A twenty-three-year-old single man began toward the end of his first year in analysis to write down his dreams and carry them with him in his wallet. When the analyst learned that the patient had not consulted his notes since he had written them, he encouraged him to continue with his associations and then, for comparison, to read the written dream. Four such dreams that occurred during the following two weeks are described. The written dreams were more disguised, sometimes to the point of contradicting the oral report of the dream. The author concludes that the written dream is invariably a transference dream. In the written dream greater distortion is possible, because genetically writing is a later ego function than talking. The written dream is an expression of resistance and