Dreams are a much better way to notice all the thoughts in our heads than simply freewriting.  Any thought that occurs becomes part of the dream.  If you think for a second that maybe that person will die, they will in the dream, and it won't be surprising to you.  If we can remember dreams, it allows us to notice all of our thoughts, whatever physical sense they apply to (sight, sound, and touch are the most common in dreams).  When writing, there are at least 3 levels of thought, that writing, that putting things into mental words a few sentences ahead of actually writing them, and the continuous stream of thoughts above both of these.  The most important part of these dreams is that the action is natural and unwilled.  A lucid dream in which a person has conscious control may be more fun, but it isn't as useful in seeing your thoughts.  Therefore the interpretation of dreams can be much more useful than the more controlled process of freewriting.  Unfortunately, if there is a specific thing we want to put into words, dreaming won't help, so freewriting is necessary.  Sometimes it is just as hard to put dreams into words as it is for other thoughts.  Of course, since dreams are experienced like "objective" manifestations of inner thoughts, you see, hear, feel, and sometimes taste and smell dreams.  Thus they can be more easily described.  Sometimes, though, you can remember both the events as well as your own thoughts.  In this situation, it is helpful to also record any of these thoughts.  This is because how a thought is manifested in the "plot" of the dream is easier to understand when both the event and the original thoughts are known.  It is better for true understanding of the dream (or at least a part) to remember and maybe record both the thoughts and their mental manifestations.

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