream Journal (From a Girl Who Has Very Weird Dreams)

I keep a journal in my nightstand drawer.

It’s not a diary. Diaries are for writing “Dear Diary, today I had pizza.” This is a dream journal. It’s for serious business.

Here’s why I started. Dreams are slippery. You wake up and the dream is right there, crystal clear, and then it starts sliding out of your hands piece by piece. By breakfast, all you’ve got left is a face, or a feeling, or a ticking sound you can’t place.

I’ve been having some very strange dreams lately. I’m not allowed to tell you about them. (I know. I keep saying that. It’s not my fault my life got so classified.) But I can tell you how to keep a dream journal, because that part isn’t a secret.

Step 1: Keep it right next to your bed.

Not in your backpack. Not “somewhere in your room.” Right there, with a pen, within arm’s reach. If you have to get up and look for it, the dream will be gone before you find the pen.

Step 2: Write the second you wake up.

Even if it’s 3:30 in the morning. Even if you just want to roll over. Turn on the lamp and write. Future you will be grateful.

(Future you might also be tired. That’s a separate problem.)

Step 3: Details first, feelings second.

Write down everything you saw before you try to figure out what it means:

• Where were you? Inside, outside, a place you know?
• What color were things? The walls, the sky, the doors?
• Was it raining? Was it night?
• Was there a clock? What did it say?
• Who was there? What did they look like? What did they say, exactly?

Then write how the dream felt. Was it a cozy dream? A scary dream? An “aww” dream? The feeling is a clue too.

Step 4: Give people nicknames.

If someone you don’t know shows up in your dream, give them a name so you can keep track. I do this. I’m not going to tell you any of my nicknames, but I will say I’m very good at them, and some of them are not cute.

Step 5: Journals get the whole truth.

This is my number one rule. You can be brave in front of people. You can do the fierce face. But your journal gets the real stuff. If you were scared, write “I was scared.” Nobody is grading it.

It’s weird, but writing the truth down makes it smaller. Like taking a heavy backpack off and setting it on the floor.

Step 6: Look back once a week.

Read your old entries. You might notice a pattern. The same place, the same person, the same feeling. Rylee calls this “data.” I call it “spooky.” We’re both right.

About Rylee’s notebook

My sister Rylee thinks every important thing needs its own notebook. So she started a separate one for, um, other notes. Facts only, she says. I negotiated for stickers. She offered one. I asked for three. We settled on two, and I got to name the operation.

That is how treaties work in our house.

Your turn

Try it tonight. Put a notebook and a pen next to your bed. Before you fall asleep, think about something you’d like to dream about. Hold the thought gently.

Then, when you wake up, write it all down.

And if your dreams start getting a little too interesting? Well. Keep writing. And maybe write me.

Sweet dreams, Stella

P.S. Rylee says I should mention that a dream journal is just for fun, and if a dream ever really worries you, the best thing to do is tell a grown-up you trust. She’s right. She’s annoyingly often right.