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Dream journal template
A free dream journal template: print it as a PDF for your nightstand, or fill it in right here. It has room for the dream, how it felt, who and what was in it, and the dream signs that help you become lucid.
Write tonight's dream here
Your entries stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, and there's no account.
Your journal
What keeps coming back
The printable template
Three pages: a start page with a first-week recall tracker, a dream entry page you print as often as you need, and a tracker for your dream signs.
The entry page has the same fields as the Lucidity app, so moving to the app later feels familiar. The emotions are the eight basic ones from Plutchik's emotion wheel, which the app also uses.
What to write in a dream journal
Write the dream first, as fast as you can, before the details fade. Fill in the rest after.
- The dream, in the present tense. "I'm standing in a kitchen" pulls up more detail than "I was in a kitchen".
- A short title. When you flip back through the journal, titles are what you scan.
- How it felt. Emotions are often clearer than the story, and they're what dream interpretation starts from.
- People and places. Over a few weeks you'll see the same ones come back.
- Anything strange or impossible. A dead relative, a room that doesn't exist, your phone screen that won't stay still. These are your dream signs.
An example entry
Here's what a filled-in page can look like. This one is made up to show the fields, but it's typical of the dreams people write down.
Tuesday · not lucid · clarity 4/5
The school with no end
I'm back at my old high school looking for a classroom. The hallway keeps going, and the numbers on the doors skip around. My sister is there, but she's a child again and doesn't seem surprised. I check my phone for the time and the numbers keep changing. Then I'm outside on a beach that's somehow behind the gym.
Three dream signs in one dream. The changing phone screen is the most useful: if you train yourself to check the time during the day, a time that won't hold still at night is your cue that you're dreaming.
Finding your dream signs
A dream sign is anything in a dream that couldn't happen in waking life, or that shows up again and again. Lucid dreamers usually sort them into four kinds: actions (you fly, you can't run), form (a face or your body changes), context (the wrong place or the wrong time) and awareness (strange thoughts or feelings).
The tracker page in the PDF gives each sign a row. Add a mark every time one comes back. The online journal above does the counting for you: once a person, place or sign appears in two entries, it shows up under "What keeps coming back".
Your top three signs are what you do reality checks on. More on that in how to stay in a lucid dream, and on the right time to practice in the wake back to bed calculator.
Making it a habit
Recall is a skill. The more mornings you write, the more you remember, often within a few days.
- Keep the journal and a pen within reach of your bed, open to a blank page.
- Before sleep, tell yourself once that you'll remember your dreams.
- On waking, stay still with your eyes closed and replay the dream before you write.
- Write something every morning, even "nothing, just a feeling of being late". The habit matters more than the content.
Paper or app?
Paper is calm, and some people write more by hand. But at six in the morning in the dark, a phone wins: you can talk instead of write, search years of dreams in a second, and see which symbols keep returning without counting them.
Lucidity's journal is free, works offline and keeps your dreams on your phone, with a PIN or Face ID lock. No account is needed. It also guides you from a good journal to your first lucid dream.
Questions people ask
Is this dream journal template free?
Yes. The printable PDF is free to download in A4 and US Letter, and the online journal on this page is free too. No account, no email.
Where are the entries I write on this page saved?
Only in your browser on this device. Nothing is sent to a server. If you clear your browser data they are gone, so print them or download them as text from time to time.
What should I write in a dream journal?
The dream itself in the present tense, then how it felt, who was there, where it happened and anything strange or impossible. The strange parts are your dream signs, the clues that help you become lucid.
What if I don't remember any dreams?
Write down whatever is there when you wake up: a feeling, a color, one image. Do it every morning before you move or check your phone. Most people start remembering more within a few days.
Is a dream journal app better than a notebook?
A notebook is simple and private. An app is faster in the dark, can record your voice, and spots recurring people, places and symbols for you. Lucidity's journal is free and keeps your dreams on your phone.