I sometimes have wild, unpredictable dreams that can be thrilling, comical, or terrifying. Many of them make for good stories. The problem is that like most people, I forget dream quickly. However, since I often rely on them for seeding my stories, I have gotten in the habit of writing the better ones down right away. I've learned that I can almost never remember dreams in the morning if I don't write them down. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up in the middle of the night thinking, "That was a great dream! I'm sure I'll remember it." Then letting myself go back to sleep and waking up having no idea what I dreamt. That scenario completely changes when I write it down, even just a quick outline helps me to remember the dream the next day.

Here are the tools that I keep by my bed.

  1. My phone. I keep a note taking app and a voice recorder on the phone’s desktop. This is especially handy when I’m not spending the night at home.
  2. I have a cheap digital voice recorder. I sometimes use this when my carpel tunnel is acting up too much to actually dictate text. But more often it’s just a quick description of a dream.
  3. But, the most used item is a pad of paper and a pen. I admit that my pad has gotten a little elaborate recently, but they still are the first thing I reach for. Mostly because I have a hard time talking when I’m only half away so voice recording isn’t very easy. And, I don’t like having to put on my glasses to see the phone’s keyboard. I can write without my glasses well enough to read in the morning, though I wouldn’t want anyone else to try to decipher my midnight handwriting!
bedside notes.jpg, Aug 2022