One important result of writing down your dreams is the associations with other waking events this brings to mind. The contents of the dreaming psyche are organized by association. Our memories are also grouped together through association. We continue making more associations as the story grows. We will eventually associate ourselves right out of our story and start talking about something else.
Memories rise and fall in our consciousness through association.
Dream memory helps to increase the scope of those associations. It assists us in associating to other memories long forgotten. Dream symbols are different for people of separate backgrounds and beliefs. This is because they put their subjective worlds together in distinct ways. They use different ideas.